I do Brazillian Jiujitsu 4 to 5 times a week. I'd just recommend finding a good mma/bjj gym and going there. A good gym should allow you to train as much as you want and go to as many classes as you want. However, some of the gyms charge different rates for the number of classes you are allowed to go to a week which is crap. What part of town do you live in?
i once saw a muay thai fight in phuket. there were several fights on that night actually. in one of the early ones, the loser got his leg broken in two. was quite gruesome. and the last fight was actually a fake fight just for show, involving a famous participant named buakaw. it's hard not to respect the training and discipline that goes into developing martial arts skills. if not for basketball, i would have liked to learn one them. i don't know how kareem was able to make time for both/
I figure the main reason Rashad showed competency on the ground is his wrestling background more so than his BJJ training for a short period of time(even though that surely helped). I always feel if one is trying to get into MMA and never wrestled at any level then theyd better get invested heavily in BJJ training.
I think ChievousFT did a good job describing for the OP what each discipline will mainly entail and help with. I got no recommendations for you OP, you just gotta read the advice from those here, go read other recommendations online and choose which discipline you feel is best for you at this stage in life and go with it.
Did Karate half of my life, so I wanted to adress your post. Mentioning Karate when talking about "weapons training" is extremely misleading, Karate itself is done entirely without weapons and the movements don't prepare you for any weapons. Karate literally means "empty hand" and was largely developed in Okinawa due to a weapons ban. I don't know where you trained, but if your school included weapons, it is an addition and has absolutely nothing to do with Karate itself. I'd guess it was a Karate+Kobudõ (the traditional Okinawan weapons art) club.
__________________ Which ever Martial Arts you choose, make sure it includes origami!!! Origami >>>>> Drunken Master ....... ....... .......
Muay Thai doesn't exclusively put emphasis on fighting up close. Granted this HL is from one of the GOATs, I think you'll find a good mix of strikes at all distances. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Blh-WzaXUCM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The part at 3:15-3:30 is
They won't get messed up bad even if you get cauliflower ear. I've had it on both ears and you can't really even tell my ears were hurt. I wore wrestling headgear after it happened and they healed fine.
Moves I've been learning: The Waterboy <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mEK6G-tOrlY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Twirley whirley tackle <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xIWzTBskqEk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Muay Thai knee <iframe src="https://vine.co/v/i092idiVTrP/embed/simple" width="600" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script src="https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js"></script> That's my purse, I don't know you! <div style="width: 75%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 75%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/59s8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen scrolling="no" style="width: 75%; height: 75%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div> JCVD <iframe src="https://vine.co/v/i9Tigm37HTQ/embed/simple" width="600" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script src="https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js"></script> Can Can Kick <div style="width: 75%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 75%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/p9k2" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen scrolling="no" style="width: 75%; height: 75%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div> Judo throw <div style="width: 75%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 75%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/o0mb" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen scrolling="no" style="width: 75%; height: 75%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div> Sweep the leg <div style="width: 75%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 75.000%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/4h8l" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen scrolling="no" style="width: 75%; height: 75%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
