Do you think an early 30something man can work out to get into good enough shape to fight in the UFC or Pride?

your main obstacle will be stamina ... yes you can do it but it will take alot of effort ...stamina doesnt come naturally to us older guys you have to really work at it but it can be done ... its also harder to do that without injury ...so its alot of training and dedication to it, you have to really want it.

MMA is a rapidly growing sport and there is a lot of need for fighters right now.

I'm a martial arts teacher, and about a year ago I put together an amateur MMA team. Some of my fighters are over 30. Two of the better ones in fact. I didn't really have any goals of taking them pro. But we won a lot at the amateur level, and that was great.

Then a couple of weeks ago my phone started ringing. One of my fighters got a last minute shot at a pro fight.

"But he doesn't have a pro license." I objected.

"We'll take care of that, we'll pay for it and everything."

"I don't have one either, as a trainer."

"State commission has already agreed to pick it up. We'll pay for it."

"Um... okay?"

So all of the sudden we're pros. Fight got cancelled at the last minute, but hey, that's the game. He's on their card in November now.

Basically here's the deal. Follow your dreams and do it with all your heart. There is plenty of work out there for a new fighter if you are willing to pay your dues. 30 isn't too old at all.

You need two kinds of endurance in MMA. Aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic you get by road work, jump rope, that sort of thing. Anaerobic you get with hard bag work, sprints, weights with lots of reps, etc. If you have more gas than the other guy, you're 75% of your way to a win. Work at high intensity. You have only three rounds to take your opponent apart, so you have to go to work right away.

Work your ground game! Jujitsu and wrestling are MMA musts. BJJ is fine, but if you can find a school that works MMA specifically. When you sign up, tell them you want to fight right away and ask when their next amateur match is. A good MMA school will pretty much always have an event coming up. You don't need to be a ground wizard, but you do need to understand your basic positioning and escapes and at least four or five submissions you can lock on quickly.

Work your clinch! More and more MMA fights are being won and lost in the clinch.

And have fun. MMA is a great time despite the bruises. Hope to see you at some fights!

- Cai

Yeah, you could be in 'fighting' shape in 6 months. That's not to say that you'd be anywhere near the level of the pros in UFC. Some of the best of them are in their late 30's sure...but you gotta remember they've been training and fighting for half their lives. Randy Couture was doing Eco-Challenges for FUN for chrissakes when he wasn't training for a fight. Do you have any idea how hard those are?? They make marathons look like cake walks.

The guys in the octagon make it look easy, but they've all had real battles to get where they are before they've even made it into the cage.

There is no way you could fight in the UFC or Pride in the next 6 months. They would not even be interested in you. You have to have a amateur fights then you have to fight in some of the smaller shows and build up a good record and a reputation of being a great fighter. I think that you could definitely start training and working on your stand up and some grappling skills and fight in some smaller shows in your area.

eh... 6 months? That's somewhat a long shot. From experience, many school require you to competeition in grappling tourament for some time and have at least blue belt in brazil jiu jitsu before they will ever let you fight in amateur MMA evet. That will take around a year or two. Then you got to really bust your butt all way through the training and amateur MMA event which will take some time. Then you gotta to start in lower MMA event such as KOTC, ROTF, and other events. You gotta to build a really good record and pray that someone from UFC or Pride take interest in you. That could take two or three years.

So if you have around three to six years, a career that give you plently of time to train, your family support, load of moneys in bank account (you will need it for training, traveling, and other things), live in right place, a instructor who really put their time into you and everything, you may have a chance. However you MUST be 100% decidate to it, no "easy day" or "cheat day", you must really train hard and take part in as many competition as possible and everything. It will take a LOT of works, but it's not possible. So in the end you gotta to really look at yourself, people you're around, your family, your future, and everything. Then you have to ask yourself if you really think you can make it through all tough process I listed above and more. If you can then you may have a shot but keep in mind you will be competitioning for only one or two position a year with at least 100,000 other guys, mostly who are still in early 20's.

Yes, I am 32 and working on my fitness level. First get into a good Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class. This class will prepare you for the ground work that is needed. There are also typically good MMA or NHB classes associated with the BJJ classes that will work your cardio and help to shape your standup game. Work hard, train hard, and don't let the pain slow you down.

Good luck

I think you are half way there because they train as hard as they can.

For example Tito Ortiz trains for hours in the mountains of colorado(or around there) and it is much harder to train so high above sea level.

Another thing is they practice many different styles of martial arts and have put years of time into it

You probably can. Chuck Liddell is like 36 and Matt Hughes is like 35 or something. Bas Rutten and Randy Cotoure are in their early fortys and they can still fight.

Certainly no reason not to try ... many of the greats in the business are 30 something ..... look at Matt Hughes or Randy Couture.

BTW .. ignore Shamrock ... it seems he just bleeds a lot to the younger guys these days. <snicker>

You could be in shape,but most of them do this day in and day out,BUT try it! GOOD LUCK!!!!!