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Combat sports is a pretty diverse genre that has changed dramatically over the years, it used to be very segmented and traditional to a societies own culture. Now in the age of information and fast travel, MMA combines it all. The game never stops changing either, every training camp for pro fighters is out there trying to find a new edge, changing up certain semantics in their grappling flow or striking game. You can't tell the future but you can infer a lot from the past. Padding and protection has consistently improved in the last 100 years. In another 100 years we may be competing in exosuits that absorb and measure all forces then turns off when someone gets hit on the jaw or temple with a 1,200 pound strike. Probably not anytime soon, and if you asked any MMA fighter to start wearing suits that don't actually knock them out but power down they might just kick your ass. You've got fighters out there snapping limbs, winning through giant hematomas, getting knocked out and then back up again to win the fight. There's too many variables and combat sports just isn't really the place athletes want to wear protective clothing like bulky gloves, helmets, rib pads, etc. We're always going to want the modern day gladiator style brutality that comes with full speed contact no holds bars action. The rules will continue to change here and there, different promotions allow different strikes or submissions. We still stream Bare Knuckle Boxing from around the world and real Muay Thai fights. So until the big lawmakers come in and start making fighters wear bubble boy suits, you better watch some real fights with Fight.TV!!!

Football, Soccer, Cheerleading are the most widely known sport for injury. Running at full speeds or flying through the air subjects us to serious bodily injury. My freshman year in highschool playing football, we had a JV team member who passed away from his internal injuries sustained in a football game. Sports can be very dangerous. Combat sports are of no exception. There's the obvious injuries in combat sports, like Connor Mcgregor and Anderson Silva's leg breaks. We see broken noses, broken hands, ribs, all kinds of nasty bruises n cuts. One thing we don't see though is the mental health toll. Fighting isn't really a team sport, you have your camp and you kind of represent them when you fight but it's still a 1 V 1 sport. So when you lose, it's all on you. There's the emotional aspect of failing yourself in a loss, failing your camp, everything you thought you were fighting for. That doesn't even compare to the possibility of head injury though. The increased risk of developing Parkinson's. We see it in boxers like football plays and other high contact sports, the brain sustains damage over time after being rattled around inside our skull so much. Fighters are supposed to be the toughest bunch out there. Showing any sign of weakness or vulnerability feels awful. Some are brave enough to make a stand though. Tyson Fury has recently been quoted as saying his toughest opponents aren't the ones you can see, but the ones inside our head. I remember when I was playing football, and our teammate Taylor Haugen died. It was surreal like, we we're only playing football? How did this happen? The other teams players that had tackled him quit playing, couldn't even leave their rooms. Our team was looking around at each other hoping nobody else gets injured like that. So our school and Taylors parents started a foundation to improve safety padding to protect against the types of injuries Taylor sustained. Which is midsection padding to absorb shock and prevent internal injury specifically wide receivers who often are jumped up, arms spread, mid section wide open. Taylor had a catch phrase that still lives on - "Don't quit, never give up." That's what we should do with mental health. Not just for fighters but for everyone. Mental health is a serious issue that needs the stigmas of weakness and keeping it to ourselves, removed. If people like Tyson Fury can come out and say he's struggled with mental health. If Taylors legacy of never giving up and his foundation saves more lives and prevents injury for football players. We can carry the same sentiment about mental health for ourselves and others. Don't Quit, Never Give Up.

