Movement and physiological demands of amateur mixed martial art fighting

To quantify in-competition physiological loads of amateur mixed martial arts (MMA), we recruited 10 male MMA athletes (Age: 27.3 ± 3.3 y; mass: 79.5 ± 0.5 kg; height: 1.77 ± 0.04 m) training 9 ± 4 h.wk. Athletes were filmed during 3 x 5 min competitive rounds while notational analysis was performed post-fight using referee head-mounted camera video-recordings. Standing punches including elbows thrown, kicks attempted and landed, and accumulated time-fighting while standing, clinching and grappling (wrestling on the ground) were quantified. Athletes’ heart rates were measured between rounds, while athletes’ earlobe sampled blood lactate and perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded immediately post-fight. Results demonstrated 39 ± 18 punches were thrown/round, but only 20 ± 11 (47 ± 20%) of these were landed. In comparison, each round, 11 ± 7 kicks were attempted, and 5 ± 5 (48 ± 20%) of these struck the opponent. Similar proportions of the fight were spent wrestling on the ground (40 ± 23 %). and standing while punching/kicking (39 ± 18 %). Blood lactate was 12.0 ± 2.8 mmol.L-1 and the athletes’ RPE indicated fights were hard or very hard (16 ± 2 a.u.). Similar heart rates were achieved after each round (176 ± 7, 175 ± 14, 177 ± 11 beats.min). The proportionally higher amount of time spent grappling on the floor and fighting while standing indicates a higher training priority for these fight components. This research will assist coaches in developing training protocols replicating or exceeding demands of amateur MMA