If your considering weight and muscle as a meaure of giantism then no one can be a giant in comparision to their opponent in mma due to weight limits in classes, other than in the Heavyweight division. The definition of a giant is a creature of exceptional size (thanks google) so weight has no bearing and it is a mixture of height and body size that determines whether someone is a giant or not. This leaves it open to interpretation as to whether somone is very tall or has a large body as it is a matter of opinion. Bare in mind also a giant is a fictional creature and is not an official term regarding someones size. God help us all if fictional charcters start dominating MMA, Puss in boots vs Tim Sylvia, Matt Hughes vs a Unicorn, it will be then end of mma as we know it
True GIants- No Massive but "normal" - No Multiple things will keep this from happening A- Weight limits, thus the only division that could be dominated by "massive" people would be the heavyweight division. B- It is very rare that a man of exceptional size is also gifted with exceptional talent. C- Height can be a disadvantage on the ground D- The more muscle you have, the more oxygen you need, so if a man truly has 100 kilos of muscle he is going to gas rapidly.. E- Very few truly massive men develop fighting skills, because they never needed it. People either avoid fighting them, or they rely solely on their size and muscle which is not enough against a guy like Fedor or Big Nog.
Agree with what most of what you said but I'm unsure of these two reasons. I don't know if height per se is a disadvantage on the ground so much as having a less compact body would. I don't think height necessarily has an inverse relationship with having a wide base especially in heavyweight or openweight competition. I think point C is most true in the lighter divisions but even then not always. The better shape you're in the more effeciently your body functions. I imagine healthy muscular athletes also have increased lung capacity if they're properly trained. On a celluar level I've heard athletes have more mitochondria and can use more energy and their metabolism has become more effecient so that they use what fats or other sources of energy in their body more effeciently. Not to say that your point D is always wrong but applies mainly to big dudes with unbalanced training.
The giants that i have seen are mostly fighting for show, and don't have any real skill (very few exceptions). Their main skill is to not get knoched out as easily as smaller people, but most of the time it doesn't help them. Now, a proper fighter who is bigger, stronger, can keep you at a distance and has better leverage on the ground, that guy has a good chance to dominate - still far from invincible.
The longer your limbs the more "open" you are to submissions. Of course there are other factors, but in general long limbs are more susceptible to submissions. As to using up oxygen...(very simplified)- The more muscle you have the more "fuel" your body needs to keep moving. Hence marathon runners who look like they have been starved.....I don't care how great the, the bigger the fighter the worse his cardio will be.
What about guys with lots of height but short limbs? Are they still open to submissions? What advantages and disadvantages come with that body type? Well if MMA was a marathon I'd give it to the skinny guys more often. Pace may be a bigger concern for big guys but in a sport with limited rounds and round times I think intesity trumps endurance.
As I've said in another thread, both greater and lesser height and weight have their own advantages and disadvantages. And it's up to the fighters to exploit these advantages and disadvantages. However, I also believe that these adv. & disadv. tend to start to collapse when things go to an extreme. For example I believe a 5'6" guy could beat a 6'4" guy providing he knew how to use his advantages and exploit the taller man's weakness. But after that I tend to think no matter how skilled he is his advantages being to dissolve exponentially if you get my meaning. He can no longer reach his face with a punch etc...
Right. But what are those advantages or disadvantages specifically? Compact guys, usually shorter, got a wider base that helps them mount. Guys with long limbs, usually taller, can strike better with a longer reach while standing. What do you think is, generally speaking, the advantages or disadvantages to other body type builds?
Also I might add that giants usually have a problem with their piturity gland, which means their cardio-vascular system is less efficient (since it has a hard time pumping blood around) than a average sized person. Giants as in 6'6"+
Not sure if I can say they never exist as there may be a few unusual people with very long torso's and short limbs.. But that creates more problems than it solves.
You would be wrong, intense exercise causes a person to gas quicker than less intense exercise...every wonder why so many experienced professionals end up gassing?
Oh I didn't mean like freakishly long torso's and dwarfish limbs. It's just I've noticed that height advantage doesn't always translate into a reach advantage. Some short guys can have really long limbs. I'd figure usually they'd have a longer reach but not always and even if they're torso is long and not necessarily compact I'd figure they'd still have a heavy base if they are massive, I'm speaking in the Heavyweight division mainly.
I thought that was answered in the quote of mine you responded to. They're not pacing themselves. I know bigger guys can gas out faster but they can train to have really good endurance for the 25min to 30 min matches in MMA. Even then pacing is important to anybody. Cuz if your going full steam and you keep missing your strikes or shoots you'll just endup running into a more energized fist or takedown at some point.
I was being trite on purpose. While there have guys like Andre the Giant (first example that comes to mind) that might be extremely tall but have more of that height as torso than is normal for a big guy, their limbs are still longer than mine and certainly not "short." In a case so extreme that a giant really did have very short limbs, I agree that it would create more problems than it would solve (if the poor guy could even stand up to begin with).
They could just lay down and take a nap, but that won't win them the fight. And if they want to keep a intense pace that will be needed to win, they will burn more energy than a smaller fighter.
They could however counterpunch, waiting for an opening rather than charging out. Perhaps occassionally bursting out with an attack to throw the opponent off balance.
