How long until you went amateur?

[insomniacl]

Hey amateur fighters/pro fighters,

Was wondering how long you trained for before you decided you were ready for your first amateur fight?

What was your base? What other martial arts did you add to your arsenal, and for how long did you work on it?

[Jeremy Myers]

I fell in love with mma as a sophomore in high school and joined the wrestling team once i realized it would help with my eventual mma career. I taught myself as much as i could from books and instructionals for a few years and really geared my wrestling style toward mma, then started getting formal training in bjj my senior year in high school and started competing in mma following the summer after my senior year. So i was prepping for mma for a few years and as far as formal training on the ground about a year. I actually only had one official muay thai class and some work in open mats on my stand up though lol. Lots of sparring and rolling and technique with guys who i knew that fight and train so i just have accrued experience in a non traditional ways, lots of backyard stuff before i ever hit a gym lol

[steven-wyo]

wrestling to bjj and kickboxing... i debut in september and at that point it'll be a couple years but i have had several injuries delay me. my first fight i was supposed to be 9 months after i started doing bjj. take it for what you will

[NeverTap145]

Depends where u fight amateur at, Jersey and PA rules you could jump into pretty quick. VA amateur rules are Pro rules in most states. I had my first Am fight in VA after a 8months of mma training. I also wrestled in HS in ohio, a legit wrestling state. Think about what u do before you hop in the cage, ive been to atleast 20 to 30 different shows....and ive seen more then my share of guys take a LIFE CHANGING ASS BEATING!!


If your fighting Jersey or PA rules its not really MMA anyway so go for it. It's kickboxing with sub grappling!

[God_hates_you]

I had my first amature kickboxing fight after 1 month and my first pro fight after six. I had my first amature MMA fight after 7 months of training. That was 7 years ago. Don't train much anymore but really should. I'm a gettin' fat.

[Brian Cronk]

I was a mediocre high school wrestler. I blame immaturity and piss poor cardio (wasn't lazy in practice, but didn't do extra road work). Didn't do it for like 6 years, then got back into bjj and then muay thai like 2 months after. Did the whole gambit for a little over 2 years and kept dragging my feet. Eventually a buddy voluntered me for a card back in October of 08, and so far I'm 2-0. I echo the sentiments of the guy who says don't jump in too quick. I've seen some guys come into our gym, train half-ass for a few months, hop in, and get wrecked. If you are insanely outclassed, you may never heal up right.

[AddictedDwarf]

when you have nothing but lint in ur pocket cuz MMA gyms are INSANELY expensive. Then you know you're trained enough and ready to enter.

[Torrid]

::shrug:: six months. It's just amateur and you might as well test if you have the stones for it.

[angryvegetarian]

My first fight was about a month after I first started training. After I realized I was decent I started a more serious schedule. After that it was usually around 2-3 months of training before fights. Although there were several times I'd fight several times in a span of one or two months, but that's not too rare for amateurs.

My first real training was in muay thai, then boxing, then sambo, then I got in a little bjj before I injured my back years ago. Haven't fought since

[-omni-]

it really just depends on the person and how fast you pick things up, how often you train and what shape your in when you start training.

i had my first fight after nine months. i boxed when i was a kid, did pro wrestling prior to mma, and then wrestled in three submission grappling tournaments after i started training but before the fight.