Build the stance, guard, footwork, balance, and breathing that every later skill depends on. You practice moving without crossing your feet, overreaching, or losing your base.

Trace MMA from vale tudo, catch wrestling, boxing, kickboxing, judo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu into the early UFC, the Unified Rules, modern training camps, and today’s global promotions.

Practice the defensive habits that let beginners train longer: shelling, parrying, framing, breakfalls, hip movement, safe posting, and protecting your head during scrambles.

Use jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts with the shorter guard and smaller gloves of MMA. The chapter covers targets, hand position, exits, and why boxing changes when takedowns are allowed.

Build reliable round kicks, front kicks, teeps, side kicks, and checks without giving opponents easy takedowns. You work on balance, recovery, shin safety, and kicking from both stances.

Add knees and elbows for clinch breaks, fence exchanges, and close-range striking. The chapter also covers rule differences between amateur and professional bouts.

Turn single strikes into safe combinations that end with defense, angle changes, or clinch entries. You practice hitting without standing still after the last shot.

Use underhooks, overhooks, collar ties, wrist control, head position, and pummeling to win close-range battles. You also practice breaking posture and staying safe from knees and trips.

Build takedowns from shots, body locks, trips, throws, and snap-downs. The focus is on entries that fit MMA striking instead of pure wrestling or pure judo alone.

Sprawl, frame, whizzer, turn the corner, and recover your stance when someone attacks your legs or body lock. You also practice getting back up without giving away your back.

Use the fence for takedowns, escapes, mat returns, and striking control instead of treating it like a wall that traps you. This chapter builds the habits that separate cage fighting from open-mat grappling.

Control mount, side control, half guard top, back control, and turtle without rushing. You practice pressure, weight placement, wrist control, and safe transitions before chasing finishes.

Build closed guard, half guard, butterfly guard, and open guard for an MMA setting where punches are allowed. The chapter focuses on posture control, frames, sweeps, and standing back up.

Escape mount, side control, back control, front headlock, and bad fence positions. You practice calm sequences that reduce damage first, then recover guard, stand, or reverse position.

Finish rear naked chokes, guillotines, arm triangles, armbars, kimuras, and straight ankle locks with control and partner safety. You also practice recognizing when a submission is risky to force.

Strike from top position while keeping base, posture, and control. The chapter covers when to posture up, when to stay heavy, and how to avoid being swept or submitted while attacking.

Connect punches into level changes, kicks into clinches, takedowns into passes, and failed submissions into better positions. You practice MMA as one connected game instead of separate sports stitched together.

Use shadowboxing, bag work, pad rounds, positional drilling, constraint games, and progressive resistance so skills survive contact. The chapter shows how to practice with purpose instead of just getting tired.

Build safe sparring habits for striking, grappling, wall work, and full MMA rounds. You practice setting goals, choosing intensity, giving feedback, and stopping before bad habits or injuries take over.

Read the scoring criteria, fouls, referee commands, grounded-opponent rules, standups, restarts, and commission differences that affect real fights. You practice making tactical choices that match the rules you are fighting under.

Build the conditioning needed for bursts, clinch pressure, scrambles, and recovery between rounds. The chapter covers energy systems, roadwork, intervals, circuits, and how to avoid training fatigue as if it were skill.

Train strength, power, neck strength, grip, mobility, and landing mechanics in ways that support fighting instead of competing with it. You also cover common injury patterns in shoulders, knees, hands, ribs, and neck.

Plan everyday meals, fight-camp fueling, hydration, supplements, and safe weight management. The chapter covers why extreme dehydration is dangerous and how modern commissions and teams monitor weigh-ins.

Handle soreness, sleep, concussion warning signs, cuts, hand injuries, and return-to-training decisions. You practice the judgment to rest, modify training, seek care, or stop a session.

Study an opponent’s stance, favorite entries, defensive habits, cardio pattern, and reactions under pressure. You turn notes into a simple plan with primary attacks, backups, and danger zones.

Follow a full fight preparation cycle from choosing a bout and setting goals to camp structure, sparring taper, weight week, corner plan, fight night, and post-fight review.

Use calf kicks, inside low kicks, foot sweeps, and modern checking habits that have changed striking in MMA. The chapter covers setups, damage management, stance effects, and counters before the leg is compromised.

Handle southpaw matchups, open-stance kicking lanes, lead-hand battles, rear-side weapons, and stance switches. You practice switching stance for tactical reasons instead of as a trick.

Use modern top-control systems built around wrist rides, leg rides, mat returns, hip pressure, and fence rides. The chapter covers how these controls create strikes, fatigue, and submission openings.

Add heel-hook awareness, knee-line defense, saddle-style positions, and leg-lock entries without forgetting strikes and top control. You practice when leg attacks fit MMA and when they give up too much position.

Use phone video, shared clips, tagging, wearable data, and remote coach feedback to improve training decisions. The chapter keeps the tools practical: what to record, what to measure, and what not to overtrust.

Build routines for nerves, setbacks, focus, aggression control, and confidence after hard rounds or losses. You practice mental skills that show up in training, weigh-ins, walkouts, and between-round moments.

Make smart between-round decisions: reading damage, giving clear advice, managing cuts within legal limits, and deciding when a fighter should not continue. This chapter is for fighters who want to be good teammates as well as competitors.

Handle the real-world requirements around amateur and professional competition: licenses, medical exams, bloodwork, contracts, suspensions, anti-doping rules, insurance, and state athletic commission paperwork.

Build a healthy training room through consent, boundaries, fair matchmaking, safeguarding, honest coaching, and respect for size and experience differences. The chapter covers responsibilities for fighters, coaches, and senior teammates.

Map the paths ahead: amateur fighting, professional fighting, coaching, refereeing, judging, cut work, strength coaching, analysis, and gym ownership. You also plan proof-of-skill artifacts, useful certifications, and ways to stay current as the sport changes.