I have experience in stand-up fighting (brown belt in Kenpo and 2 years boxing competition in the military) and would like to cross over into kickboxing. I would also very much like to compete in some NHB events such as "cage fighting", etc. My question is, is it possible for someone with a good kickboxing/boxing foundation to compete in these types of events? Or, since my stand up striking skills are good, should I concentrate more on learning some grappling skills such as judo or jiu jitsu instead of the kickboxing? I know according to most opinions the fights in these competitions usually end up on the ground but, I am not really interested in studying grappling enough to want to invest money and time in training specifically in that. And as I stated, I was in the military and trained in hand-to-hand combat enough to apply a choke or joint lock to end a fight, although I know some of those holds and chokes would not be legal in an NHB type of fight. I have only seen a few of these events on tv (one Pride and two UFC fights) but it seems as though the fighters are usually only trained in wrestling or grappling, so that is why I wonder if a kickboxer would be allowed to compete in one of these tournaments?
