For someone who has spent most of his career trading kicks and throwing powerful punches like Drew Dober, you might assume he’s suffered major injuries due to Muay Thai. However, the UFC fighter recently revealed that his biggest battle scars actually came from wrestling.

Fresh off his March 2026 win at the UFC 326 against Michael Johnson, Dober admitted that wrestling had been far more brutal on his body than Muay Thai ever had. According to Dober, the constant grinding, the repeated takedowns, awkward positions, and scrambles are much tougher on the body. Over time, the wear and tear caused by wrestling left him with far more injuries and aches.

“Wrestling left me more injured than years of Muay Thai ever did,” he said. "Here’s what most people miss though. Wrestling itself is a fight. They collar tie. They slap heads. The bang, the move. It’s aggressive. I did Muay Thai for as long as I knew how to walk, and wrestling still left me the most injured I’ve ever been.”

Dober once competed in wrestling during his junior and senior years at Millard North High School in Omaha during the early 2000s. However, he had already begun training in Muay Thai at the age of 14 and won two amateur national championships.

However, despite the physical toll it has taken on him, Dober revealed that wrestling has remained an integral part of his fight camp.

In the X post, he cemented his point by talking about the newest UFC heavyweight addition, Gable Stevenson, who is an Olympic-level wrestler. He won his first fight via TKO on July 11, showing he was not afraid of using his striking when he is predominantly a wrestler.

The MMA training advice that Drew Dober swears by

Dober has designed a custom training routine that is built around MMA. Rather than specializing in just one area, his strength and conditioning program draws on multiple practices and combines them into a single routine.

According to his official website, the two-time Amateur Muay Thai National Champion practices MMA striking- which he says is very different from pure Muay Thai.

MMA striking differs from pure Muay Thai or boxing because each strike must account for the takedown threat.

Furthermore, he shared how power comes from the bottom upwards, not the other way around. According to him, it is body power that actually drops your opponent, not arm punches.

The best way to handle your opponent is going in this order-

• Foot
• Knee
• Hip
• Shoulder
• Arm

Dober’s fight camp combines exercises like explosive movements, deadlifts, presses, squats, and conditioning circuits focused on building power and durability.

Although he revealed the many injuries he suffered due to wrestling, he admitted that he still uses it in his daily training routine.

Have you ever practiced MMA training routines?

Let us know your opinion and follow BodyBuilding Bros for more interesting content.

Written by

Avantika Das

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi