At least without a wrestling pedigree behind it.
I posted after UFC 73 a point about the losses of Franca, Bocek, Marquardt, and wins by Lytle, Minatauro, Florian, and Bonnar and you can toss in a draw between to wrestlers, that BJJ was dead in MMA without either a solid wrestling pedigree or honed striking skills, so let's analyze:
Edgar's wrestling totally neutralized Bocek's world class BJJ.
Lytle, an ex-boxer who has trained on the ground for years now, made Jason Gilliam look like a doll on the ground.
Florian, once a BJJ only guy, now has Muay Thai skills that may be top ten at 155 in the UFC.
Franca needs to sell his BJJ black belt on ebay. He looked like a complete joke on the ground against a top eschelon wrestler in Sherk.
Bonnar, another ex boxer and wrestling standout, looked just beautiful on the ground against Nickels.
Big Nog it seems has all but abandoned his BJJ for the striking side, unless an opportunity presents itself. He no longer constantly looks for takedowns and subs.
Fighters must be well-rounded today, of course. But either some of these BJJ black belts were purchased at Target, or these guy's need to start paying local wrestlers for lessons. You need to strike or you need to wrestle, and either way, know submissions.
Wanna see what I mean? Short vid. Both of these guys are BJJ black belts, but Jake Shields is a two time all American wrestler. Watch his posture and position. He makes Ido look like a fool.
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3 comments:
matt hughes vs royce gracie,gracie didnt have a chance. i still havent gotten over that one
I agree with you on alot of these guys, but there is a new guy coming to MMA that you need to watch out for. He is a BJJ king.
http://billygamble.blogspot.com/2007/07/marcelo-garcia-in-k-1.html
Thanks to the owner of this blog. Ive enjoyed reading this topic.
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