Realistically can a tall, muscular guy with no martial arts training beat a short man who fights regularly?

[Anonymous]

I heard someone saying that a 6 feet tall guy with a high level of athleticism has no chance in a fight against someone like Manny Pacquiao who is only 5'5". Is this really true?

[AaronKrieger]

If you mean a professional fight, then no, but in an actual fight, yes. Street fights are very random and out of your control for the most part. There are so many factors involved, but you definitely have better odds if you trained, but it is not guaranteed success.

FOR EXAMPLE:
- You slip due to rain or a greasy floor, so you break your wrist by falling on it weird.

- He takes you down and you hit your head too hard against the concrete.

- While wrestling on the ground your elbow gets accidentally dislocated (more likely to happen if he is significantly heavier than you)

- He hits your eye, which blinds/injures that eye or he breaks your nose, which too can fuck up your vision

- Have long hair or wearing a hoodie? That can be used against you.

- You're on the ground and he kicks you in the head (this can kill you).

Anything is possible in a fight. Also it does matter how trained is the skilled fighter, what martial arts does he know, how often does he train, etc.

[The_Sexpert]

Size does matter in a fight, unless it's Hollywood

We have weight classes and gender division in every combat sport for a reason

So Size and Skill are two things that influence a fight so much

If you have seen Connor Mcgregor vs Hafthor Bjornson.. that really shows the importance of size

Connor is among world's best fighters, meaning his skill is world class but he is quite small... and Hafthor has zero fighting experience or skill but his strength is world class.. he's a former world's strongest man...

The fight was like a dad playing with his kid

Summing up big trained guy always beats small trained guy... more the size the other person has, the lesser skill he needs to be equal to you...

Amateur Heavyweight fighter would almost easily beat even world's best bantamweight fighter

Sorry about the long podcast, to answer your question... I do think a 6' 300 pound bodybuilder like Ronnie Coleman or something has a chance against Manny in a fight (not boxing) ... a 6' just above average strong guy has very little chance against Manny

Amateur boxers who are 6' and heavyweight would be a problem for him in my opinion

[tremendousfern]

Yep. The idea that skill>everything else is manlet cope. Size plays an enormous role in fighting and the greater the size difference, the greater the role it plays.

[The_Sexpert]

@tremendousfern True!

[Viola_456]

In competition no technique is a lot more important than size but in a street fight its hard to predict what Can happen... But i would still bet on a short guy

[virtualwasp]

no chance, technique is what matters. a fighter will see your next move before you commit to it

[Levin]

Short men aren't to be scoffed at. If anything they're the worst because they have a chip on their shoulder and some kind of inferiority complex where they overcompensate by using excessive power. I had some in my classes and they could generate a lot of power. Well that fat ones anyway. Plus they had a lower centre of gravity. The smaller ones were just stupidly quick. Yes, I could outpower them by a margin but they were occasionally so quick I literally couldn't figure out what they were doing. Plus one guy in particular was really aggressive to the point where I properly smacked him in retaliation.

My gut feeling on this is everyone takes it back to a ring. Well, a professional fight is different because the power diffentials really add up if you take a repeated pounding from someone in a sport fighting setting.

I'm just shy off 6 feet tall and I can tell you outright I would have been murdered by a 5ft 5 guy with proper fighting experience.

Most guys can't even generate some basic power or throw a punch. I couldn't. They'd be severely handicapped.

Also, muscle isn't necessarily all that for fighting. My old instructor used to say they were slow and bruised easily. You're not using muscles when you're punching. You're using tendon power. I'm extremely skinny and to look at me now one believes I can credibly generate any power. in my humble experience I can generate a phenomenal level of power, probably a lot more than much bigger guys in a pure striking sense. Although full disclosure I am shit at wrestling. I really find weight helps a lot in that.

[WindAtMyBack]

An experienced fighter will win before the inexperienced fighter even knows he's in a fight.

The inexperienced guy doesn't even know how to make a fist. Their "fist" will be a soft sponge instead of a rock. Then they'll pull it because that's a totally natural thing to do - most people don't want wreck their hand by punching hard things.

But hey, he's on the ground before any of that matters.

[MrOracle]

Manny would likely win a boxing match, but the outcome of a street fight is far from certain. There are too many variables.

