Boxers that made a successful switch to kickboxing/MMA

[jaouad]

I know some boxers that were originally kickboxers and made a (semi) successful switch to boxing but you don’t see vice versa happen often, the only name i can think off is Holly Holm.

[Perseus]

Define successful.

If successful means being UFC champ then Holly is the only one.

If successful means being a better Mixed Martial Artist than they were as a boxer then Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle both had more success in MMA than boxing.

[margaret thatcher]

not many examples.......

kickboxers have lots of experience with punches. it's already a big part of what they train, so can make the switch to boxing easier. boxers have the punches but unless theyve done martial arrts before they dont have the kicks, knees, elbows, wrestling, jiu jitsu, etc......so many new skills they have to pick up

[joshj909]

Ray Mercer didn't make a successful career of it but he KO'd Tim Sylvia which is a pretty decent achievement. I'd compare that to something like if someone like Frank Mir KO'd Valuev.

In terms of successful career, nobody is close to Holly Holm.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Anderson Silva.
Didn’t he box before he went to MMA.

[Perseus]

Silva had just two boxing matches before going to MMA.
Not sure I would count him.

Israel Adesanya may be a better example.
Back in 2015 he entered 3 tournaments in Australia, won two of them posting a 5-1 record which included a win over Brian Minto.
Then moved on MMA.
.....and I wouldn't count him either.

Davis was 17-1-2 as a boxer before making the switch.
That's a nice record but at 20 fights he was still fighting six rounders, hadn't proven himself to be more than a club-fighter and was stopped by a 10-6 opponent in his last boxing match.
Then he moved to MMA where he was a long time UFC contract fighter and won some fight/submission/KO of the night bonuses along the way while competing at a higher level in MMA than he ever did as a boxer and for bigger purses than anything he ever got as a boxer.

Lytle had 20 MMA fights before his first pro boxing match so I guess he shouldn't count. The thread is about boxers to MMA not the opposite.

[Redback Rasta]

Holly Holm had 38 pro boxing fights for a very respectable 33-2-3 prior to crossing over to MMA and beating among others, the previously thought to be unbeatable, Rhonda Rousey.

[margaret thatcher]

dont think anyone has mentioned holly holm yet

[Redback Rasta]

dont think anyone has mentioned holly holm yet

I have. Just above your post :D

[jaouad]

Israel Adesanya may be a better example.
Back in 2015 he entered 3 tournaments in Australia, won two of them posting a 5-1 record which included a win over Brian Minto.
Then moved on MMA.
.....and I wouldn't count him either.

Adesanya was already a respected kickboxer before he participated in boxing tournaments.

[margaret thatcher]

holly holm kickboxed too before boxing didnt she. you dont just go from being simply a boxer to headkicking everyone into next week

[jaouad]

holly holm kickboxed too before boxing didnt she. you dont just go from being simply a boxer to headkicking everyone into next week

You’re right. I didn’t know that.

[Lackeos]

Butterbean had a 17-10 mma record.
Jeremy Williams was 5-0 in mma.
LaVerne Clark was 14-18-1 in boxing and 27-21 in mma, which counts.
Rick Roufus went from kickboxing to boxing to mma.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[AngryGoon38]

"Dennis Alexio" did both(Kickboxing and boxing, back to kickboxing)
Tex Cobb did both. So did Troy Dorsey and Elijah Tillery.
Dorsey went back and forth in both fighting sports.
MMA was still in its infancy during Dorsey's fighting days.

Actually the only definitive fighting sports fighter to go from Just "Boxing" onto either MMA or Kickboxing is none other
Than "Conor McGregor".
Conor had 25 Amateur Boxing bouts(All in Ireland), before switching onto MMA.
His MMA fighter style Was mainly Boxer-Based, as even Money Mayweather noticed and emphatically pointed out, before calling out McGregor, in order to create and make a Mega-Money Showdown.

The nice flashy kicks that McGregor exhibited here and there(In and out of the ring) was likely the product of childhood Tkd or Karate classes. Likely the former.
Not necessarily though. There Are some that Can develop nice classic traditional martial arts kicks, and develop this attribute Very Rapidly, because of naturally good genetics, along with favorable physical traits such as having naturally good flexibility and coordination and balance.

Not to brag but yours truly(The Gooner) apparently was a proverbial example of the points that I'm making.
So too was the highschool buddy of mine who got me into Martial arts. Neither one of us had ever gone to any martial arts academy for "Formal martial arts training". We both just had natural athletic ability along with better than average flexibility, balance, and coordination. We were both H.S baseball players. He loved basketball too. I didn't. I loved soccer.

[gilgamesh]

Who was that guy that was in Strikeforce for a while. Cung Le or something? He was a Kickboxer that had some modest success in MMA. He fought Frank Shamrock and sh*t I recall.

[apollo creed]

holly holm kickboxed too before boxing didnt she. you dont just go from being simply a boxer to headkicking everyone into next week

Thats true, unless you did some martial arts, KB, Muay Thay. Its very hard for a long time boxer to learn to kick properly like a kick boxer. Also the stance, feet position/ blocking and balance is different in kb.

Tbh a solid kickboxer would beat the living schit out of a top pro boxer in a kick boxing match, even if the boxer is training specifically for a kick boxing fight.

[1042969]

Matt Skelton come from Kickboxing to boxing? But not sure many to go to kickboxing from boxing, the moneys not great depending on your level.

[pound per pound]

I know some boxers that were originally kickboxers and made a (semi) successful switch to boxing but you don’t see vice versa happen often, the only name i can think off is Holly Holm.

Vitali Klitschko was an amateur and pro would champion kickboxer before focusing solely on boxing. I think he tired amateur boxing first.