BJJ black belts Joe Rogan and Eddie Bravo on Rogan’s ‘Experience’ podcast discuss Conor McGregor’s jiujitsu following his loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196.

Bravo said that McGregor had legit Jiu-Jitsu skills and that he was getting the better of Diaz in the first round in the strikes department.

“I thought it was over for Nate, and when he put that rear naked choke in like a mother****ing ninja”

“First of all, the way he mounted, and his balance and the way he was riding him like a professional rodeo champion. And when he locked in the hook to choke – it was so efficent – there was no hiccup or set-up, the technique was as beautiful and flawless as you can get.”

Conor’s sweep on Diaz in the first round impressed Bravo:

Bravo stated:

“People are talking a lot of shit on Conor’s jiu-jitsu. I know Conor’s jiu-jitsu”

“His is good. He’s come to my school. [In the fight] he was already hurt and got mounted. Even if he wasn’t hurt – I get mounted by my purple belts – there’s some shit going on. When you add in punches and all the hype…. just because he got mounted and had his back taken does not mean Conor’s jiu-jitsu sucks.

Don’t get it twisted, he was a bit hurt, and Nate Diaz is really good! Nate could probably do it to me – doesn’t mean that I suck.”

Last year, Bravo trained with McGregor at his academy in Los Angeles. He had this to say:

“I’m teaching class one day, and someone was punching a bag in the corner. I look over, and said ‘is that Conor McGregor hitting the bag in my gym?”
“So I go back to class, and within 3 minutes I see him on the mats and said ‘where are your best guys?’ I hooked him up with my best guys, and he just kept wanting to go with my best guys,” he continued. “Nobody does that! No UFC guys do that. A lot of them come and say hi, and some of them train, but when it comes to rolling, they didn’t want to roll.”

ADCC champion Vinny Magalhães also agrees: