Over the past week several fighters have made comments regarding wrestling's role in MMA. The first comments I heard came from UFC Lightweight Cole Miller. When playing a word association game, Miller described wrestling as the worst thing in MMA and something that will eventually destroy the sport. Miller stated that wrestlers make the sport boring and that judges favor wrestlers due to their position on top and how most wrestlers have impressive physiques. Dan Hardy recently stated in an interview that there is too much wrestling in MMA and that the rules should be changed to prevent long stalemates. Hardy's training partner Paul Daley basically said the same thing and said he believed rule changes would be good for the sport. Finally, Shinya Aoki stated that American wrestlers are boring because they never take risks and that BJ Penn didn't really "lose" to Frankie Edgar.
Comments like these aren't necessarily new to MMA, but the amount of comments being made and now the additional calls for rule changes really makes this subject interesting. With fighters like Gray Maynard, Jon Fitch, Frankie Edgar, and Jake Shields entering the elite of their divisions thanks to their wrestling backgrounds and stifling ground control, it is easy to see why many believe that wrestlers are beginning to take over. Many point to the fact more and more wrestlers are joining MMA every year as seen with guys like Johny Hendriks, Chad Mendes, King Mo, Daniel Cormier, and Ben Askren to show that the sport is becoming inundated with guys who simply want to take you down and hold top control while doing little else. While I can "see" where these arguments are coming from, I'm less inclined to take them seriously.
When Royce Gracie dominated his competition in the early days of the UFC, everyone thought that BJJ was going to be the skill to have in order to be successful in mixed martial arts. Before long kickboxers and muay thai specialists developed ways to prevent the fight from going to the mat and learned submission defense. The sport continued to develop and fighters soon learned that they could not simply be one-dimensional, but would have to learn every skill they could and become a true mixed martial artist. It is this realization that makes me almost angry to hear fighters say that wrestling is ruining the sport. If you don't want to be taken down, then learn how to sprawl and defend the takedown. If you don't want to have a wrestler on top of you for 3-5 rounds then learn some defensive wrestling techniques, some ground transitions, or learn how to throw submissions off your back.
Cole Miller's comments really caught me off guard considering how there are several wrestlers in his camp at American Top Team. I also think it's pretty odd to make comments about how he wants to make fights exciting and that wrestlers are boring. Last time I checked, Miller's last loss came from a wrestler in Efrain Escudero who slammed him repeatedly, out struck him on the feet, and eventually knocked him out cold.
Hardy and Daley's comments regarding rules changes are absolutely ridiculous. This is MIXED MARTIAL ARTS. These guys are calling for faster stand-ups basically because they are strikers and would rather play to their strengths. Hardy's most recent loss was to GSP in a fight in which Hardy was absolutely dominated on the mat. Not only was Hardy taken down several times, but he was nearly submitted on numerous occasions. If Hardy had his way, as soon as GSP slowed down or didn't improve his position immediately, the fight would be stood up. Hardy simply isn't comfortable on the mat and while he is a very talented striker, his call for a rule change to cater to his skill set is pretty ridiculous. The same goes for Daley. Koscheck went into that fight know that Daley had knocked out his first two UFC opponents and took Daley down ensure that he didn't put himself in any unnecessary danger. This whole "be a man and keep the fight standing" BS is really asinine. If you want to be a stand up fighter only then do boxing or K-1 or realize that hey I can't get away with being good at just one thing and make attempts to improve your skill set.
Aoki's comments didn't really surprise me considering his reputation for being a bit of a prick. What did surprise me, though, were his comments claiming that Penn was not defeated by Edgar. I don't know which fight he is talking about, but if he is talking about the second fight, then he is seriously wrong. Edgar is known for his wrestling, but what I saw in that fight was a well rounded fighter who not only used his wrestling when he could, but also out struck Penn on the feet by utilizing various techniques (i.e. cut kicks), and even showed great ground defense when Penn took his back. Wrestlers not taking risks is pretty strange too considering how wrestlers are not used to dealing with submissions, yet they still attempt to take down BJJ practitioners.
When Kenny Florian lost his most recent fight to Gray Maynard he didn't call Maynard a pussy for not standing with him, nor did he fault Maynard for laying on top of him for three rounds. What Florian did do, though, was re-evaluate his skill set, realize something was missing, and hired a wrestling coach. That is exactly the kind of attitude and drive you want to see in a fighter. Improvement and development is the name of the game, and as soon as a fighter thinks that they have enough skill in one area to get by, then that is when the sport passes them by. Yes wrestling may not bring about the most exciting fights in the world, but it is effective. Fighters should absolutely play to their strengths, but they really need to know what to in any situation. Don't like your position or the situation, well then do something about it. I mean, what would people say if a wrestler called someone a pussy for wanting to stand the whole time and being afraid to go to the mat?
Referees stand fighters up if they are not “working” on the ground. They do not put them on the ground where fighters are just circling around each other measuring each other out such as when two counter strikers will do against each other. Does anyone remember the Nate Quarry vs Kalib Starnes fight? Kalib ran away from Nate for almost the whole fight which in my opinion is equivalent to lay and pray which should have resulted in a change in fighters position. This is a system already in place to punish “boring” fighters to try to push the lay n pray system out of the door.
ReplyDeleteI think a good proposal to bring back would be the cards that were seen in Pride. A warning would be given followed by cards for lack of activity. Now this is perfect wording, lack of activity. This would given to fighters in any position, standing or on the ground. Each card would reduce the fighters purse by 10%. The NFL has used fines to prevent players from doing unwanted activities and, with the exception of few, it has worked to negate the activities from the minds of most players. THOUGHTS??
I like the yellow card idea for sure. When you start threatening to mess with people's money, their attitudes and motivations change quickly.
ReplyDeleteI was pondering what I thought about the yellow cards for stalling and how it would influence fighters to fight outside of their gameplan...I do believe that as long as the fighters are fighting within the parameters of the rules they should not be forced to do anything otherwise. Antonio McKee is boring as hell but I still don't believe that anyone has the right to penalize him as long as he is fighting fair, and he wins. But I see a correlation between the NBA shotclock and these proposed yellow cards in that they force action. Whether it is an ill advised 3-pointer or chin-up, punches from the hips. Who knows? I still don't have my mind made up yet.
ReplyDeleteIt takes away from some people but I think in the end it will make mma more exciting for everyone and will push the sport further. Technique and game planning will be changed for sure but it has happened in every sport and has worked for the better. years ago you couldnt dunk in basketball or pass in football. Could you imagine watching those two sports like that now?? I do not think the players would be getting nearly the amount of money they get now due to the sport not being as popular. I think in five years after something has been established to keep action going on we will look back and be happy. . . . hopefully.
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