Lifting weights has been an integral part of strength and conditioning for many years. While it doesn't offer much in the form of aerobic conditioning, weight lifting will dramatically increase both your strength and your muscular endurance. These are two important attributes to have in MMA, as they will help you control your opponent on the ground with explosive sweeps and reversals. Having good strength and endurance will also aide you in the stand up, where you will be less likely to get hurt and more able to throw powerful and accurate strikes.

While having a powerful body is important, many fighters don't really know how to train correctly. In order to benefit from your weight training, you'll need to evaluate where your fitness levels are and what your ultimate goal is. If you have just started lifting, I suggest working with core exercises that will stress the muscles around your hips and shoulders. These are the two most functional muscle groups, and therefore the most important in mixed martial arts.

Some core exercises that I recommend for people starting out are the deadlift, squat, and shoulder press. There are many variations of these exercises, and while they will work, I suggest sticking to the basic movements. Some people report knee pain when doing squats, in which case the leg press might be preferable--just remember that you won't be working your stabilizer muscles, meaning that it's a less fuctional exercise.

Once you've committed to six or so weeks of core training, you can start fine tuning your muscles and working toward explosive power. You should still continue doing compound lifts while in this stage, but your focus should be on power lifts. I recommend learning how to perform snatches, hang cleans, and the power straight. The purpose of these exercises is to gain explosive power through neuromuscular conditioning. You can completely forego core training after about a year of it, although I suggest revisiting them for a few weeks every three months.

Remember that your weight training should be done with good form, so to avoid permanent injury. This is especially important when working with heavy weight, but you can still harm yourself if you're lifting light. Cheating is acceptable in most exercises (I wouldn't recommend it in the deadlift), but I feel that it's better to just go as far as you possible can with good form. A cheat rep increases the risk of injury and doesn't add that much to your set.