# Smokeing a part of MMA training?



## Muttonwar (Mar 22, 2008)

Odd thought crossed my mind tonight. Flame if you want but it got me thinking.

Can you be a top tier fighter and smoke? Does anyone know of any contenders that smoke?

Obviously it would effect cardio, im just looking for examples of good fighters who smoke.


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## oblizil (Nov 11, 2008)

Diaz bros probably smoke a lot of weed. We know nick does, nate probably does too. It dosen't seem to affect him too much, but the old you get the more it will show.


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## Muttonwar (Mar 22, 2008)

I mean good old lung killing cigarettes.


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## faustus34 (Jul 17, 2007)

If you mean 'smoking', then good luck finding any at all. If they are at a decent camp, surely whoever is investing time and money in them would kick them in the balls for doing it. 

By the way, what in the green hell is "smokeing"? 

dictionary.com is your friend  

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/smokeing


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## Muttonwar (Mar 22, 2008)

Sorry i failed engrish.

Also, i think i remember hearing Chris Leban talking about quiting smoking when he started to clean up his act. I think it was during the pre-fight show for the fight vs Bisping.


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## Terror Kovenant (Nov 16, 2008)

Well smoking anything has a direct negative impact on your overall health, but its especially damaging to your cardio vascular system. Logically speaking, theres no way a smoker would be able to handle a 3 - 5 round fight. No fighter who is serious about his career would smoke, its just a really stupid idea.


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## SimplyNate (May 27, 2007)

Maybe if they chain smoke all day their body will get used to lack of oxygen. Then when they are in the octagon they will have more than enough oxygen to get them through 5 rounds. The plan is flawless.


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## Trevmysta (Mar 23, 2008)

bas had mentioned once that Sakuraba is a chain smoker.


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## MalkyBoy (Nov 14, 2007)

Someone one here mention that cigs ruined the career of a Gracie, possibly Renzo but I'm not sure.


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## WouldLuv2FightU (Jul 17, 2006)

Trevmysta said:


> bas had mentioned once that Sakuraba is a chain smoker.


He might have been joking I don't know for sure but one reason I say he might be joking is it is a common stereotype that Japanese are all chain smokers (yet still live to be 90 and in good health). Which a huge number of them actually are, in fact statistically and proportionately they smoke more than Americans, so it wouldn't surprise me if Bas wasn't joking and Saku is actually a chain smoker.

As for the OP, I remember seein Emerson smoking a hookah on TUF after he lost his fight. Since they wouldn't allow weed on the set or to be shown on TV it had to have been tobacco...and no one smokes tobacco out of a hookah if they don't smoke cigs normally...

As for the cardio aspect I'm not completely sold on it being such a big negative right now. I personally smoke a little over a half pack a day for the last 8 years and when I am in shape my cardio is just as good as the people around me that don't smoke. I can skateboard for like 7 hours straight and not even be phased cardio-wise (unless you count sore muscles and rubbery legs as cardio too). I used to play full court basketball with some co-workers after work and not be nearly as winded after 4 or 5 games as some of the others who don't even smoke. Obviously that's way different than MMA training but I personally think it depends on the person. Everyone is different and some people's bodies are better at coping with foreign things like carcinogens and whatnot. 

I kickboxed for 8 years and grappled with judo and akido for a few years and I know how exhausting it can be but I think if you're in good shape, fairly young (below 33) and don't smoke like a pack or more a day you can still achieve your goals. But this is just my personal theory/opinion, not trying to say this is fact.


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## TheNegation (Jun 11, 2007)

Saku smoked his ass off, I think Karo smokes, but I'm not sure.


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## CashKola (Jul 7, 2006)

Terror Kovenant said:


> Well smoking anything has a direct negative impact on your overall health, but its especially damaging to your cardio vascular system. Logically speaking, theres no way a smoker would be able to handle a 3 - 5 round fight. No fighter who is serious about his career would smoke, its just a really stupid idea.


