Why the rush for people to go pro?

Jason McCabe

I think this is a major issue in our sport in this country

Seems if you have about 10 fights with a decent record you can't find opponents at amateur

People aren't giving themselves time to learn the craft I feel

You get a few wins at pro here then hit the states and get some lad who has wrestled for 15 years having his 3rd pro fight and get smashed


Opinions??

crosdad

I don't think number of fights necessarily means improvment as a fighter. You said fighters aren't giving themselves time to learn the craft, but i think the thing about mma is that what you do in the gym and how much time you put on the mat is gonna determine your skill level. That said, obviosuly the more fights you have the more exprerinece you'll get and the easier you'll find it to relax.

i kind of have the opposite issue. Maybe this is totally ignorant but i feel fighting amatuer and pro is virtually the same thing. Your still getting into a cage with someone trying to take your head off. Yes the rounds are shorter and the gloves bigger, but is there really that much of difference?.It's still essentially an mma fight, except you don't get paid for it, and you dont have the chance to build up your pro sherdog record. What bugs me about this is that there are a couple of examples of guys with c class records of 3-0, and they the loose their first pro fight and their records don't reflect them accuratley as a fighter. Maybe this means they needed to have more c class fights though to develop? im not entirely sure. Another things for me, is that mma is a dangerous and physical sport. Most guys don't have hugely long careers as a couple of knockouts can really take their toll on a fighter.

That's why sometimes i think you shouldn't spend too much time dangling around at c class taking more and more damage before you even turn pro and have the chance to make any money. i think this would be different for other sports as you are not taking punches to the head. But for me, i wouldn't want to have 10 ametuer fights before i had even had one at pro. Not only this, but i think most of ireland's top guys at the moment didn't have many amatuer fights.

The Voice of MMA

Fighting pro suits some people better

Kieran81

Jason McCabe wrote: »

Seems if you have about 10 fights with a decent record you can't find opponents at amateur

People aren't giving themselves time to learn the craft I feel

movin up to pro shouldnt be about wins and losses , it should be more about the fighters performance against opponents wit good records and moving up or down based on that. take andy young he's recently moved up to pro and his record says 0-3 so you'd think well he obviously moved up too soon , but if you were to actually look at the fights you'd see he fought 3 of the best young pro fighters in ireland and although he lost he proved that he belongs at that level. similarly you could have c class fighters wit more losses than wins but they could have been against lads who were just ready to move up and went on to be good pros, also there could be guys who have 6 wins or so under there belt and and maybe haven't come up against the same standard of opposition but will be probably be put under pressure to fight pro when their record doesnt really represent the level they are really at

Martin Walker

Many young fighters think they are better than what they actually are.

Many coaches now didnt take time to "learn the craft" as you put it, so they dont know when a fighter is ready.

The way Pol Murray and Liam Shannon are doing things in Belfast is a perfect example of how it should be done. Two experienced coaches who have fought numerous MMA fights (i think Liam is still active?).
They pick the fights for their young lads very wisely and know exactly when its time to step up because they have been there before themselves.
This is why in my opinion they have probably the best young team around at the minute.

cowzerp

Totally agree Jason, most boxers have 50-100 fights before they'd consider going pro or be considered for a license

At 10 fights I think they could be ready but it depends on individual, personally i don't rush my fighters like we did when new-and in the long run the standard will be higher and progress better too.

Coaches are getting more experienced too and this will reflect in there fighters

manga_10

cowzerp wrote: »

Totally agree Jason, most boxers have 50-100 fights before they'd consider going pro or be considered for a license

At 10 fights I think they could be ready but it depends on individual, personally i don't rush my fighters like we did when new-and in the long run the standard will be higher and progress better too.

Coaches are getting more experienced too and this will reflect in there fighters

Couldn't agree more , as a D Class fighter meself , I'd rather iron out all the mistakes now when I'm at the infant stage in the sport rather than taking a massive gamble and going straight into a pro fight. I think one of the best examples of how it should be done is looking at guys like joe duffy, he had at least about 20 fights at amateur before making the move. I'm more than happy with that knowing that fighting is like anything you have to naturally evolve and work on it. Pay your dues don't rush in.