How to Become an Ultimate Fighter

Learning to Fight

Get in shape. Ultimate fighting, or mixed martial arts, is a test of aerobic endurance, strength, agility, and willpower. You have to be an all-around great athlete to be an ultimate fighter, so if it's your ambition to jump into the cage, you need to get in shape. Build muscle and lose fat, rather than attempting to diet and lose lots of weight. You want to build bulk and be strong. Developing a healthy lifting routine and aerobic routine to get into good fighting shape will make transitioning into training much easier. If you don't have the time to get to the gym, work out at home. Ease into a comprehensive routine of running, push-ups, sit-ups, and stretching.

Start learning to box. Ultimate fighters are a cross between boxers, martial artists, wrestlers, and almost any style of fighting under the sun. One of the most widely-available and comprehensive ways to start learning fighting skills at any age is to start developing boxing skills, learning to throw a punch and play defense while upright.

Study mat wrestling. If you're young and just starting out, consider joining your school's wrestling team to get a good foundation in mat wrestling and get experience fighting in a controlled environment. It might not be as flashy as what happens in the UFC, but learning the fundamentals of amateur wrestling will make you a stronger fighter in the long run, building your mat skills and your endurance. It's also a great way to keep tabs on your weight and get into good fighting shape.

Learn martial arts. When you're first trying to get into MMA, it'll help if you've got some experience (even at the beginner level) with basic mat wrestling and some variety of martial art. You can jump right in and start learning MMA basics, but being a well-rounded fighter who's able to take the fight to the ground as well as out-box your opponent is the difference between being a great fighter and a mediocre one. The best martial arts to familiarize yourself with for MMA include: Karate and kung-fu are excellent for learning accuracy in your kicks Judo is a great way to learn to get your opponent on the mat Brazilian ju-jitsu is studied by the most successful MMA fighters, and takes mat fighting to a whole other level Muay-thai is also known as the "art of eight limbs" and specializes in the use of knees and elbows for striking

Look for a gym in your area that specializes in mixed martial arts. Learning to fight properly in the cage will take more than learning a bunch of martial arts individually and then picking a fight. You've got to learn to put it all together and train with other MMA fighters, sparring, learning, and developing your skills. You'll learn the basics and have a good resource in the community that gathers around these types of gyms.

Getting Experience

Start developing and specializing your style. There are many different styles of ultimate fighters, from technical boxers to street fighters to mat wrestlers to masters of the kick. What comes most naturally to you? To become a great mixed martial artist, you need to identify your speciality and work to hone that skill into a razor-sharp point that you can use against your opponents. Partially, this may develop out of other skills you've built prior to training in mixed martial arts. If you're a wrestler, develop your mat game, also working on your boxing to become a more rounded fighter. If you started out boxing, consider training in Brazilian style to develop your mat game. Be a complete fighter.

Find and compete in the correct weight class. You need to find your healthy weight at the upper range of one of the scales, then maintain a consistent weight at that level. Mixed martial arts and the UFC generally use the following weight classes to classify fighters: Bantamweight: 126 to 135 lb (57 to 61 kg) Featherweight: 136 to 145 lb (62 to 66 kg) Lightweight: 146 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg) Welterweight: 156 to 170 lb (71 to 77 kg) Middleweight: 171 to 185 lb (78 to 84 kg) Light Heavyweight: 186 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg) Heavyweight: 206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg).

Get your first fight out of the way. Once you've got some experience training under your belt, ask one of your trainers to hook you up with a fight locally and get a feel for what competing in MMA is like. If it goes well and you like it, continue booking fights as often as your training schedule permits. Trust your trainer to find a good match against someone with a similar skill level. Bookers often like to book shark-fish fights, pairing an inexperienced fish (in this case, you) with a killer fighter in the hopes of packing the house to see a bloodbath. Try your best to avoid being thrust into one of these types of situations for your first fight. It would be discouraging to have to compete against a much more experienced fighter.

Develop your mental game. When you start competing, learn to block out the losses and the wins alike. Always look forward to your next fight, pausing only briefly to consider your victories and your failures in the ring. Dwelling on your past fights is only good for learning what you can do better and how you can improve to increase your chances of being victorious in your next fight.

Keep training. Keep working hard in the gym and utilizing the training you receive. Surround yourself with a good training team, including other more experienced fighters and trainers who'll help you identify the areas in which you need to improve. Work on becoming the best all-around fighter you can be and keep winning fights. In legitimate styles of karate, the advancement from belt rank to belt rank is a process or continuous cycle. The student learns techniques, kata, and other parts of the curriculum appropriate for their current rank. These refined techniques are pressure tested in various ways with training partners and other drills. When ready, the student undergoes a formal rank evaluation under the watchful eye of their sensei or a board of teachers. If successful, the student is awarded a new belt rank and begins again at step one.

Going Pro

Start networking. Get online and start building a presence for yourself as an amateur fighter. Get your name out there. Attend UFC fights and make contacts in the sport, join message boards and participate as much as you can in the community. If you want to become a professional mixed martial artist, you've got to make your life revolve around the sport. Tapology and Fight Network are popular resources for fighters and fans of MMA. Interact and learn everything you can. Participate in social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Promote your own fights and appearances, and stay in touch with your fighting contacts and your fans.

Get a sponsorship. If you've built a good reputation and record for yourself as an amateur fighter, approach a management company like Fight Tribe or Made to Win, companies that have a proven track record of managing fighters. Try to negotiate a management deal with them. It's important to understand that most management companies will only be interested in winners. Keep winning a number of key fights against strong opponents. They want to find experienced and exciting fighters they stand to profit from, not wanna-be's with considerable talent. Give yourself the best chance by winning as many fights as possible.

Be unique. Mike Tyson had his clanging chains and Muhammad Ali had his rhymes. In the MMA world, Chuck Liddell had his mohawk and trash talking, while Anderson Silva had his ice-man demeanor. You're going to need to stand out in the field and start cultivating a flamboyant and entertaining persona if you want to stand out among the fighting crowd. This comes easier to some fighters than others. Don't spend time doing your hair and getting scary-looking tattoos. That time would be better spent training. Still, it's worth giving some thought to your "character." Earn a scary nickname and use it.

Attend a UFC tryout. If your ultimate goal is to become an Ultimate Fighter, you need to try out for the UFC. Invite representatives to your fights and get in touch. Let it be known that you want in. The organization works basically like an exclusive club--you have to be invited. But there's no harm in making it clear that you're interested. You could also consider applying for The Ultimate Fighter reality show, which generally holds tryouts in a specific destination once a year. They'll sometimes limit it to a particular weight class or region to accommodate the particular theme of the show, but keep regularly checking in as you build your fight schedule and keep winning.