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 weight 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.