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BJJ vs. Wrestling is a myth...
First of all, anyone who still believes that today's NHB competitions are still representative of how one art fares over another, obviously hasn't been watching the sports evolution too closely. Or in my opinion is still stuck in the "my art is better than yours" mentality. Today's NhB competitons in NO WAY compare to the early UFCs. Back then, the point of them was to find out which SINGLE art was superior. Early competitors were rarely cross-trained (and if they were - nowhere near the level of today's competitors). They were all mostly single discipline fighters: straight karate, straight wrestling, judo, BJJ, sambo or TKD. Today, this no longer exists. ALL fighters are cross trained - yes even the BJJ guys train in Muay Thai, wrestling or Hapkido, for example. All the wrestlers train in BJJ and striking arts, all strikers train in ground submission fighting, etc... You get my point. MMA has become a style just like boxing. It's no longer this style versus that style - its this fighter versus that fighter. This is an important difference. The difference in the fighters comes in their specializations and strengths, just like varying boxers have different strengths. When people stand up and say: "BJJ is dead, cause Renzo and Goes got knocked out", they obviously have no clue as to what they are talking about. BJJ is not dead, wrestling is not dead - they are both an intrinsic part of the art of MMA (or NHB fighting, pick your preference). Dan Henderson is not fighting as a pure wrestler - he uses effective strikes, can counter submissions - he is a MMA fighter with a wrestling background. His victories or losses don't mean anything to wrestling - they are a testament to his MMA ability. This is the same with any art. When Renzo knocked out Oleg: he didn't beat him with pure BJJ. Coleman's knee strikes don't come from his college wrestling days - these are NHB maneauvers. As such - its time for people to stop looking at MMA as style versus style, but instead as fighter versus fighter. Sakuraba is a perfect example of a well cross trained fighter.
Another point. This versatility is important when it comes to high level MMA fighting. Always remember that most people in the street know nothing to very little of real fighting. They still live off the Bruce Lee and Matrix fantasy fighting. BJJ and wrestling - grappling arts in general/regardless of cross training remain extremely effective alone.
A knockout can happen to anyone - its instantaneous. When I look at Renzo's fight I don't see anything that tells me Renzo should retire. He got caught - it can happen to anyone. Dan's punch wasn't lucky - I'm sure he trains similar moves hoping to catch people when they shot in sloppily (which Renzo did). Its not as if Renzo was outgrappled, mounted and beaten to a pulp. He just got caught. Does it mean BJJ needs to change - no. BJJ is always evovling - if you train at a half decent school you would know that - there's always new moves - new stuff. All it means is that Renzo - as a fighter - needs to rethink his strategy and reassess his approach when he fights.
All I'm trying to say (in this long winded form) is that style versus style no longer exists in NHB (it hasn;t for a while now) - what we now have is fighter versus fighter coming from different training clubs.
Another point. This versatility is important when it comes to high level MMA fighting. Always remember that most people in the street know nothing to very little of real fighting. They still live off the Bruce Lee and Matrix fantasy fighting. BJJ and wrestling - grappling arts in general/regardless of cross training remain extremely effective alone.
A knockout can happen to anyone - its instantaneous. When I look at Renzo's fight I don't see anything that tells me Renzo should retire. He got caught - it can happen to anyone. Dan's punch wasn't lucky - I'm sure he trains similar moves hoping to catch people when they shot in sloppily (which Renzo did). Its not as if Renzo was outgrappled, mounted and beaten to a pulp. He just got caught. Does it mean BJJ needs to change - no. BJJ is always evovling - if you train at a half decent school you would know that - there's always new moves - new stuff. All it means is that Renzo - as a fighter - needs to rethink his strategy and reassess his approach when he fights.
All I'm trying to say (in this long winded form) is that style versus style no longer exists in NHB (it hasn;t for a while now) - what we now have is fighter versus fighter coming from different training clubs.
. Back to the Renzo/Henderson fight - a quick knock out, in my opinion, doesn't reflect poorly on a fighter or a style. If he had gotten mounted or badly pounded - then maybe I would rethink Renzo's age and/or skill. I simply think that takedowns happen to be a weakness in Renzo's arsenal, that he needs to work harder on - especially when facing a guy with the sprawling ability of Henderson. Nevertheless - once again, let me remind you that none of these fighters (Renzo included) truly represent a specific style. When Renzo throws those punches or kicks is he using BJJ? No. When Henderson threw that punch that KOed Renzo was he using a technique taught in high school and college wrestling? No. These guys are all MMA fighters. They might have specializations, as I stated before (Renzo=submissions - Henderson=takedowns, for example) that are inherent to their original art, but they are still ALL multi-styled.
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