I wouldn't say there's no way smokers can go 5 rounds. I remember seeing at least one or two guys on TUF smoke cigarettes. 

Cigarettes will definitely not help anyone's cardio, but they are not necessarily going to completely destroy everyone's cardio. Like WL2FU said, they affect everyone different. There are guys in special military units like the rangers, army snipers and I'm sure in almost every other unit that smoke. And those guys go though some extremely psychically demanding stuff so I'm sure that there are MMA fighters that smoke as well.


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## CornbreadBB (Jul 31, 2008)

My trainer recommended I drink vast amounts of vodka and smoke as many cigarettes as possible to get my cardio up. It has been working very well....I can almost go up the stairs without sweating now~!


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## BrFighter07 (Jun 16, 2007)

saku was a chain smoker and went an hour and a half with gracie. It is possilbe but definitely not the smartest thing to do as most likely it will affect your cardio and health. I personally think it is stupid if you want to be a pro athlete and smoke


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## kano666 (Nov 2, 2007)

WouldLuv2FightU said:


> As for the OP, I remember seein Emerson smoking a hookah on TUF after he lost his fight. Since they wouldn't allow weed on the set or to be shown on TV it had to have been tobacco...and no one smokes tobacco out of a hookah if they don't smoke cigs normally...


Gotta disagree with this. I'm surprised that you'd come to that conclusion. I know lots of people who smoke flavoured tobacco from a hookah occasionally but don't otherwise smoke cigs. I've never been a smoker but I like a good hookah every once in awhile. 

Of course you might be right that Emerson is a smoker. But he plays by different rules. Emerson could smoke between rounds and still kick ass.


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## CornbreadBB (Jul 31, 2008)

There's more to MMA than smoking? What the **** have I been watching?!


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## xeberus (Apr 23, 2007)

Yea cigs are murderous. I still smoke socially but I could not maintain my level of cardio if I smoked daily. I cannot imagine any professional fighters smoking cigarettes.

But yea a lot of fighters I imagine smoke weed in a vap so its not damaging at all.


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## SimplyNate (May 27, 2007)

I enjoy the odd cigar now and then. Not like that is going to do anything.


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## IronMan (May 15, 2006)

Muttonwar said:


> Odd thought crossed my mind tonight. Flame if you want but it got me thinking.
> 
> Can you be a top tier fighter and smoke? Does anyone know of any contenders that smoke?
> 
> Obviously it would effect cardio, im just looking for examples of good fighters who smoke.


Ummm... there really aren't any. At least not who are regular smokers. I smoked for a little while when I was trying to train, and it absolutely killed me. There are a few guys I train with who smoke, and you can tell the difference (you can actually smell it too, whether they've been smoking recently or not, when they start breathing heavily).

If you want to be a top tier fighter and try and smoke, you better work your ass off developing power and technical skill, because you're not going to be able to go two or three rounds against another top tier guy if you've been smoking during the training camp. It's just not going to happen.

Any fighters who smoke, I can more or less garuntee, do not do it on a regular basis.

Even Eddie Bravo, one of the most notorious and habitual potheads in combat sports (nice guy that he is), acknowledges that he can't be a top tier athlete. Part of that, he says, is the fact that he hates conditioning, and is always shaking on that front, but his weed and diet play a big roll in that.

I'm not going to generalize, either, and say that all people who smoke regularly have a discipline problem. My grandma smokes, and she's way more disciplined than a lot of people I know (and she's like 92, it's pretty scary, she goes through like two packs a day).

At the end of the day, though, it's more about how committed you are to maintain your body. If you put booze and smokes in, then you better work hard to make sure that you're compensating for that in the gym. It puts a lot of strain on your training. It's the same as dieting badly, it might not kill you as an athlete, but it definitely means you have to work that much harder.


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## TERMINATOR (Jul 6, 2008)

I have no fricken idea


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## WouldLuv2FightU (Jul 17, 2006)

kano666 said:


> Gotta disagree with this. I'm surprised that you'd come to that conclusion. I know lots of people who smoke flavoured tobacco from a hookah occasionally but don't otherwise smoke cigs. I've never been a smoker but I like a good hookah every once in awhile.
> 
> Of course you might be right that Emerson is a smoker. But he plays by different rules. Emerson could smoke between rounds and still kick ass.


