Engaging in any sporting activity comes with immense benefits and everyone has got his or her own sports preference. To participate in any sporting activity, it all starts from self-interest and you may opt to play a given sport professionally, or as a hobby – just for fun. As much as some sporting activities could be similar, each sport has its own rules and regulations. Both Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and boxing have a long history of existence and while they are somewhat similar, there is a clear difference between these two combat sports.
Here are the key differences between the MMA and boxing:
Sports Kit
These two sporting activities can easily be differentiated from the sports gear worn by the fighters.
Boxing Kit: There are two distinct categories of boxers i.e. Professional and Amateurs. There is standard gears for boxing that every boxer must wear while in the ring, however any boxer or their sponsor might customize their gears as per their taste. Professional boxers’ fighting gear consists of boxing gloves, hand wraps, shorts, shoes, and a mouthpiece. Amateur boxers must have a headgear alongside the standard fight gear for boxers. The gloves used in amateur boxing are typically larger than professional gloves.
MMA Kit: They too have shorts, mouthpiece, and gloves just like the boxers, however, they may wear a few different types of shorts like the Muay Thai or board shorts, among others. MMA gloves are significantly smaller than boxing, and do not cover the fighters’ fingers to allow for grappling.
Fighting Scope
Now, this is the key difference between these two sports. Boxing dimension is limited to striking, whereas MMA fighting has up to three dimensions.
Boxing Scope: All strikes must be thrown from the opponent’s waistline upwards and only at the front side of the opponent’s body and head
MMA Scope: Fighters are allowed to attack with punches, knees, elbows, and kicks towards their opponents. It is amazing to watch an MMA match at the fun casino as the fighters land their strikes to any part of their opponents’ body except at the sensitive parts. Other dimensions in MMA involves clenching and grappling, where the opponents aim to land strikes at each other or to force the opponent to surrender with a variety of submission holds.
Fighting Zones
Boxing Fights: All fights take place in a standardized ring with of 16- and 20-feet dimension with ropes surrounding the ring.
MMA Fights: MMA bouts usually take place in circular or polygonal cages measuring ~30 feet in diameter and with a 6 feet tall fence.
Match Rounds
Boxing: Fights go up to 12 rounds each lasting 3 minutes with a minute break between each round. Typically bouts can last from 4-12 rounds depending on the organization’s rule set.
MMA: It has between 3-5 rounds, with each round takes 5 minutes.
Winning Formula
Boxing: You can either win by knocking out your opponent or by the judge’s decision. The outcome of the judge’s decision could be unanimous, split, or a draw.
MMA: A winner is declared either by the opponent overwhelming their counterpart with strikes, a submission or ‘tap-out’, or the judges can declare the winner using a scoring system similar to boxing.
Bottom Line
Both of these sporting activities have their pros and cons and both have a huge fan base globally. Every person has their own preference for any sporting activity and both of these sports pays handsomely for the elite professionals. If you don’t have the cash to attend live bouts, you can opt to catch up with your friends at a fun casino to play versus your friends.