You ever wondered what would happen if an MMA Fighter and a bodybuilder went toe to toe? Well, look no further because Fight.TV and Vekhayn are bringing you an article all about it. Believe it or not, this question has been asked before and by many. In the early days of the UFC you kind of see it, experienced grapplers fighting muscle heads and quickly submitting them. Videos of smaller scrawny dudes taking down big hulk looking, guys. Why is that though? We're going to break it down to the sweet science! You see, fighting is one of the most serious sports in all of athletics, especially in terms of cardio. Throwing punches will wind you out really quick. You know what else will take a lot of wind out of you? Having lots of muscle. It takes lots of oxygen to keep those muscles moving. So the more muscle mass you have, the more oxygen your body needs to sustain energy in a fight. That's why most boxers and MMA fighters you see are more on the lean side or just kind of fat and very rarely do you see a fighter that looks like a bodybuilder. Now of course the case isn't always the lean mean fighter wins. Everyone in combat sports knows if you get hit on the button. You're going out. So a bodybuilder could still land a hard shot. Or with some wrestling experience control a fight on the ground with sheer strength. One thing is for certain though. Bodybuilders train to look strong, and often struggle with other aspects of health to maintain a 5% bodyfat. Your body needs these fats to maintain your energy levels. Especially in a fight. The MMA fighter is also very experienced on the ground, where as bodybuilders who just lift often don't know how to defend heel-hooks, Kimuras, rear naked chokes, calf slicers, and an arsenal of other grappling submissions. Don't believe us? The internet is full of these videos and stories. Just go see for yourself! What do you have to say, Tommy? Well, as a bodybuilder that does Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, I'd say for the most part you're right. But for my fellow bodybuilders out there, don't get discouraged. Being a bodybuilder and a martial artist is a double-edged sword, here's why: As Austin mentioned above, you will get exhausted quicker than the other fighter. Most of the fighters are much leaner for this reason- but bodybuilders do have an incredible advantage: Raw strength. Any of my MMA sparring buddies will tell you that it is really hard to get me in a submission. With my pure strength, often times I can hold one of their wrists in place or stop a submission from happening completely with just brute force. For instance, good luck trying to get me in an arm bar- I can curl hundreds of pounds and I can easily just break the grip on most people trying to get my arm flat. Also, good luck if you misplace your wrist, I can hold that in place and maneuver around your body while you try to break the intense grip I have on it. While most MMA fighters that are leaner have an advantage over a bodybuilder, a bodybuilder does have the raw strength to escape a submission. Think of hulk breaking through a wall. Bodybuilders also have the advantage of being able to manipulate their opponents in combat more efficiently too. I can easily pick up my opponent, and doing a single/double leg takedown becomes much easier when you have a ton of strength to work with. It's similar to a "Lions vs Bears" battle. The lion is the MMA fighter, and the bear is the bodybuilder. They are somewhat evenly matched, and it really depends how both sides use their advantages. The lion is much quicker in attacks, can quickly reposition, is super manueverable, and often has much more stamina than the bear. While the bear is much slower, it's attacks are MUCH stronger. If the bear lands one good hit on the tiger, the tiger can lose. It's up to the lion to be on its' game and to position correctly to not lose the battle. I personally love watching bodybuilders vs MMA fighters fight on YouTube- it's so interesting as each fight is just so intense and you can tell that each person is trying their hardest. It's not like some of the fights where it gets kind of repetitive and boring, the bodybuilder vs MMA fighter match up is crazy intense. Check it out for yourself!

It's no secret that Bruce Lee was a martial artist. Some people say he was all Hollywood, and you can find videos or articles trying to discredit him as a martial artist from his lack of fight record or active competing. Which is all total BS. Some of the greatest fighters in the world have sparred and trained with Lee, you can take their word for it. What many people don't know is culturally Chinese martial arts are a very safeguarded knowledge. Often families stick to their own styles and don't teach others what they know. So when you find someone willing to train you, it's a huge honor. While this has changed over the years. Bruce Lee was the first to come out and imply we shouldn't try to stick to one style, we should adapt or "Be water." Lee got a lot of heat in even the American community over this. Still today many gyms want you training only with them. Bruce Lee was the first main combat sports person to suggest we should train and learn as much as possible regardless of loyalty to one distinct style. That the individual makes the fight, not the style. He would get into many arguments over this. A lot of people in the martial arts community acted as if Lee was speaking heresy. So next time you travel to another camp or attend a certain instructors seminar. Remember that this hasn't always been so widely accepted in martial arts, at one time it was considered this biggest disrespect to your instructor. Give Bruce Lee a praise and a thanks for leading the path to remove stigmas around sticking to one distinct style.

Thailand is known for many things, they have a very rich history and culture. Their form of kickboxing - Muay Thai is absolutely brutal. Fighters from all over the world will go to Thailand to train traditional Muay Thai. It's kind of a right of passage in American kickboxing. So if you ever travel there, be sure to go train and even watch a fight in person. Something interesting about Muay Thai fighters, they smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. Not just in general but while training. It's kind of encouraged even. There was a season of Ultimate Fighter where they brought in an American fighter who had trained in Thailand for years to spar with the shows fighters. He showed up drunk and still kicked all their asses, made it look easy. Muay Thai is big on utilizing your knees and elbows, wrapping people up and fighting in the clinch. Blows from elbows or knees are devastating and often banned by different fight promoters. Muay Thai does not ban these and instead encourages that you use them. So you could say Thai fighters are as tough as they come. They will often start training as young as 5 years old. Muay Thai can be traced back to the 16th century. It was influenced by the martials arts out of both China and India where Thailand sits between. Traditional Muay Thai and Boxing are some of todays most popular sports in Thailand. This culture has honed one of the best fighting styles in the world, for that we at Fight TV are very grateful for Thai fight culture.

