The Pros and Cons of Muay Thai in MMA

In a mixed martial arts (MMA) match, just about anything goes. There are very little rules and use can use any fighting style you like, which is why it's called mixed martial arts. One of the more popular fighting styles used in MMA is Muay Thai, also called Thai boxing. Muay Thai is a brutal form of kickboxing that incorporates sharp elbows and knees in addition to kicks and punches. Although Muay Thai is an effective fighting style with many pros, it also has some cons.

Pros

• Muay Thai is more versatile than traditional boxing or kickboxing. In traditional boxing you can only use your fists, so you don't have many options. In fact, your only option is to punch. Kickboxing allows for the use of your feet but you can't knee or elbow. Muay Thai gives you the best of all worlds: you can punch, kick, and throw elbows and knees. So, lot's of options with Muay Thai.
  
• Muay Thai toughens your shins and forearms. Traditional boxing does not toughen your shin bones (tibia and fibula) or the bones of your forearm (ulna and radius); it only toughens your knuckles, wrists, and the other bones in your hands. Why does this matter? Well, if someone kicks you in your shin, you'll know why.
  
• Muay Thai focuses on power and knockout blows. There's not a whole lot of jabbing and pussyfooting around in Muay Thai. You're basically taught to try to knockout your opponent with every strike, no matter which limb you use.
  

Cons

• Muay Thai has no ground game. This is the biggest con by far. Muay Thai is a stand-up sport. You're not allowed to hit someone when they're on the ground, so you never learn any grappling skills. Unless you're very lucky, or very, very good, you're going to end up on the ground in an MMA fight and if all you know is Muay Thai, you won't know what to do.
  
• Muay Thai only teaches you a couple throws. You are allowed to throw your opponent in a Muay Thai match but you can't do anything to them once they're on the ground, so of course, takedowns are not an important aspect of Muay Thai. If you don't know how to take someone down and you can't grapple, you won't go far in MMA.
  
• Muay Thai is somewhat one-dimensional. Although Muay Thai has a lot of versatility, in the sense that you can use all your limbs, you only really focus on the most effective strikes. You don't learn a lot of the fancy, technical stuff that you do in other martial arts. This isn't a big con, but sometimes throwing in a very technical, super creative move can be quite beneficial. Just look at Anderson Silva and the different ways he's won many of his bouts.