With the current state of MMA, has striking and wrestling made BJJ something that is not as important as it once was?
Has MMA moved past BJJ?
- Thread starter Lamont Cranston
- Start date
Bjj is very much alive in MMA but the application isn't. You don't see guys not knowing whats going on on the ground as much anymore but the openings are still there its just the window to exploit them isn't as big. Look at Pettis vs Bendo 2 or Pettis against Gil both guys are high level grapplers in their own right but when the sub is perfectly timed and finished with conviction its game over.
Just like striking its the one you don't see comming that turns out the lights...
Just like striking its the one you don't see comming that turns out the lights...
I read a theory on the UG when I was very new to the forum around 08 and it has always stuck with me, as I believe it has come true. Grappling defence is easier to learn than grappling offence and conversely that striking defence is harder to learn than striking offence. This gives people of lesser grappling skill, the ability to defend themselves grappling against higher level guys, but in striking the better striker will have better defence(usually), leading him to be hit less and hit the other guy more. Once you have a situation like this where it easier to damage someone in one aspect than the other, guys have more success with it, in training and the fight, giving a confirmation bias towards that aspect - thereby they devote more time to training it and gameplan around it - which in turn only compounds the issue.
So now you have guys who are having more success striking than grappling due to the inherent learning curves in the respective aspects, devoting more of their time to training for one aspect other the other and then it just goes round and round in a circle, until you end up with almost Ultimate Kickboxing. However, grappling is still an important part of the game and will never go away, since some guys will always buck the trend and you at least need that defence.
So now you have guys who are having more success striking than grappling due to the inherent learning curves in the respective aspects, devoting more of their time to training for one aspect other the other and then it just goes round and round in a circle, until you end up with almost Ultimate Kickboxing. However, grappling is still an important part of the game and will never go away, since some guys will always buck the trend and you at least need that defence.
What do people think will happen if the fight reaches the ground? You HAVE to have some ability to finish without punches. Subs will always be a huge part of fighting.
I really need to learn to read. I thought you ment lack of subs...
For me grappling can be just as exciting as the stand up but it depends on the fan I suppose, popularity wise for sure you are right.
For me grappling can be just as exciting as the stand up but it depends on the fan I suppose, popularity wise for sure you are right.
you still need to know all aspects of a fight.
My theory is just the natural eb and flow that everything has. When the UFC started it was just chaos that was settled by Royce and BJJ. Once guys starting seeing how it worked the solution was get jacked. I believe that technique will usually beat size but when you're not getting tested and headbutts are allowed being in the guard isn't so scary (Coleman). Once being jacked wasn't enough you had guys use much more wrestling to control and defend bjj and then comes much more of a GNP stregety (Kerr). GNP starts to get predictable so now come guys like Chuck with sprawl and brawl and then striking is the new flavour. You get guys who just can't keep up in the striking then back comes BJJ/wrestling and now we start to see lay and pray. After lay and pray gets predictable the anti wrestling turns to wall and stall and the dirty grind gets more attention (Randy). Now it seems the style are very rare as a whole and it's almost straight MMA. I'm sure my little time lime isn't super accurate but its just to get my point across for now. BJJ is still highly affective if used wisely, just like any other technique.
No gi is key...At ATT they have a color rash guard system...White, GREEN (most go to blue but ATT isnt most)then Blue,Purple,brown, and black...They have a quote on the wall that reads "no matter the size a true black belt is indomitable" and I love the atmosphere there..Yves and Mike brown were very good to us...it was te whos who...Bigfoot,Alves,Woodley,lombard,And many more...Alves kicks like a fkn mule and he had on shin pads...can you say sledge hammer...
