Every time you watch a fight on television, you will hear similar phrases from the commentators.
He was a D-1 wrestler but needs some work on his stand up.
He gassed out early in his last fight, lets see how he looks tonight.
To the average person this may sound normal MMA small talk, but what is actually being said?
If someone was a D-1 wrestler in college, we can assume a few things:
- He most likely won’t have an issue with his weight cut, unless he is dropping into a lower weight class for the first time.
- As far as MMA goes, he won’t need to spend hours on wrestling skill and technique, it’s engrained into his CNS at this point. This fighter is incredibly efficient in wrestling and will most likely will not gas out in a wrestling type scenario.
- To become a more well-rounded fighter, he probably should work on his striking and submissions. He is most likely less efficient in striking therefore he has potential to prematurely fatigue in a stand up scenario.
- If you saw the fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos at UFC 166, Cain dominated with his cardiovascular conditioning. I mean the guy didn’t stop. Dos Santos gassed out. After this fight, one can make the assumption that Dos Santos needed to work on his “cardio” to improve as a fighter. Essentially, he needs to train his weakness or deficit.
- Everyone has a weakness, something that needs to be assessed then re-addressed. Sounds easy right? Not really actually. First of all, you need coaches and peers that you can trust and who will always give you honest and accurate feedback. If they truly want what’s best for you, they won’t stroke your ego.
- As a strength coach, I am constantly assessing my athletes. Assessment can be turned into improvement almost every time. You know the old saying, “If you aren’t assessing, you’re just guessing!”
Here are some scenarios to consider:
Scenario #1
A fighter can back squat his bodyweight easily for 20 plus reps, but gasses out after :30 of ground and pound. If I were his coach, I would say that he has plenty of lower body strength and muscular endurance. Training high rep back squats is not a top priority. He most likely needs more glycolytic energy system work in his program.
Being strong is a vital quality for fighter, but strength is only useful when repeatable in MMA.
Scenario #2
A fighter has cardio for days and never gasses out, but, he gets thrown around when wrestling or on the ground. If cardio is never an issue, lets get him much stronger and work on his ground game. Train the weakness and everything gets better.
I know this seems obvious but training your weakness is a vital key to success. If Mayweather started in MMA, would he need to work on his boxing? Hell no! He would have to improve in other areas, but boxing would be the least of his worries.
I can go on for days, but one thing always remains true. A strong, well-conditioned fighter always has an advantage. If you make a mistake, being stronger than your opponent may give you just enough wiggle room to negate the mistake. Why wouldn’t you want to get every possible edge on your opponent?