By Scott Neal

in boxing, the jab is the most important weapon in the game. With the jab you are able to do many of things such as setting up your power shots, shooting it in and out of the *danger zone, *gauging your opponent, and even using it while your thinking of your next strategy. There have been fights won behind the jab such as GSP vs Koscheck just for an example. So why do so few MMA fighters use the jab on the regular? Well, lets think about this… Is it because of the fighting range? When factoring in leg kicks and takedowns, this could affect the way fighters use the jab. i noticed that MMA fighters start out at a little further range than boxers and I’m assuming its because they’re leary on leg kicks. But, the most effective leg kicks are most effective in punch range… So therefore there isnt really a good reason why the jab should be used more often, setting up legs kick, flying knees, even takedowns.

Another big factor of why the jab is abandoned in MMA is the lack of true Boxing coaches in the MMA gyms! Its hard to find a true Boxing coach due to.. one: Boxing coaches are busy coaching boxers, and two: a lot of boxing coaches do not want to deal with MMA. If you’re fortunate to have a true boxing coach, that”s awesome. So with that said, really all it takes is applying boxing into MMA is simply MASTERING THE BASICS. There are things that apply from boxing into MMA , there are things that do not but I want to save that topic for another blog. When it comes to the jab, it would for sure apply very effectively in MMA.

Getting a good understand of the basics of the jab, and the basics of boxing period along with the footwook would be the key. Putting it all together and mastering the basics, then incorporating this into your MMA game would be huge.

MMA fighters please be free and comment!

#implemetingboxingintoMMA (my goal)

*danger zones- there are 3 zones. 1-all the way out (safe zone) 2-in punch range (danger zone) 3-all the way in (somewhat safer zone exception: hooks and uppercuts)

*Gauging your opponent- feeling out your opponent with your jab to see what movements he or she is doing