How to defend against Muay Thai in MMA?

[Old Scratch]

When training for MMA, is it better to train lots of Muay Thai in order to defend against it, or would it be better to train takedowns and grappling techniques as a greater way of nulifying a good Muay Thai biased MMA fighter?

[James Whiston]

i think you've got to train thai but also to defend it.

[Jamie Taylor]

Depends on your opponents style and your gameplan. If you intend to keep the fight stood up with said thai guy then incorporate more thai into your training and drill your elbows, kicks and kick defense til you're sick to the eyeballs. If you are purely a bjj guy or a wrestler it's pretty much pointless wasting hours drilling blocks / catches etc if you're just going to shoot at every opportunity and the time you have left in your training camp would be better suited to working on other aspects ie sharpening your ground game / working on timing of your shot as they strike etc.

A little leg kick / clinch defense wouldn't go a miss though just to be on the safe side as they are the most popular thai moves utilised in mma, you dont see that many body kicks, standing elbows or teeps in mma really. People who fight mma should try to be competent in all areas anyway.