Here at Fiji Muay Thai the focus is on learning martial arts, especially muay thai and striking online and how to train at home.
So then what are the best available resources to learn MMA online? How can you go about learning MMA online at training at home solo or with your training partners?
These are all discussed below and after reading this post you will be in the best position possible to learn MMA online and access excellent resources for training MMA at home.
The best option would be to join an MMA gym or even muay thai, BJJ, boxing or wrestling school to get started.
However if you want to learn online and train at home this post will give you the best resources to do just that!
The 4 MMA Foundations to Learn and Train
As with muay thai and any other martial arts there are foundational techniques to learn in MMA for any beginner.
I have outlined these 4 areas of MMA as foundations:
- Striking
- Takedowns
- Groundwork
- Submissions
These foundational techniques will form the base of your MMA and need to be trained and drilled repetitively especially at the beginning.
This will ensure your base in MMA is solid and from there you can grow your game to be able to specialize and discover your most effective and favorite techniques to put together your own MMA game.
As MMA includes a wide variety of martial arts there are a lot of skills to learn and train to become proficient as a mixed martial artisit.
These foundational skills and the martial arts that specialize in these areas that you should consider learning and training.
| MMA Skill | Martial Art | Where to Learn Online? | |
| 1. Striking | Muay thai, Boxing, Kickboxing | Bang Muay Thai Nak Muay Nation Duke Roufus Online Striking University | |
| 2. Takedowns | Wrestling, Judo, BJJ | The Wrestling Room Coach Tube Gracie Barra Evolve MMA Online | |
| 3. Groundwork | BJJ, Wrestling, Judo | Gracie University Grapplearts Evolve MMA Online | |
| 4. Submissions | BJJ, Judo, Submission Grappling | Gracie University Evolve MMA Online Grapplearts |
Within each of the 4 areas above are also foundaitonal techniques and skills needed and we will look more closely at these in this post.
These areas include Striking footwork, striking defense, takedown defense and submission defense.
There are also more specialized areas that are really only taught and trained in MMA that you should also learn and train but starting off with the 4 broad areas above will give you a great foundation.
Some of the more specialized areas include ‘striking on the ground’ and ‘fighting against a cage’.
So let’s look at each of these 4 areas of MMA in more focus.
MMA Striking
Striking is a huge aspect of MMA today.
Becoming proficient with striking, footwork, defending and attacking are crucial as part of MMA.
It would be good to pick a base striking art in which you can train and concentrate on to get really good at this aspect. Whether it be Boxing, Muay Thai, Kickboxing or some other striking art.
One of the most effective striking arts out there is muay thai. And muay thai is trained as part of most MMA practitioners regular practice.
Here at Fiji Muay Thai there are many resources to learn and train muay thai at home.
Where to Learn MMA Striking Online?
Bang Muay Thai
Bang Muay thai (BMT) is the system created by Duane Ludwig and is currently being utilized and showcased on the world stage through fighters such as TJ Dillashaw and Joseph Benevidez in the UFC.
Bang Muay Thai is a great MMA striking online resource that offers 2.5 years worth of weekly instruction in the system as well as seminars, guest teachers and a lot more in video format.
Learn more about the BMT system HERE.
Duke Roufus Striking University
Duke Roufus is a well respected coach in striking and the UFC. As a former world champion, Duke has devised a curriculum for MMA strikers to learn from the ground up.
The Striking University is another excellent resource to learn and train mma striking online.
Read my FULL REVIEW of the Duke Roufus online striking University.
Nak Muay Nation
Nak Muay Nation is an online community of muay thai, kickboxing and MMA striking students and practitioners.
It was started by muay thai fighters Sean Fagan and Paul Banasiak and striking technical analyst and expert Lawrence Kenshin.
Membership to Nak Muay Nation grants you access to 200 plus muay thai videos including technique tutorials, heavy bag workouts, sparring breakdowns, fight analysis and private lessons with professional champions.
Also included are over 10 comprehensive muay thai courses you gain instant access to and these include:
- The Heavy Bag Blueprint (Read my review of the Heavy Bag Blueprint)
- Boxing for Muay Thai
- Clinch King
- Sparring School
- 21 Killer Kicking Drills
MMA Takedowns
According to the website MMA Fight DB which looked at looked at over 2,072 trips and throws in 799 MMA fights, the top takedowns were as follows:
- Double leg
- Single leg
- Outside trip
- Bodylock
- Suplex
- Duckunder
- Hip throw
- Inside trip
As you can see the main takedowns used commonly as per the study above can be trained and learned from Wrestling, Judo and BJJ.
