Wrestling is famously among the biggest indicators of success in MMA today. While cage fight outcome was once purely a bjj thing nowadays it’s more reliant on cage wrestling strategies, takedowns and the ability to outperform the other fighter athletically.
Ben Askren
MMA Record: 18-0
Championships in 2006, 2007
Askren finished his collegiate wrestling career with a record of 153–8, with 91 of those victories coming by way of fall. Those 91 pins put him at third on the all-time NCAA Division I pins list. In his four-year career at Missouri, Askren only lost to two opponents, Chris Pendleton of Oklahoma St. and Ryan Lange of Purdue. He was also a four-time All-American, including being only the twelfth Division I wrestler ever to be a four-time finalist. Askren was also nominated for an ESPY in 2007 in the category Best Male College Athlete. On January 9, 2012 it was announced that Askren would be one of six new inductees to the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.
Brock Lesnar
MMA Record: 5-3
Championship: 2000
Eventhough he’s only a blue belt in BJJ, Lesnar has a very strong Wrestling background. Lesnar attended Webster High School, where he competed in amateur wrestling. He was a two-time state champion in amateur wrestling with a record of 33–0–0 in his senior year. Lesnar then attended Bismarck State College, where he won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) heavyweight wrestling championship in his sophomore year. He transferred to the University of Minnesota on a wrestling scholarship for his junior and senior college years. There, he was roommates with future WWE colleague Shelton Benjamin, who was also his assistant coach.
Lesnar won the 2000 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I heavyweight wrestling championship his senior year after being the runner-up to Stephen Neal the year prior. Lesnar finished his amateur career as a two-time NJCAA All-American, the 1998 NJCAA Heavyweight Champion, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Conference Champion, and the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Champion, with a record of 106–5 overall in four years of college.
Mark Schultz
MMA Record: 1-1
Championships: 1981, 1982, 1983
Olympic and 2-time World champion freestyle wrestler, Mark Schultz, whose life story was featured in the movie ‘Foxcatcher’ was promoted to Jiu-Jitsu black belt by Pedro Sauer.
Schultz studied Jiu-Jitsu under Pedro Sauer. In various interviews from the past Schultz has talked about his experience rolling with BJJ legend Rickson Gracie.
Initially Schultz was to train Dave Beneteau for UFC 9 but ended up breaking his hand in training.
Ed Ruth
MMA Record: 4-0
Championships: 2012, 2013, 2014
3x NCAA Champion Ed Ruth Puts On A Wrestling Class at Pans
3x NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion Ed Ruth opted to compete this year at Pans. Ruth is an American mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. While competing for Pennsylvania State University, Ruth became a three-time NCAA collegiate wrestling champion (2012-2014). He is currently ranked number 2 at 189lbs in the United States.
Kevin Randleman
MMA Legend Kevin Randleman Teaching The Blast Double Leg Takedown
MMA Record: 17-16
Championships: 1992, 1993
Kevin “The Monster” Randleman started his career back in High School where he was a state champion.
He then went on to the Ohio State University where he was a 3X All American, 3X Big Ten Champion and 2X NCAA National Champion. From there he went to a lucrative mma career which was occasionally shadowed by doping accusations. Sadly Randleman ended up dying out of heart failure at age 44
Johny Hendricks
MMA Record: 18-8
Championships: 2005, 2006
What Happens when Purple Belt Journalist Rolls with Johny Hendricks with Gi
Hendricks was passionate about wrestling – he was a 3 x Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion and was a 2 x high school national champion. Hendricks also outwitted another member of this list – Ben Askren
In 2001, his junior year in high school, he scored technical falls over now NCAA champion Troy Letters and current two-time NCAA runner-up Ben Askren — just to win his pool. In the finals, he registered a first period technical fall over highly regarded Matt Herrington. The following year, Hendricks again crushed all opponents in his pool before registering a solid 3-0 win over the outstanding Mark Perry in the finals.
TheMat.com’s Craig Sesker gave a great account of Hendrick’s wrestling in college:
In fact, the louder the boos become the more pumped up the senior two-time NCAA champion from Oklahoma State is likely to become.
Hendricks has become cast in the role as the bad guy in college wrestling. The ultra-talented, ultra-confident and demonstrative wrestler in the orange singlet is the guy that non-Cowboy fans love to hate.
“I have kind of embraced the role of the villain,” Hendricks said with a laugh. “It seems like people either love me or hate me – there’s no middle ground. When people boo me it just motivates me even more to win. I use it to my advantage. I don’t mind playing the bad guy out there – it is part of who I am as a wrestler.”
Wrestling can make or break you in a tournament. If you, like many other want to win the ADCC one day, you better start training wrestling now! This can give you the competitive edge. If you don’t have a place to train wrestling, check out Hudson Taylor’s “Wrestling for BJJ” DVD Set. Hudson was a division 1 all American wrestler and he is a blue belt World Champion.
