The sheer volume of responses to this thread say all you need to know about what MMA is becoming. HUGE.
Yeah, but in boxing the ways to win a fight are far more limited and it's athletes are far more refined in the ways of doing it. In MMA, again, not every athlete is a BJJ black belt or former wrestling All-American/Olympian or an elite kickboxer, and they may be great in certain areas but vulnerable to others. That's part of the intrigue with the sport and it's match-ups. Many started with one disicipline and are learning/improving other areas. It would take most MMA athletes a long time of training just to compete on the elite amateur (olympic) level of the sport...and that's with headgear and four rounders. It's not just striking. It's having proper punching technique and setting punches up and defending yourself and being able to do it for 3 minutes a round for 4-8-10-12 rounds at a time and being able to hold your arms up for that period of time. It's about being able to take a punch. Most boxers that don't have those pre-requisites often don't even make it past the four round level in boxing or journeyman status. Boxers may not be great in all those areas, but the best boxers that aren't well rounded at least excel in other areas and can compensate for their deficiencies enough to still compete.