The sweet science comes down to much more than just punching power, but to understand boxing on a scientific level punch power is a good way to start. If a boxer wants a win via knockout then they're gonna want to have some heavy hands, some bombers, the haymakers. This can be understood as simply as the equation for force, because the more force behind a punch (with the right accuracy) will achieve a knockout. Force equals mass times acceleration. It's no secret that heavier weight classes punch harder, because they have more mass. That's why you see guys like Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis being the top 2 hardest hitters in UFC. They've actually measured these guys punching power and Francis Ngannou holds the world record for most powerful punch at 129,161 units of force. We measure force in newtons. So to punch harder you need a solid amount of muscle mass. Then you need the technique that comes with it. The speed and ability to throw your body mass into the punch, which is called a "kinetic chain". The average amateur boxer is hitting around 2,500 newtons of force and striking contact with about 300 pounds of force per hit. Ngannou and other heavy hitters are striking at well over 1,000 pounds of force per punch. Your punches are kinetic energy and equal the mass of your body to the fist, multiplied by how fast it's moving between point A (somewhere beside you) to B (someone's face.) That momentum making contact and transferring kinetic energy if your punch. Kick, elbow, headbutt, whatever. Force = Mass X acceleration (punch power) = Fist / Body behind it x Speed from A to B

When choosing what type of grappling style to study or what type of gym to go to, you'll hear all kinds of things. "BJJ is best" or "Sambo beats all the other styles." When in reality, it's all about context. Why do you want to start training? Are you wanting to just pickup some self defense? Are you training for a upcoming fight and know your opponent is mean with ground and pound? These are the variables that will discern what discipline you want to train in. Sambo and BJJ are probably the broadest of the grappling styles, they encompass everything from takedowns to submissions. They teach different things at different ranks like most BJJ white belts don't get to learn heel-hooks while newbies to Sambo are often taught that very early. Regardless both styles give you a very broad introduction and study of grappling. So if you want to just learn general self defense, these are tow good styles to study. 10th Planet Jiujitsu is a no-gi system. Meaning they don't wear the white karate uniform with the belt. Jiujitsu without the gi is give and take. Practicing without a gi lets you move faster and experience a more realistic simulation of an actual fight or encounter on the street. Practicing with a gi however, slows you down to make you more technical while honing your grip strength with thick cloth to grab translating to better holds in wrists and such. 10th Planet is a fun system, many of the worlds best Jiujitsu practitioners hail from 10th planet gyms. Greco Roman Wrestling is ideal for takedowns, and takedown defense. If you want to focus on those two things, or be the type of fighter that opts in for ground n pound versus submissions. This would be a discipline you'd want to study. A good wrestler can maintain dominant position over a grappler and subdue them with strikes, we see it all the time in MMA. so if you're more of a striker than a grappler, Greco Roman Wrestling is the way to go. Your best route as a amateur or pro fighter is to be well rounded and train accordingly for who you fight against, preparing for their strengths/weaknesses. Commit a little time to all of these styles but focus on what's best to prepare for your opponent. If you just want general self defense, find the best camp. I've seen gyms like a ex Hollywood stuntman who teaches all disciplines, but he was a stuntman not an expert in any style. You'd probably rather go to a gym with more experienced instructors in their disciplines for self defense. So it's not always the style but equally the instructor to consider, and be sure to ask how they feel about you cross training. Old school camps don't like that, they want you only training with them. Many of those camps still yield top performing fighters. Newer gyms actually promote cross training and want you to learn as much from others as possible. Just make sure that gyms narrative fits how you want to train as well.