BJJ also trains these takedowns.
For someone who wants to learn MMA online you should look at becoming proficient at a good 3-4 of the above takedowns.
Where to Learn Takedowns Online?
The Wrestling Room by Mark Munoz
I would highly recommend thewrestlingroom.com which is run by former UFC fighter and NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion, Mark Munoz.
Munoz offers Wrestling in 3 different formats:
- Wrestling
- Wrestling for MMA
- Wrestling for Jiu Jitsu
Starting at $10 per month the value is exceptional and the teaching is of high quality by an experienced and skilled practitioner and now teacher in Munoz.
Coach Tube
Coach Tube is another excellent resource to learn wrestling and takedowns from expereienced wrestlers and great instructors.
Coach Tube offers one off purchases for video instructionals, so there is no monthly subscription.
There are 25 Wrestling Moves video instructional available at $US 9.99 each.
They feature excellent teachers and former wrestlers such as Carl Adams, Jason Layton and Ralph Napolitano.
Gracie Barra – Henrique Machado
Gracie Barra offers a takedown focussed veido series taight by Henrique Machado.
As one of the best jiu jitsu takedown specialists, Machado offers a fully online course through Gracie Barra for $US 97.
The Program includes 32 effective throwing techniques and 16 drills with Henrique Machado.
Three extras mini-courses about strategy, safety and grips taught by Professors Flávio Almeida & Kaliffa Oliveira.
While the focus of the course is on Gi fighting and BJJ, you will be able to learn effective takedowns that can be applied to MMA through this 19 week online video course.
MMA Groundwork
Learning to fight on the ground effectively is huge for MMA.
Whether you are grappling for position, striking on the ground or defending against ground fighters, groundwork is a foundation you must learn and train if you want to learn mma online.
Where to Learn Groundwork for MMA online?
Gracie University
One resource I have used for 10 plus years is Gracie Univeristy.
Beginning from Gracie Combatives, through Gracie University you will learn the most effective techniques in a street fight and this includes the important aspects of defending against strikes on the ground.
This aspect of groundwork with punches is often not covered well in most sport focused BJJ schools. It is also the main focus of the Gracie Academy.
Evolve University Online
I have had the opportunity to train BJJ and muay thai at Evolve MMA in Singapore more than once.
The facilities are top notch as well as the training and teaching by many many former and current world champions.
The Evolve Unisity is the online learning resource offered by Evolve MMA Singpare and the instructionals are taught by their highly accomplished trainers many of which are former world champions.
Evolve Univeristy offers online groundwork video instructional in the areas of:
- MMA
- BJJ
- Wrestling
- Submission Grappling
Grapplearts
Grapplearts by Stephan Kesting is a long standing grappling online resource.
Kesting has provided many resources to “Build a Better Grappler” and I have purchased a number of his products dating back to 2011.
One of his more popular free resources is the BJJ Roadmap which you can access for free at his website grapplearts.com.
Stephan also provides a whole suite of grappling resources from free articles and YouTube videos to paid online instructional and DVDs and downloadable apps.
MMA Submissions
Bleacher Report provided statistics for all UFC fights since UFC 31 in 2001.
In a 2009 Bleacher Report post, statistics show that 25% of UFC fights ended in submission.
This highlights the importance of learning submissions and submission defence as part of MMA.
Learn MMA Submissions Online
Evolve University
As a noted MMA gym in Singapore, Evolve MMA offers online instruction (through Evolve University) in the areas of MMA, Submission Grappling and BJJ, all of which are vital for MMA submissions.
Through Evolve University you can also access breakdowns of MMA submissions, common mistakes and drills to train in order to get good at MMA submissions.
Gracie University
Gracie Univeristy through the GRacie Academy in torrance, California offers in-depth teaching and excellent instructionals by Ryron and Rener Gracie.
Submissions are a big part of Gracie Jiu Jitsu and since Grace Jiu Jitsu is focussed on self defense, fighting and grappling with strikes, the teachings available here are very applicable to MMA.
Current UFC contendor, Brian T-City Ortega is a notable student of the Gracie Academy and Ryron and Rener.
Grapplearts
I refer back to Stephan Kesting’s website for all forms of grappling includeing BJJ, Gi and No-Gi.
There is a lot of information you can access for free.
A couple of great resources for MMA/BJJ Submissions are Stephans downloadable apps for submissions and submission defense.
These resources will go a long way to learning mma online and building your game.
