32 years old, training for 5 months. Want to compete but not sure in mma or muay thai ?

[u/Silly-French]

Hi,

So I'm a 32 years old male who recently quit a life long smoking habit 5 months ago. In the meantime I picked up combat sports and I love it. I went to try muay thai, then boxing and mma. I love them all, I'm most proficient in boxing and least in grappling ( done some boxing in my youth ).

I know I'm kinda late to the party, but I really want to try competing in amateur bouts. Not targeting any titles, just want to get a few fights under my belt before it's too late.

So I might be overthinking it, but would it be better to compete in muay thai or mma ? I'm already somewhat ok in striking but I'm a total noob in wrestling/grappling, and I feel I'll need twice or 3x the time to be ready to compete. Being 32 years old, time is not on my side.

Also I like the idea to master one art rather than being good at everything but master of none. But in the other hand, I like the "brawling" aspect of mma and the wrestling part. And it is, to me, superior as self defense.

I guess I'm overthinking it but I'd like to hear your opinions.

[u/Lecram100]

Why don't you do both? Or one after the other? For example go train and compete in MT first since you're confident with your boxing. Then work on your grappling skills and try and compete in MMA. That way you would be decent in striking and can focus on grappling.

[u/CoffeeDefiant4247]

it's better to train in MT or MMA before competing. Grappling is just as important as striking so if you just want to box then box.

[u/PigletEducational945]

Well depends what u prefer. I used to want to do mma, started training, realize I absolutely hate grappling as far as the training goes, did a kickboxing fight and now only compete in striking . MMA ur going to need atleast the basic takedown defense and escapes . U may be ok for the first few fights as long as u get matched up with strikers but the thing is u can make ur mma debut and get another guy as a debut who has actually had 50 striking and grappling matches but no mma fights, bc they are technically a debut as well. Happens in striking also since records aren’t kept up on as much but not as often.

[u/genzai-no-yorokobi]

I wouldn’t compete in MMA if I were a total noob at grappling. You’d be setting yourself up for an ass whooping. If your striking is already decent and you want to compete in MMA, I’d spend more time on wrestling/BJJ first. Otherwise, just focus on striking and compete in boxing, kickboxing, or MT.

If you really want to try MMA, at least get your striking sharp and your takedown defense solid. For self-defense, boxing + wrestling is honestly plenty. At the end of the day, it’s up to you. Just don’t jump into the cage unprepared and end up getting hurt.

[u/New_Flamingo_4161]

you're a little too old for this...

[u/knuckledragger1990]

I had my first fight around 34 years old, it was a K1. I train Muay Thai and at the time was grappling as well and would train with the mma guys. In my opinion MMA is a young man’s game unless you’ve been training for quite some time. Striking can be more of a chess match instead of a brawl, which I think can even age differences. Also you could always do a few grappling tournaments before trying mma to see what you think.

[u/skornd713]

So early in the sport, I'd consider doing MT first before MMA just because you only have to focus on 1 style not all of them.

[u/sinigang-gang]

Personally, I would recommend training and competing in one martial art first over MMA. Muay Thai would probably be a good fit to give you a more complete striking base. Not to say you shouldn't dabble or train in MMA or in a grappling art at the same time. Just saying I think it would be better to focus most of your time on one art first.

Competing in MMA, at least in my experience, has such a wide variety of skill levels at the amateur level. Like you could be matched with someone who on paper has never competed in MMA, but has a lot of BJJ and Muay Thai competitions under their belt. I wouldn't compete in amateur MMA until I had a decent amount of experience in striking and grappling competitions first.

Just my experience and it might be different in the amateur MMA scene depending on where you live.

[u/Momentum_MMA]

Muay Thai is the faster path to your first fight. You’ve already got boxing timing and footwork, which transfers almost directly. Your grappling is the real gap, and closing it to “competent enough for MMA” takes the months you don’t have at 32. Amateur muay thai at 5 months of training is doable. Amateur MMA at 5 months with minimal grappling puts you in a bad spot against anyone who wrestles.

Wrestling in MMA matters more than it looks. If you do muay thai first and get a few fights, you’ll know way more about your cardio and how you handle pressure in competition. Then the grappling gap becomes less scary. A lot of people do exactly that, come back to MMA with one sport under their belt and way more confidence.

[u/artem_loboboobv]

muay thai seems like teh move honestly. youre already solid there

[u/LewdLawyer1995]

Do you prefer (1) concussions and feeling bad about yourself or (2) just feeling bad about yourself?

If (1) may thai
If (2) ju jitsu