Setting up takedowns in an MMA fight and setting up a takedown in a grappling match where there are no strikes, are two very different things.
You could arguably say that it is actually easier to get an opponent down in a MMA scenario because if you time it right, your opponent lets themselves open when throwing strikes.
Georges St. Pierre, the former UFC welterweight champion was arguably one of the best takedown artists in MMA. He was able to out-wrestle many elite level wrestlers and all this without even having a wrestling background. Yes, that’s right. GSP grew up training Kyukoshinkai karate then later took up BJJ. It was only when he started training for MMA that he incorporated Wrestling in his game and he became incredibly efficient at it.
GSP wasn’t the most technical Wrestler and he didn’t mix up takedowns as well as more accomplished Wrestlers such as Ben Askren, but he had something that many didn’t: he had the best Wrestling for MMA.
In this video, you can see greta ways to mix striking into double leg takedowns. The best ways to score takedowns are by using feints, fakes or baiting your opponent to attack you!
