Is Starting a Career in Mixed Martial Arts, The right Choice ?

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To put it simply, you should do what makes you happy. You wouldn’t put forth the effort required to succeed in MMA if you didn’t enjoy it. You probably will not get rich doing it, and you are going to have your struggles, but if you are okay with not being rich, i would go for it. You might want to do some night classes occasionally (unless you make good money the at nights) to make getting a degree easier if you choose that route.

But yeah, you might not make make the most money, but if it will make you happy, you should do it.

Yes man you can do it! I am exactly in your shoes dude , I train at the Cesar Gracie Acadamey in Cali , and I dropped out of college to Train full time. Why? Because I loved it , but I still go to WC College half time , because in this sport man you HAVE TO have a back up , because injuries and bad promoters are almost guaranteed to happen.
If your a guy who likes MMA then try to have your back up to be some kind of job where allot of physical labor is involved and some sort of fighting. My back ups are Officer , and Fire fighter.
I started training when I was 19 man fresh out of high school , and now at 20 I have 3 fights under my belt. If you train hard and go 5 times a day, Im sure you will realize your dreams. DOn’t ever listen to the hater man!

Fell free to email me if you have any questions man.
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Reading your question it seems that you have already put forward all of the reasons why you should.

Perhaps you should concentrate for the moment at least on securing employment. This will give your life and ambitions a better grounding and introduce the stability you need in order to start pursuing your dream.

Just don’t go putting the horse before the carteh….

Do you wish to become an MMA fighter for the money, or it is something you like?

If you are not able to earn enough from fighting, will your family and yourself be able to survive?

Are you sure training in MMA will allow you to be in great shape? Yes, you will be in shape because you are freuqently engaged in physical exercise. No, you will not be in shape because of the injuries you will sustain from frequent fighting. Some injuries may cause you to not enjoy your old age that much.

You only live once. Make your choice.

If its what your dream and what you love go for it! Good Luck

I would urge you to think this through very carefully. I was fortunate in that I got to pursue a career in martial arts at the same time as a military career. I did turn down promotions several times in order to do that. Also all the time I spent in training and pursuing martial arts verses other things was a cost as well in both education and relationships. The time spent in training and the money in return is not there for most people so I would urge you to continue college at least part time if you decide to do this. It is important for people to be happy and try to pursue their dreams I think but after fighting if you do make it that college degree will come in very handy. If not then you have not lost to much ground and are still working towards something that will give you some kind of a future. I can also tell you that when you start out doing something for fun but then do it as a living it ceases to be fun in all the ways it was before. To many times people drop out of college to do something else only to find out after its to late that they should have stayed in it. While college takes a long time and an even longer time if going part time you are at least helping to cover this aspect a little bit better I think. I will close with telling you about my business partner who was one of my karate students when he was ten years old. He was very good in martial arts and a super athlete. He eventually started kick-boxing and boxing and won gold glove titles twice, numerous amateur and professional kick boxing titles and could have had a promising career in professional boxing. At the same time he went to college and graduated and also has since obtained his Masters and PHD and holds a job that will not allow him to fight now at thirty-four years of age. Add four zeros to his age and you have about what he makes now in a year. While he sometimes misses fighting and thinks about going back to it he is very happy with his job and income that he would not have without that education.

Leaving college usually turns out to be a mistake…. but you only live once (as far as I know;) and have to pursue your dreams…. Im sure there is a way you can train and go to school…. I did it, and so do many other successful fighters!!!!

Trying it for 1 semester, to see if any coaches think you have a real serious talent, is not going to hurt you long term.

You need to get at least 1 real MMA fight (amateur is fine) to find out if it’s for you.

But if college is a real option for you, I would try to continue. Maybe just cut back to 1 or 2 classes and keep your grades up.

Even if you make it, fight careers are generally short. Only a few guys have careers of 10 years or more, so you need to have a plan B and something to fall back on when your fight career is over.

So if your 19 now, and you do have a fight career of 10 years, then your only 29. It’s not like you can retire at 29, you’ll need something to fall back on.

James

A career in MMA is going to be hard. I’m all for it, if that’s what you really want to do, but I would strongly encourage you to finish college. Education is something nobody can take away from you.

You also have to ask yourself what the odds of making a living out of this are. In order to even make enough to pay the bills, you’ll need to be competing in the big shows (the UFC, for now). Before you get to that level, though, you need to start off on smaller shows that aren’t going to pay more than a few hundred dollars. You aren’t going to be able to fight that often, either. You would probably be lucky to make $2000/year starting off. Until then you’ll have to work a regular job.

You also have to be realistic with yourself. What makes you think you’ve got the potential to do this? Do you have experience in athletics? Are you in good shape? Are you self-disciplined? Do you have any prior competitive/martial arts experience? If you answered no to any of those, you’ve got a long, hard road ahead.

I wish you the best of luck, but my advice is to finish school first. Get your degree. Go ahead and do some training while you’re in school. Work out with the wrestling team, if you’ve got one. But definitely make sure you’ve got something to fall back on.

if you really think MMA is for you then you should do it!
im telling you right now bro, MMA is not easy!