Ectomorph MMA

My brother and I were watching UFC 202 last Saturday and giving each other our predictions for the main event. It’s something I had written about for work but this particular event has had me revisit this second fight between Conor Mcgregor and Nate Diaz. In particular, the somatotype or the build of these two fighters and how there might be an advantage in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to those that fit into the Ectomorph category like Diaz does.

If you’re not familiar with somatotype, it is a type of category that human physiques fall into depending on how they are shaped. There are three categories; Endomorphic, Mesomorphic, and Ectomorphic.

I’m not a scientist but I am a martial artist and I have been a fan and student of the fight game for more than half my life. In watching as many fights as I have watched and trained with various body types and weights it made me think how the lanky body types have always seemed to have an advantage, especially if they were skilled in martial arts.

Joe Rogan had commented on a similar notion in some of his commentary on Jon Jones fights. So, fighters like Jones, Liam McGeary, Nate Diaz, Max Holloway, and Alexander Gustafsson have met with a lot of success.

The obvious reach advantage in striking against other body types always seems to favor the Ectomorph. In grappling, the narrow limbs seem to work their way around the tightest defense and if they’re really versed in Jiu-jitsu, their guard is almost impassable.

Let’s use Jon Jones fight against Alexander Gustafsson 1, he has said his fight with Gustafsson is his toughest fight to date. Why? Because their dimensions are almost similar.

If we look at last weekend’s main event at UFC 202, even though Diaz did not get the win from the judges, he still showed to problematic for McGregor in the later rounds. What McGregor did differently this time around was prepare against that body type on top of other things.

There needs to be a study on this since this post is pure speculation. However, the fighters' records mentioned in this article could be proof enough. The way the sport is growing, I’m sure it would make a nice feature on Fight Pass or one of the sports networks.

Maybe they should bring back Fight Science on the National Geographic Network. Unless they covered this and I completely forgot.