MMA fighters tend to be seen in the public eye when they are fighting and not necessarily at other times (well unless they’re Conor McGregor and famous for a million other things). Fans may wonder what they tend to get up to when they’re not fighting or training, and what sort of interests tend to be the hobbies of MMA fighters.

Not meaning to pigeonhole, we know that MMA fighters can enjoy a wide range of different things, from antique collecting to card games. Hobbies are unique and sometimes personal, but there are definitely some patterns and things we see MMA fighters getting up to time and time again.

Poker

Poker’s popularity among MMA fighters makes a lot of sense when you think about some of the skills they need in the octagon, such as strategy and even a bit of bravado and poker face. Loads of stars including legend Dan Henderson are known to play poker online, and some have even taken part in face-to-face tournaments.Henderson even described the hobby as a way that he could stay sharp when not taking part in MMA, and the mental workout is important – this is not just a physical sport.

We don’t know every MMA fighter who has also played some poker, and enjoys this as a hobby, as so many of them will play online and may not have ventured to tournaments or to actual casinos. Stars like Georges St-Pierre and Randy Couture are others who have also spoken about playing poker, so it is no secret that a lot of different fighters take part in poker when they’re not engaging in the “day job” of MMA fighting.

Video Gaming

Video gaming is a popular hobby among loads of different sports stars, including those who are involved in MMA. Fighters have often publicly discussed their love of gaming, and Conor McGregor even appeared in a game as a villain (Call of Duty to be precise). COD even includes facial scans of Conor McGregor and he spoke about the chance to be in the game, saying that he had played this particular game for a lot of years: “To actually get an opportunity to take part in the game, I dived in. There was a stage where I’d be up all night, like literally all night. Let’s say I’d wake up, I’d go training, I do maybe 2-3 hours training. I’d come home nice and early. I’d sit down, and I’d play Black Ops 2”.

Fair to say that one of the biggest-known stars in the history of MMA is a gamer, but there are plenty of others involved who also play games. Amusingly, Max Holloway even spoke on the Joe Rogan Podcast about the fact that he plays the UFC game and has even used this to practice moves for when he goes back to the Octagon.

Games are popular among a lot of different sports stars, they are a way to relax that doesn’t usually require a lot of physical exertion and this means that they can do so while they’re resting and recovering after a big fight.

Adventurous Sports and Activities

Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone may instantly spring to your mind as he has done a fair share of thrilling sports such as skydiving from thousands of feet.

Cerrone is also a fan of wakeboarding and had ambitions to go professional. MMA fighters like to do things that keep them fairly active but that also get the blood pumping and some adrenaline in their system, and a lot of them are known to do things like skydiving and even slightly more tame activities like skating and watersports.

Being in the octagon provides a physical challenge for a lot of these players and this means that they look for similar elsewhere so there are a lot of thrilling sports that they participate in outside of UFC and MMA. Management companies and agents do tend to discourage anything that could risk injury though, so this means that they might not be able to engage as much until after their career ends.

Travel

It makes sense – both for their job and due to the fact that many MMA fighters have made a lot of money in their career, it isn’t a big surprise to see so many people from the sport traveling around the world and doing so in style, with some amazing hotels and Instagram-worthy snaps while they are there. Following too many MMA fighters on Instagram could give you some serious travel envy!

MMA fighters have a lot of different hobbies and tend to be able to spend the time and money on leisure activities, some are even known to enjoy some less common hobbies like horse riding and other activities that you might not expect, but those listed on this guide are some of the most popular hobbies we’ve seen for fighters.