The sport of Mixed Martial Arts has been around a lot longer than most people believe, however; it was introduced to the world on a cold evening in Denver, Colorado on November 12, 1993, and called the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The premise was beautiful in its simplicity: to simply answer the question of which martial art is most effective.

Fast forward over 20 years and we now have a sport that jockeys for top position in popularity in many countries. Although the sport has evolved, the original question that was set out to be answered is still one that intrigues people to this day.

Along with the question of which martial art is most effective comes the question of size. More pointedly, in a fight, does size matter? The answer is a resounding yes.

A significant size difference in a fight, despite what martial artists have been saying for years, most definitely matters. For years, martial artists have told us that size and strength are irrelevant and skill is what matters.

This is true to an extent, however; size definitely plays a huge role in bridging the gap in skill levels. That is, a fighter with a significant skill disadvantage can still remain competitive if there is a significant size difference.

Check out the video below as we see Saenchai, one of the best Muay Thai fighters in the world as he trains with a much bigger opponent. Although this is merely a training session, it is clearly evident that size plays a major factor when it comes to fighting.

So think that size and strength don’t matter? Think again as the answer to this question is not as clear-cut as we have been led to believe.

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Jacob C. Stevens is a lifelong athlete and cerebral martial arts enthusiast who is also skilled in the art of linguistic manipulation, his published work, Afterthoughts and Handgrenades, can be found here…