Brendan O'Reilly and Braxton McCoy Talk Fights

I was scrolling twitter yesterday and saw these two hosting a chat room over UFC Fight Night. Joined it and they were talking about what impacts a fighter in nature vs nurture. Talking not so much about if a rough or healthy upbringing results in a better fighter, but the variables in how they handle a career in combat sports and there after.

It got me thinking. Let's talk about some fighters, a good example would be Mike Tyson for nature. Mike didn't have an easy life growing up. His dad left his life when he was 2. By 12 he was in a gang and had been in trouble as a juvenile. Lost his mom as a young teen. Then he went on within a few years to become the youngest heavyweight champion boxer ever in his time.

Muhammad Ali grew up in segregation and racial oppression heavily influenced his world views, he took up boxing as a positive outlet. Manny Pacquiao came from poverty.

It would seem that some of the best fighters in the world were pushed there by nature. As if by the time they were grown, it was in their nature to fight. Then you have to consider those who are great fighters but faced little adversity. Writing this article isn't very easy though because the more we look into some of the best fighters. We find some type of adversity in their life.

To give an example of a fighter without much adversity doesn't sound fair. Brendan O'Reilly is a 6-3 pro fighter in the UFC, he said he had a great loving upbringing.

Fight.TV wants to know, do you think it's nature or nurture?