Marius was an exception to the rule 😁 His cardio routine was amazing and should be practiced by every strongman and bodybuilder!
Well, not quite. Despite slimming down Marius collapse from exhaustion when fighting a washed up and not in tip top shape Tim Sylvia.
I believe that physical activity in regard to conditioning is not as directly transferable from one activity to another as one might suspect. I remember rolling in Jiu-Jitsu practice with an avid marathon runner. I always considered a marathon runner the ultimate in cardiovascular conditioning. He told me he couldn't believe how winded and out of breath he was training with me. I use to be a pretty good swimmer and seemed I could go on forever but when I first started running I could barely go a mile. I was in great shape at the time I was rolling and barely broke a sweat with this guy but there was no way I could have run a mile let alone a marathon.
Someone once asked D1 champion and hall of famer, Dan Gable, who was known for his superb conditioning, what was the best exercise to for wrestling conditioning. He replied, "Wrestling."
Marius was in great shape for what he does when he fought Tim Sylvia. Just not in the specific type of shape require in MMA. And I'm sure if Tim Sylvia tried to do what Marius did in WSM using loads corresponding to his strength he would probably collapse from exhaustion as well.