If you want to improve in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – especially if you’re an active competitor – then training a bit of MMA is going to be extremely beneficial.

Why? Firas Zahabi explained that to one of his BJJ competitor teams:

“Even though you guys are just doing Jiu-Jitsu, you should – once a week or once every two weeks – do open palm sparring. No gloves, you don’t even need gloves.”

I was telling them that it’s harder than Jiu-Jitsu, that it’s going to make them better athletes, that it’s more calories per second, that it’s intense… So, when you get to a grappling tournament, they’ll feel like: “Hey, this is not so bad.”

Zahabi also mentions how he watched the Ruotolo brothers prepare for their Who’s Number One (WNO) matches; and how Andre Galvao (their coach) would make them wear gloves and do a bit of punching/MMA before they’d start with the actual grappling session.
He emphasized how wise that is:

MMA is more intense, it’s going to complement your Jiu-Jitsu.

There’s a certain amount of MMA that will help your Jiu-Jitsu. I’m not saying: “Do MMA to win in Jiu-Jitsu”. No; if you take the world’s best MMA fighter and put in ADCC, he’s gonna get crushed.

What I’m saying is – think about the Pareto principle. You want to do 80% of Jiu-Jitsu and 20% of something else, that is going to complement your Jiu-Jitsu.

Learn The Best Ways To Add the Kimura to Your Game Using Legendary Strategies from BJJ Pioneer and Champion MMA Fighter Rafael Lovato Jr.!

• Rafael Lovato Jr. has been competing in BJJ for over 20 years and is one of the most decorated American Back Belts in BJJ history claiming IBJJF world titles in gi and no gi, Brazilian Nationals Gold (first American to do so), and he boasts a 10-0 MMA record .
• Lovato Jr. has been using the kimura since he was 15 years old and the submission remains his most trusted method of finishing his opponents.