It is incredibly easy to spot a wrestler in a jiu jitsu gym. If their phenomenal hip movement doesn’t give them away, their control certainly does. Wrestlers feel like a glove. Working out of side control or bottom mount becomes infinitely more difficult when facing a wrestler. Once they let their weight down, they are like glue—impossible to shake off. They’re also incredibly quick in their transitions, working their way from side control to mount (etc.) in addition to taking away their opponents ability to move.
I always find it amusing when wrestlers receive criticism for using their wrestling in MMA fights. Apparently many fans find it “boring” and would rather see a wrestler lose on their feet rather than use their skills and dominate where they are most confident. On the converse side is when world-renowned ground fighters (such as BJJ black belt Jorge Gurgel) think they are kickboxers and don’t play into their strengths—consequently losing fights they arguably could win. (Although it’s been posited that Gurgel can’t get his fights to the ground because his knees are too shot to shoot, I disagree. He has takedowns, shots aren’t the only ways to get the fight to the ground [pull guard and sweep much?] and Gurgel doesn’t even seem to try. To me he seems like he’s just not very bright–any strategy flies out the window once he steps inside the Octagon.) Except that when the wrestler actually lose they get criticized for not fighting to their strengths as we recently saw when Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal lost to Rafael Cavalcante at Strikeforce: Houston.
As much as I think it is simply smart strategy for wrestlers to, well, wrestle, I am not a fan of lay and pray either. It was Olympic-level wrestler Ben Askren who recently criticized wrestlers for not being more aggressive, noting that if a wrestler gets a takedown and doesn’t punch the other fighter, they should not have any advantage on the judges’ scorecards. “I can’t stand when a wrestler gets a takedown and doesn’t even try to pass guard or hit,” Askren told Intermat. “If you do no damage, you should score no points.”
Interestingly enough, BJJ stud Robert Drysdale had the same criticism for grapplers competing in BJJ tournaments. He recently told MMA Diehards that BJJ players could learn from the aggression and speed of wrestlers, noting that IBJJF rules make BJJ practitioners less skilled. He thinks that BJJ players who, for example, pause in half guard for 30 seconds, should be penalized for this, and that newer grapplers are not as skilled because they often just hold position.
Much like IBJJF rules are crippling grapplers, it can be argued that Unified Rules (which the UFC uses) cripples MMA fighters as compared to, say, Pride/Dream rules. Pride/Dream rules reward submission attempts. Unified (UFC) rules don’t. In the UFC, fighters are often rewarded for being boring—they can win a round by scoring a takedown and controlling from the top, lay and pray style, without doing any damage or working for a finish. This is considered “Octagon Control.” Whether it’s the rules themselves or the way that the bouts are scored, lay and pray (and wall and stall) fighters are rewarded. (We saw this clearly at UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera–there are countless others like it.) Fighters who want to win are not rewarded for being aggressive like they are in Pride/Dream rules, where guard is considered neutral. Pride/Dream scoring first and foremost rewards fighters for attempting to finish the bout by knockout or submission. Inflicting damage is also heavily weighted. This makes for far more exciting fights than scoring a takedown and going for weak punches in order to hold top position and eke out a decision win.
Is wrestling alone enough to dominate? Of course not. Taking someone down makes you immediately vulnerable to submissions, as we saw most recently with Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva at UFC 117. And there will always be strikers that are able to shut wrestlers down as was the case when Shane Roller fought Anthony Pettis at WEC 50. Even if the rules aren’t changed to demand more exciting fights from wrestlers, learning submission offense and defense as well as striking (which can often set up takedowns in its own right) can come in quite handy.
Wrestling allows a fighter to dictate where the fight takes place. Some fighters use their wrestling to take their opponents down and hold them there, like Chad Mendes did to Cub Swanson at WEC 50—but this isn’t something they have to do to win. Lay and pray fighters could take a cue from ground and pounders, such as Brock Lesnar’s second fight with Frank Mir at UFC 100. Others prefer to use their wrestling to keep the fight standing, like Gray Maynard did with Nate Diaz at UFC Fight Night 20. Some wrestlers supplement their wrestling with striking, like Joe Warren and Aaron Simpson, or kickboxing, like Eric Larkin, since that’s where the fight starts. Others prefer to supplement their wrestling with submission, like Ben Askren, since that’s where they plan on taking the fight. Many others, such as Scott Jorgensen try to be more well rounded mixed martial artists. When two wrestlers meet, the fight often becomes a standup affair, as was the case when Sean Sherk fought Frankie Edgar or Tyson Griffin. When Frankie Edgar’s boxing was too much for Gray Maynard, Maynard turned to his wrestling to hold the smaller Edgar down. It will be interesting to see how these fighters progress when Edgar defends his title against Maynard.
Wrestling is dominant in MMA because it transitions so well to submission grappling and because there is so much competition involved, often from a very young age. Many wrestlers who end up fighting MMA have had many years of wrestling with all of their credentials, as was the case with Josh Koscheck. While almost all mixed martial artists recognize the need to develop some wrestling, few without a true wrestling background are able to become very proficient, with GSP becoming the most renown and accomplished. (With Koscheck coming into to their upcoming fight determined to prove who is the better wrestler, this should be a significant matchup.) The interesting thing about this season’s TUF is that Dana White is putting so much emphasis from Koschek’s beginning in UFC (as “just a wrestler”) to the complete, well-rounded MMA fighter he has now become. Other wrestlers-turned-MMA-fighters should take note. Although it’s unlikely that the UFC will adopt the far superior Pride/Dream rules, fans and promoters alike both love exciting fights. That means wrestlers can use their wrestling to set up submissions or punches, but that we’ve had enough with the takedown and lay-and-pray which inevitably ekes out decision wins but loses fans in the process.
Eric Kamander contributed to this article.
Yael Grauer is a regular contributor at MMA HQ. Check them out for more MMA news and updates, and get 15% off MMA gloves at Elite MMA (Simply enter the coupon code “mma_gloves_sale” at checkout.)
