The idea of an "MMA fighter" is a very modern notion. MMA started as a contest between practitioners of different martial arts, but it quickly became apparent that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu trumps any other style. The first UFCs were effectively a debunking of almost all martial arts. MMA fighters all derive their style from the Gracie family because that was the only way to beat them - combine Gracie techniques with stand-up skills derived from Thai and western boxing.
Either something works or it doesn't. Tradition doesn't, precisely because it's tradition - a rapidly evolving style will easily beat one stuck in the fourteenth century. The Gracies dominated early MMA because they had decades of experience in Vale Tudo matches, fighting all comers in bouts with few or no rules. They knew what worked and what didn't through bloody, painful experience.
Martial arts in the traditional sense are simply woo, no better than homeopathy or divining. They have been tested and they don't work. There might be some value to what is essentially a form of dancing dressed up as combat, but take it into a ring, a cage or a pub brawl and the best you can hope for is that it is useless - most traditional arts are actively harmful.
Either something works or it doesn't. Tradition doesn't, precisely because it's tradition - a rapidly evolving style will easily beat one stuck in the fourteenth century. The Gracies dominated early MMA because they had decades of experience in Vale Tudo matches, fighting all comers in bouts with few or no rules. They knew what worked and what didn't through bloody, painful experience.
Martial arts in the traditional sense are simply woo, no better than homeopathy or divining. They have been tested and they don't work. There might be some value to what is essentially a form of dancing dressed up as combat, but take it into a ring, a cage or a pub brawl and the best you can hope for is that it is useless - most traditional arts are actively harmful.