A question for the MMA guys

I started working with a guy whom has fought before and he and I decided to spar. I have read a good deal of books and have been working on a heavy bag fairly steady. I felt confident enough I wanting to spar him but as we started everything felt akward. All I could get out was a 1,2 but after that it felt really weird. I have felt like this since the 8th grade. (thats when I started to wrestle) About how long does it take to get use to sparing for the guys whom train and fight regulary. Thanks in advance

Define training regularly. Because to me, from what you just said, you have not trained your boxing/kickboxing at all with qualified supervision.

I have seen guys go from not knowing a damn thing to looking sharp, and against similarly skilled guys look very good sparring (in boxing gyms where guys focus 100% on just boxing) in less than 6 months, but I have also seen guys who labor for years to not look a mess. Depends on the person, whether they are willing to put in the pad work (quality padwork is a great deal more valuable than sparring early on), have quality instruction to head off bad habits/problems before they become big issues, and to a degree the person's personality -like/dislikes with regards to punching kicking and of course natural ability.

Just like with Jiu-jitsu, it's all about mat time.

You can train for years on technique and with the heavy bag or compliant partners, but none of that can prepare you for facing a resiting opponent. If you want to get comfortable sparring, then you need to spend more time sparring.