>The reason i started mma. I am a gym bro for 13 years, went to a kickboxing training and got humbled by so many people. I really said wtf i have to learn how to fight
>I'm 6'1 220 with a background in powerlifting and I thought that exact same as Bradly Martyn but my first time sparring in a boxing gym completely changed my mind. The thing is we are often very delusional about our fighting abilities if we don't fight. We shadow box a few times or hit a heavy bag and think we can punch fast and hard. BUT there is a huge difference between practice and execution. All of that didn't matter when I first sparred, everything went out the window and I didn't land a single punch against someone I was roughly 2x as strong as. Once the adrenaline hits we punch much slower and constantly in poor positions to throw punches due to bad footwork. Plus you are for the first time getting punched in the face. Anyone who lifts and thinks they can fight are delusional.
>Bodybuilder will gas in 45s
>The first and most powerful lesson I ever learned when I started boxing was that you cannot tell what your opponent's capable of regardless of how they look. Skill factors in a whole lot more than size or athleticism!
>This is 100% true. Untrained fighters are ducks to trained fighters. I started MMA 10 years ago. When i joined i was 265lbs with a 440 bench press. Im 6ft 4. I thought the same way. Theres no way some 150 lb dude is gonna beat me. Thats when i started training with John Maylo. 155 lb King of the Cage fighter. I could hold my own for about 30 seconds. After that he would beat my ass. Easily. This is real talk. I realized then that there is definitely levels to this. I could whoop random dudes easily. I later learned that nobody really knew how to fight. Not me or anyone i fought. Once you witness the skill gap first hand, it becomes very humbling. I never judge anyone by their size anymore. Now that i know how to fight i dont need to look intimidating. None of that matters.