When it comes to sports, people love fighting events like the ones in Boxing, KickBoxing or MMA. These sports all have their fanbases, but when it comes to the key differences, some of the people who don’t watch them regularly might not be able to see what differentiates them from one another. Let’s look at the key differences between MMA and KickBoxing.
MMA
MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is basically a sport where different athletes compete under the same set of rules, each one of them having a specialized skill set. Essentially the sport began as a way to find the most complete and effective way of combat. Through the years, it evolved to be a mainstream sport in the world, with the biggest competitions being the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships.
One of the reasons why this sport became so popular is because fans can bet on their favorite athletes. It isn’t really hard to understand how to bet on the mcgregor fight, or on the winner of the next big event. Most sportsbooks already have these features implemented in their websites and it’s easy to select some options and lock them in.
Kick-Boxing
The term “kickboxing” has two different meanings.
It can refer to any stand-up combat sport that includes both punching and kicking. This category includes Muay Thai, Burmese boxing, Khmer Boxing, Savate, Indian boxing, Sanda and certain styles of Karate, particularly full-contact.
Its second context is more limited, used specifically to refer to Dutch Kickboxing, Japanese Kickboxing and American Kickboxing.
Different kickboxing organizations have different sets of rules that the fighters follow, usually referring to elbow strikes and types of kicks (football/soccer kicks for example) being penalized.
Differences between MMA and Kickboxing
For someone who isn’t really into fighting sports, MMA and Kickboxing might look the same, but there are differences. The first and most important difference is that in MMA the fighters use wrestling techniques. This is why a lot of wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu practitioners are able to compete in MMA.
Even some WWE stars have tried to compete in the MMA world, with the best and biggest example being Brock Lesnar, who even was a Heavyweight Champion.
The fighting style in Kickboxing is very different to MMA. For example, most of the fighters in MMA have their stances lower than the Kickboxers’ because they have to fight back against potential take-down attempts.
The place where the athletes compete is different as well. Usually, in MMA, an octagon is used, while most of the Kickboxing fights take place in a general ring, used by Boxers.