1. Jon Jones Jon Jones is on a 4 win fight streak, has 10 wins via Knockout, 6 wins via submission, and 7 wins via decision. 10 title defenses. A 58% striking accuracy and a 44% takedown accuracy. Averaging 4.3 strikes landed per minute and 1.8 takedowns every 15 minutes. 95% takedown defense rating. His average fight lasts about 15 minutes. 2. Kamaru Usman Kamaru Usman is on a 18 fight win streak. 9 wins via Knockout, 1 win via submission, and 9 wins via decision. 4 title defenses. A 54% striking accuracy and a 47% takedown accuracy. Averaging 4.6 strikes landed per minute and 3.2 takedowns per 15 minutes. 100% takedown defense rating. His average fight lasts about 16 minutes. 3. Israel Adesanya Israel Adesanya has 15 wins via Knockout, 0 wins via submission, and 6 wins via decision. 3 title defenses. 50% striking accuracy landing 3.9 punches every minute. Averaging 0 takedowns every 15 minutes. 82% takedown defense rating. 89% of his striking is from stand up. 52% of his strikes to the head, 17% to the body, and 31% to the legs. 4. Alexander Volkanovski Alexander Volkonovski is on a 19 win fight streak. 11 wins via Knockout, 3 wins via submission, and 7 wins via decision. 56% striking accuracy with 6 strikes landed per minute. 35% takedown accuracy with 2 takedowns per 15 minutes. 70% of his strikes from standup with 57% of those to the head, 11% to the body, and 32% to the legs. 5. Francis Ngannou Francis Ngannou is on a 5 win fight streak. 12 wins via Knockout, 4 wins via submission, and 0 wins by decision. 38% striking accuracy with 2.2 punches landed per minute. 0 takedowns per 15 minutes. 66% of his strikes are from standup while 15% in the clinch and 19% on the ground. 79% of his strikes go to the head with 12% to the body and 9% to the legs.

Fight culture exists around the world but what makes it unique is always the community behind it. Mexico is no stranger to fight culture, holding the second place for countries with most professional champion boxers. I've got friends who compete and competed in the past, I'm consistently told that if you want to fight in Mexico, you better be aware of what you're in for. The Mexican style of boxing known for its ferocious offense, attracts combat athletes from all over the world. The best fighters on the planet travel to Mexico to learn their style of boxing, just like people travel to Thailand for Muay Thai. While Soccer is Mexico's biggest sport, Boxing comes in at number two. Many boxers there play soccer too, which significantly helps their footwork, dexterity, and conditioning. Julio Chavez, Juan Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, and Andy Ruiz jr are just some of the current and prior greatest fighters in the world who come from Mexico. When you see these boxers come out, you see a lot of their flag colors and embodiment of their proud heritage. Mexican boxers are as elite as they come, they prove it every fight too! So if you're an up n coming boxer or fighter who wants to work on their boxing. You need to visit some camps in Mexico. Romanza Gym in Mexico City is world famous, the best fighters in the world are aching to get in there. Ignacio Beristain is in the World Boxing Hall of Fame, and you'll be training with him if you step food into Romanza Gym. Mexico is very well known for it's fighters. So if you step foot over there to train be sure to bring immense respect and humility, or you'll swiftly become humbled regardless. Fight culture there is just as strong as Sambo Wrestling in Russia, Muay Thai in Thailand, Jiujitsu in Brazil or Japan. So if you're going there to fight, you better bring your A game! Fight.TV has lots of love for our Mexican boxers and fighters abroad competing / training there. We often host pro boxing PPV events there. So if you want to see some of this action, tune in with us!

There's no if's, ands, or but's about it - Khabib is the GOAT of modern MMA. This man sells his PPV's without the need for atrocious smack talk and audacious insults, he sells his fights because of how explosively he fights. Khabib doesn't talk trash, until you enter the cage with him. Then it's Khabib standing over his opponent making it rain punches while telling the other dude to just give up! It takes some serious grit to refrain from smack talk and then effortlessly do it during mid fight. If there was one athlete that you want your kids looking up to, It's Khabib Nurmagomedov. The man is incredibly humble. Goes out of his way to take pics with fans like the elderly woman who stood outside of UFC headquarters with a sign requesting him. He travels around the world to help his team members and friends train, he won't even accept payment for it either. Khabib has an immense respect for his family as his mother asked him to refrain from competing after the death of his father. The greatest MMA fighter on the planet, a man rich in wealth and famous friends - still respects and listens to his mom. He had a great relationship with his father, who he anoints much of his success in MMA to. If you haven't seen the video, you can watch a young Khabib wrestle with a bear. You can tell he's been a fighter since birth just about. While he isn't currently competing, the man is still coaching. His prior 5 coached fighters, have all won their bouts. In and outside of the cage, Khabib is a phenom. His fight record is 29-0, he's never lost. Undefeated as a fighter and coach, if there was ever someone you wanted in your corner. Someone you wanted to look up to and emulate, whether you're an athlete or business person or artist. You can find a mentor in Khabib. Some of his quotes that speak magnitudes of his character - "Climb the mountains so you can see the world, not so the world can see you." - "Only the passion for the dreams, courage to pursue them, determination to succeed, turns them into a reality." - "Money and fame doesn't change people, it just shows you who they truly are." Mr. Nurmagomedov, we here at Fight.TV salute you. For your humility, for your respect, and all around presence you bring to this sport we love so much. The world would be a much better place if more folks conducted themselves like you. We know your family, friends, and late father especially are so proud! Thankyou for everything you do.

