Is it to late to seriously train too get into Strikeforce, K-1, or UFC?

[Maddogkull]

I am 17 years old, and I have had a background in martial arts. I was in Kung Fu at an early age, and was in Karate for a few years as well. I am currently training in MMA. Jujitsu, Muay Thai, and Kickboxing. How many amateur fights should I fight in before I try to go Pro? Is it too late to get into K-1,Strikeforce or UFC??

 

[Maddogkull]

By the way, Have been a long time lurker on this thread, good to finally participate on this forum.

 

[Carol]

Is it too late, absolutely not! But don't do it at the expense of other life pursuits, such as finishing high school college. Work in your training along with other activities.

There may be some folks here that are more experienced in MMA than I am so I'll let the comment on how many amateur fights, but I think key will be when your coach has the opportunity, and what professional opportunities you are able to find.

Good luck with the journey. :asian:

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

It is definitely not to late but.... it is getting harder to get into those leagues. Simply put, there is greater competition now to get in than back in the day. I know one person who is 14 and 6 and still looking for that elusive pro fight. If you train with someone linked into the system then you probably will have a better chance.

 

[Tez3]

Where are you based and who do you train with? I don't suppose you are Brit lol? It would make it easy to help you if so but if not, can at least give some advice

 

[jks9199]

It is definitely not to late but.... it is getting harder to get into those leagues. Simply put, there is greater competition now to get in than back in the day. I know one person who is 14 and 6 and still looking for that elusive pro fight. If you train with someone linked into the system then you probably will have a better chance.

Especially since a lot of the "promoters" out there are more than happy to put together a show that has all the trappings of a pro event -- using amateurs. In other words... they don't have to pay a prize purse out of the take...

And they're getting a good show, too!

 

[SensibleManiac]

It really depends on how serious you are.

How much are you training?
Are you very very very serious?
I can't emphasize very enough, back when I was "good" enough to compete professionally I trained extremely hard, and as dedicated and good as I was, I wouldn't stand a chance when looking at some of the competition today.
What's changed is that although I was very good, I could have stood out alot more back then and broken through to the professional ranks because of it, today I wouldn't stand out at all.

Another thing that bothers me about your question is that you ask about a different number of combat sports, K-1 and UFC are very different, if you are looking for which would be easier to break into then you have it all wrong. There is nothing "easy" about combat sports, you have to be willing to give it your all, and then some.

Having said that, looking for the easiest one to get into would indicate that you have no clue of what would go into getting to that level.

Now if you are serious then I HIGHLY recommend that you join a known gym where you can train with known fighters.

You'll probably have to undo some bad habits you might have picked up in your kung fu, karate training, this of course depends on several variables.

Either way you'll have to dedicate the majority of your time and energy to training, conditioning, and diet and rest to develop the skills where you can ever hope to enter the pro ranks.

 

[Tez3]

Amateurs should be paid at least their expenses and here are usually put on a ticket deal as well ie five Pounds for every ticket they sell. Often they'll sell fifty tickets so that's £250 plus expenses, there isn't the money here for big purses so that could easily be as much as a little known pro fighter will get. As the rounds are 3x 3 minutes that's not bad going for nine minutes work as an amateur lol!

I know a couple of fighters who do K1 and MMA, they go well together but the emphasis must be on finding a gym and a coach who has the contacts and the knowledge to get you into the competitions and you must be willing as well as training hard to market yourself. Promoters want entertaining fighters so they have to have 'personality' as well as good fighting skills. That also helps to get you sponsored which in turn allows you the time to train instead of having to find a job to support yourself. It's a big package if you want to get to the top. In many ways the easist bit is the training and fighting because its straight forward and you know what you have to do, the marketing, publicity and sponsorship is the hard part.

Never take fights, if asked to fight always refer them to your coach, it's their job to make sure you are fighting the right people, don't manage yourself either again that's coach's job or get a manager. A fighter's job is to fight that's all. You can't do it all, doesn't work well.

So the first thing you have to do on the long road to the top is find a gym and a coach.
Next do as you are told and train, train and train.