Well, I have never even met a person who smokes tobacco from a hookah. I don't know what the point of smoking tobacco is if you're not addicted to it


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## Ape City (May 27, 2007)

Hookah tobacco is very fresh, lacking in alot of the bi products ciggs have, and can be flavoured.

Even if you have tried every cigg on the planet you should def try a hookah; it is such a different experience. 

You get a nice rich, fresh tobacco taste that I have never experienced froma cigg and an incredible smoothness instead of a generally heavy and harsh feel from ciggs.

Plus you get a short dopamine high, just like when you smoke ciggarettes. 

So people who don't smoke ciggs get a big dopamine high cause they rn't used to it, it tastes fruity, smooth, and fresh. That's why people smoke hookah.

I personally go to a bar in the summer that serves hookah outdoors. You order drinks and what flavour you want and they bring you a massive 4 chambered hookat to enjoy.

I like ciggs, but they def have a chemically, harsh taste when compared to the fresh tobbacco used in a hookah.


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## TheNegation (Jun 11, 2007)

WouldLuv2FightU said:


> Well, I have never even met a person who smokes tobacco from a hookah. I don't know what the point of smoking tobacco is if you're not addicted to it


You might have forgotten this since you have been smoking so long, but tobacco tastes really, really good, and smoking on it's own is an enjoyable experience. If I could smoke on and off without getting addicted again I would.


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## swpthleg (Dec 31, 2006)

Maybe they train just to keep their lungs in great shape for smoking.

My lord and master knew a guy in college who was a great lacrosse player and trained his ass off so his lungs would be up to all the pot he smoked.


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## WouldLuv2FightU (Jul 17, 2006)

Ape City said:


> Hookah tobacco is very fresh, lacking in alot of the bi products ciggs have, and can be flavoured.
> 
> Even if you have tried every cigg on the planet you should def try a hookah; it is such a different experience.
> 
> ...





TheNegation said:


> You might have forgotten this since you have been smoking so long, but tobacco tastes really, really good, and smoking on it's own is an enjoyable experience. If I could smoke on and off without getting addicted again I would.


Hm, guess I'm missin out. I'll have to try it sometime. I didn't think people actually smoked tobacco from hookahs and bongs, I always thought that was just an excuse to be able to legally sell paraphenilia. Smoking tobacco from anything other than a cigarette is extremely rare in my area, like I said I've never even met anyone that does it. I'll be the first in my circle of friends to try it :thumb02:


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## Ape City (May 27, 2007)

It isn't super popular around here either, but I live in very very multicultural city, and a few of these places have popped up.

I would def recomend giving it a try.

I never really enjoy the taste of ciggs in the way I can enjoy the taste of fresh tobacco in a hookah.


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## MLD (Oct 15, 2006)

Even smoking a pipe with good tobacco is enjoyable. Especially around the campfire, deep in the woods, with some straight whiskey to accompany it. But very addicting, so not good for people who can't just do it once in a while. Certainly more enjoyable than cigs.


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## slugfest (Dec 31, 2006)

I get a kick out of hearing smokers defending their habit!
Because I do the same , I'm no better, but its still funny.
As an on and off and on cigg smoker I finally kicked the cigg habit for a few years and did feel better, but as luck would have it I am an avid outdoorsman and can not sit next to a good fire without a mini cigar hanging out my mouth! So now I am addicted to cigars, at 35 its time to quit for good!
As a teen and young adult it did little to nothing in the way of harming my cardio as i was as fast and had as much or more endurance than my fellow hockey players, but as the years go on it catches up to you and their is no denying that.
In professional level fighting your odds are stacked against you if you smoke regularly, If you find you really like to smoke, keep it social from the start, on weekends or occasional outings and its may not be as harmful.


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