Organized fighting exists to limit the variables. In the real world, there are weapons (both purpose built and improvised) and terrain and animals and other people. A good sized guy with little training but experience with street fights might do really well, but also might be knocked out in 10 seconds.

[TheorionMage]

Used to teach women's self defense... a combination of judo and akkido.
MUCH to be said for BEING a smaller target and PRECISION targeting and leverage
and... generally 'No'.

Everything the tall guy HAS/IS is that much MORE the little opponent
has to injure/break/cripple~ PAIN is a powerful motivator.

[jshm2]

It's never a straight forward thing to predict a fight. If there was a "magic formula" then you can bet your ass, bookies would be all over it.

But your question basically boils down to "professional or brawler". The answer will always be professional, unless the brawler has the element of surprise". The reason is not only fitness but experience

[SotiCoto]

Given the entire point of Martial Arts is to allow the weak to overcome the strong through skill... I would imagine whether it actually succeeds in this regard varies on a case by case basis. It isn't so easy that it constitutes an instant win against anyone, obviously.
As I was once told by very much an expert on this matter (my old Wing Chun sifu): Someone skilled enough can beat someone strong... but if they go up against someone strong AND skilled... they're fucked.

[mobiusforniner]

Fear not the man who’s done a thousand punches one time. Fear the man who’s done one punch a thousand times.

[exitseven]

I imagine it is true. Trained fighters can beat people who are bigger and stronger. They know how to disable an opponent and know how to counter their moves.

[Red_Arrow]

A short man who fights regularly can be easily beat by a man, 6 feet or not, who has a gun.

[handsomelad70]

He wouldn't. Even at Pacquiao's age, he'd beat the brakes off the bigger boy. Pacqquiao was a professional boxer, meaning his hands could be lethal if he hit a non-boxer right.

[JayBones]

No. Not a chance in Hell. A stocky guy will beat a twig the same weight as him 9 times out of 10. A stocky guy could beat a guy 10 lbs heavier Half the time. That's without fight experience

[Staximus]

If he gets in a lucky punch. I'm short fat and out of shape. I've been in a lot of fights when I was younger and most of the guys were taller and in better shape than me, and most of them lost.

[_pig_droppings_]

Come at me bro, I'll leave you laying there like a bouquet of old gym socks.

[Pohjolan]

Maybe if a unexperienced guy throws a big rock at the more skilled one.

Remember that Musashi beat a experienced swordsman with a longer sword by hitting him on the head with a oar.

[Phoenix98]

To many unknowns in your question to say for sure.

[LadyLa820]

Yes the short man has a greater technique and will use that to win.

[Quigly]

They don't separate fighters based on skills. They separate fighters based on weight, height and reach.

[gabe10]

No, it’s a combination of strength and technique.

[Anonymous]

Probably not, unless he gets a lucky solid hit in. Anyone can get lucky and knock someone out

[NathanDavis]

not true at all

[NathanDavis]

untrained muscle, the bigger it is... the slower it gets

any decent trained fighter would read you like a giant open book

and let's not even start on the factor of how it actually feels to get punched or kicked by a trained fighter, lmfao... and how most "regular" people have no idea of how debilitating it can be to get hit on certain key spots

[strateguy632]

highly unlikely

[laly520]

size won't make difference but skills

[jahaims]

Is that why combat sports have weight classes?

[WindAtMyBack]

@jahaims
Size and weight matter IF everything else is equal. In combat sports you are putting two experiences people against each other. Even then, size is only an advantage not something decisive.

[DextroShade]

Yes, weight classes are a thing for a reason.

[princeofromance]

Yes, but it would be a challenge.

[KrakenAttackin]

Probably not.

[MaxUsefull]

The chances are pretty low of that

[Anonymous]

Kick him in the balls.

[jahaims]

If you think that actually works, you watch too much TV. It hurts like hell to get hit there, but it doesn't just disable us. If you were to kick me in the balls, I would still be able to retaliate.

[Opinion Owner]

@jahaims I don't watch TV. You'd be on the floor crying

[WindAtMyBack]

Kick in the balls should be a last resort because it can backfire. First, it's not as easy to do as you might think. It's a fairly small target with lots of things that can fully or partially block the shot. Someone is not going to be standing still facing you with their feet planted two feet apart, waiting for you to get a clean shot.

But even with a good shot, it might do nothing but enrage the person. Be very careful trying to pull it off and don't do it unless you absolutely have to.

[undertaker007]

Depends