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10 Best UFC & MMA Books To Read
Mixed martial artists are not only intense but they can be also considered ferocious beasts. While many fighters possess these barbaric qualities, it is impossible for them to win this sport without mental strength and intelligence.
Despite the fact that literature has no connection with this violent sport MMA, several legendary fighters and hardcore MMA fans have written exceptional works about the sport of mixed martial arts. They have shared their experiences about MMA fights that make up the foundation for an aspiring fighter.
Here is a list of the top 10 books on UFC and MMA that are the perfect read for any hardcore fan or audiobook fans are looking for inspiration to be an MMA fighter.
A New York Times best-seller, “Got Fight” is one of the best books on UFC and MMA. It is the debut book of Forrest Griffin. Through this book, Griffin tells the readers how he became the light-heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He also shares all his strategies and tactics of fighting that made him the winner of the first season of Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter.
In this book, he has given 50 Zen principles of hand-to-face combat. This UFC/MMA book is also authored by Erich Krauss, who is a professional Muay Thai fighter and the author of more than 25 MMA books.
One of the popular books on mixed martial arts, “Becoming the Natural” depicts the life of Randy Couture inside and outside the fighting cage. The story starts from the fatherless childhood of Couture, and how he became the six-time UFC champion, and how he got the victory against Brazilian fighter Vitor Belfort. This book does not only talk about Couture’s success but also puts a light on his failures also. In this book, Randy Couture has talked about his defeat of Tito Ortiz for the light-heavyweight title. The book is co-authored by Loretta Hunt, who has been recognized as the first female full-time mixed martial journalist internationally.
The book is all about street fighting and Brazilian jiu jitsu. Direct from the personal experiences of the most successful and feared fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), “Why I Fight” is an honest, intimate, and fascinating memoir of BJ Penn.
Through this book, you can get a deep understanding of one of the most exciting and fastest-growing sports in the world. The book is an unforgettable portrait of one of the most recognizable mixed martial artists in the UFC.
You can learn a lot from this book as it is personally written by one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world who is also the first and only non-Brazilian-born winner of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the black belt category.
“The Cauliflower Chronicles” is the best book for MMA fans and travel buffs. It has an excellent mix of both mixed martial arts and info on Hawaii that is not available anywhere else.
Marshal D. Carper, who is the author of this martial arts travel memoir, has a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. He has dedicated his entire career to growing and promoting the jiu-jitsu community across the world.
This book tells the story of Marshal Carper, who has shifted from rural Pennsylvania to Hilo, Hawaii to train at the BJ Penn MMA Academy, after breaking up with his long-time girlfriend. This book talks about the adventures and misadventures of Carper both on the mat and around the island.
“The MMA Encyclopedia” as the name suggests is a perfect book for aspiring fighters and for those who are MMA fans. This book gives you a thorough and detailed explanation of mixed martial arts. It talks in detail about the facts, the fighters, and the fundamentals of the world's fastest-growing sport.
For those who really want to break the MMA language barrier, this book is a perfect read as it explains all the basics of MMA. The encyclopedia contains a rich pot of facts and information about the sport of MMA.
The author, Jonathan Snowden, is trained in jiu-jitsu and a fan of UFC. He is also the teacher of judo at the Dalhousie University Judo Club.
“Total MMA” is a popular book that takes you inside ultimate fighting to give a real feel of it. MMA is basically a mix of all types of fights, like boxing, wrestling, and karate. This MMA book talks in detail about the history and information that one needs to know to completely understand the contemporary world of Mixed Martial Arts.
The book is written by Jonathan Snowden, who has focused on explaining the expansion of MMA from its early beginning to late 2008.
Through this book, you also get to know the darker side of the sport, where the backroom deal-making is as fierce as the fighting.
This is the best book to read for people who are hardcore fans of mixed martial arts. “No Holds Barred” talks about the complete history of MMA in America. Popular as the bible for MMA, this book is authored by Clyde Gentry III, who has talked about the backlash that MMA faced in the late 1990s. The book takes you to the time when MMA was typically reserved for tough-man competitions and low-level professional wrestling matches.
This book is a result of years of research, with more than 125 interviews, boxes of rare documents, and notes collected over 10 years. The book perfectly describes the true and compelling story of the evolution of MMA in America.
Through this book, the author, Sam Sheridan takes the readers with him into the dangerous world of professional fighting. This is the national bestseller book on MMA. In this book, Sam has talked about his experiences, like his muay Thai bout in Bangkok, his training with jiu-jitsu royalty in Rio, and his match against the toughest in MMA in Iowa.
MMA not only requires physical strength but also good mental strength. The book talks about the same, uncovering the secrets of mental strength and success. To get a better understanding of the mental aspect in the sport, Sam has done dozens of interviews with the world’s most fascinating and dangerous men, including champion fighters Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, and Marcelo Garcia; celebrated trainers Freddie Roach and Greg Jackson; ultrarunner David Horton; legendary wrestler Dan Gable, and many more.
A story of a fighter’s journey from a bullying victim to an internationally celebrated athlete and champion, “The Way of the Fight” is a New York Times bestseller book on UFC. The book is written by the world-renowned professional fighter Georges St-Pierre.
In this book, he has told his life story from the beginning as to how he was mercilessly bullied in childhood, his first discovery of Karate, and how he spent all his free time in a gym after working as a garbage collector.
The book is very inspiring for the aspiring MMA fighters, as Georges talks about his hard-fought rise in the sport of mixed martial arts, and his long, painful recovery from a career-threatening injury.
“A Fighter’s Heart” is one of the best martial artist biographies available on the market. The author Sam Sheridan talks about his long-dormant obsession with fighting in this book. Sam, after trying quite a lot of adventurous jobs around the world, finally realized in 1999 that he has to pursue his obsession with fighting.
He trained in Muay Thai in Bangkok and stepped inside the ropes for his first professional bout. After this one fight, he was unstoppable and all the bouts he fought, he has talked about them in this book. Through this book, he talks to readers about his fights against Brazilian jiu-jitsu stars, Olympic boxers, and Ultimate Fighting champions. After reading this book, you will get an insight into this violent and spectator sport.
The Final Words
Over the years, mixed martial arts have become quite popular among people. There is really something in this sport that attracts a huge audience. To all those people who are hardcore fans of contact sports, MMA is the best type of fighting that not only involves skills and strength, but also the mental strength of the fighter.