The Diaz brothers are synonymous with fight culture. They've been here since the earlier days of UFC in 2008 for Nate and 2003 for Nick. They were both fighting professionally before, and kicking ass. Nick was a IFC, Strikeforce, and WEC Welterweight champion, Nate was fighting top contenders in WEC. They were born to a Mexican-American family in Stockton California. They grew up street fighting and carry that mentality along with them into their career. Nate is famous for his sentiment on fighting where he doesn't want it to be about sportsmanship and shaking hands, he wants to wreck shop. The brothers have been doing martial arts since they were kids. They started training Brazilian Jiujitsu under Cesar Gracie, who they both received their blackbelt under. 2008 for Nick and 2012 for Nate. Nate still co-holds the record for UFC bonus awards, and also held the record for most UFC PPV sales at one point. Nicks most monumental fights were those against Robbie Lawler, who while Nick was known as a grappler bested Lawler in striking, shocking everyone. His fight with Frank Shamrock put Strikeforce on the map of promoters who host a mean fight, Nick TKO'ing Shamrock in the second round. Diaz beat BJ Penn by decision and what a wild fight that was, watching two grappling legends beat the shit out of eachother, but Nick won via decision. The brothers are also huge advocates for cannabis, they're entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry owning brands like Game Up Nutrition. They run a gym - the Nick Diaz Academy. They're charitable and care about their community. You can tell by the mural of Nate Diaz in Stockton.

Jiujitsu is a brutal sport, it's often called human chess. Joe Rogan, Russel Brand, and Wiz Khalifa to name some - are just a few people you may heard of who roll. Rolling is sparring in Jiujitsu. When you're at an experienced gym it's going to be full of all belt ranks. Don't let that discourage you from training at new gyms though, because lots of one on one with a blackbelt instructor for standard rough $100 a month is still a killer deal. When you're at an experienced gym though, there's belts of all ranks and the lower rank belts are going to be less graceful in their grappling and more likely to injure you. The blue belts (first rank above white) all have something to prove against the new white belts. Your purple and brown belts will be a little more forgiving but also submit you more quickly. The black belts will take time to teach you stuff while you're rolling. So with that being said, you have a serious scramble fest against other white belts and newer blue belts. They're all going to kick your ass, rub your ears in the matt, and make you sore regardless. Even the other new guy who you best most times, will tap you out. It's a humbling experience really. Your job as a white belt is simply to survive. Try to retain what you learned in the drilling and technique repetition between rolls. While rolling, don't fight armbars to the death. Save that for competition. I was the white belt who would risk losing an arm to get out of an armbar, DON'T BE THAT WHITE BELT. Don't be afraid to tap. Be afraid of injury. Just focus on surviving. In practice you'll slowly learn how to gauge what levels of submissions are dangerous and what range of motions you can still prevent or escape from them. When you first start Jiujitsu, everyone is going to kick your ass. Unless you have serious wrestling and grappling experience, just get ready to have your ass kicked. After awhile, the ass kickings will be less bad. You'll pickup on the body motions that create the space and separation you need to breathe. You'll learn to trap arms and legs, pass guards without using your elbows as ice picks, avoid going for the full mount and find comfort with side control. It's a process, but you'll learn it. Just focus on surviving and keeping your body intact. Nobody is going to judge you for tapping. Instructors will pull you to the side and tell you, that you're going to seriously injure yourself if you take practice too seriously. The people who stay in Jiujitsu are generally fairly humble, forgiving, and helpful. So just survive, learn, and try to have fun with your Jiujitsu family! Breath, take your time, ask all the questions, and pat your rolling partner on the back when they tap you out. Because they just taught you how to avoid it the next time!