Originally Posted by Mike Brewer

Ghost,
Knowing that you're an experienced fighter and you probably have your own work ideas, I don't want to talk down to you at all. There are some things I'd recommend to make the transition smoother, though. MMA is usually fought in rounds nearly twice as long as you're used to. A big problem for me switching from kickboxing or boxing to almost anything else was that I had an almost innate rhythm or timing that told me what pace to push in order to fight hard for three minutes. Jumping into longer rounds screwed with my clock a little. I know you'll be training longer rounds in preparation, but that kickboxer's clock will still be ticking in you, so plan on devoting a great deal of time to adding capacity to your gas tank.

I would substitute some of your road work with agility sprints. One of the easiest ways of doing it is to stack up sprints of varying distances and change up the footwork as you do so. Model each of these on an increasing scale that goes from shortest distance to longest in the following gradients:

40 meters
60 meters
100 meters
200 meters
440 meters

A 440 is typically one lap around a soccer field / football field lap track (quarter mile). You can use the yardage marks on the field for the other distances. Bear in mind, these are sprints, and should be run balls to the wall, all out.

Start with straight running sprints. Go through the routine. Your rest-to-work ratio is about three to one. If the sprint took ten seconds, for example, then rest for 30 seconds. If it took two minutes, rest for six. None should take you two minutes until you start switching up footwork on the 440s.

Next, switch to what I call half-and-halfs. You run half the distance at a forward run and then sharply and quickly snap to a sideways carioca (crossover step) at the halfway mark. Do this twice through to work both sides. On the 440, I recommend sprinting the curves and doing the carioca on the straightaways.

If you have it in you, go through one cycle doing high knees.

Finally, what I'll call front-to-backs. Forward for the first half, then snap around to a backward sprint for the last half. You only need to go through once on this one.

The time it takes to do this is pretty awful since your rest periods will begin to pile up. You'll feel like you're not working hard enough at first, but you'll appreciate it by the end, and you'll reduce the risk of injury. Also, it'll give you a more all-around benefit in terms of strength and not just endurance. The total distance for this cycle is roughly 40 meters shy of a half-mile per set, resting in intervals. That means the whole cycle is around 2.5 miles, but it's all done at a 100% sprint. It's demanding, and it'll improve your ability to fight in bursts like nothing else.

Since you have a solid background in Thai Boxing, I'd also shy away from doing much (any?) straight Thai Boxing sparring. You need to integrate the skills, and that means facing guys who do MMA. Your muay Thai isn't going anywhere, so there's no sense stroking the ol' ego by just doing what you know you're already good at. Replace some of the Thai specific sparring with MMA sparring. Train your Thai boxing all by itself if you want, but train against guys who are trying to shoot, trying to body lock, etc. Finding out how it all fits best for you is going to be your biggest challenge, and it's what will keep the game cerebral for you. You'll have a better understanding of what to do and when and why by integrating and you'll make better choices.

Also, since your Thai boxing is well developed, you might skip some of that and look at a pure boxing gym. Do this more than once a week when you feel you can afford the time. Boxing hands tend to work better in MMA for some reason. Actually, it's because the footwork and placement is different, and boxing teaches you to withdraw your body after the punch to the hitting range again, whereas Thai Boxing is so clinch-competent, they don't worry about it as much. It's not that you want to forget Thai boxing or anything, but I think some straight, unfiltered Western Boxing (especially amateur style, since it focuses more on straight punching) would serve you well.

I'm not suggesting that you change your whole game, because from what I can tell, you've done very well for yourself with the tools and skills you have. However, the things that tend to get muay Thai guys caught in MMA are the things that boxing fixes. Likewise, training against the types of guys you least want to fight will prepare you better than doing what's familiar, even if you do the latter at world-class intensity. Like Vunak used to say, now's the time to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Winning will cure all the pain.

Sorry that's not more specifc, but not knowing you any better than I do, I hesitate to make any specific recommendations. Maybe you could send me a list of what you think your strengths and weaknesses are? Better still, send me a list of what your coaches think. If you want, PM it. I'll look it over and give you a more well-thought out impression as soon as I can.

Best of luck!

Originally Posted by Tom Yum

Ghost, you are like rogue from x-men but with a willy.
*drools*