Photo: Royler Gracie knocked out by Yuki Kondo.
It is getting increasing difficult for top BJJ champions to transition successfully into MMA. Just because someone is a legend in BJJ does not mean that they will be just as successful in MMA (10x World Champion Roger Gracie getting cut by the UFC for example, or Marcelo Garcia, Saulo Ribeiro and Jean Jacques short lived MMA careers). Some less talented BJJ champions actually transition better to MMA: Demian Maia was never a black belt world champion but is among the top welterweights in the UFC.
Saulo Ribeiro’s brutal loss vs Yuki Kondo in 2000:
Fightland.Vice’s Pedro Olavarria analysed statistics from collegiate Wrestling, major BJJ and submission wrestling tournaments and MMA and looked an tried to find reasons for sport Jiu-Jitsu competitors lack of success when transitioning to MMA. He found that sport Jiu-Jitsu tournaments were responsible:
The first reason for jiu jitsu’s comparative lack of success in modern MMA is the nature of submission in both jiu jitsu tournaments and the UFC. 67% of all submission wins in the UFC come by way of chokes, 21% come from arm locks and 12% come from leg locks and other submissions. This is almost an inversion of what we see in ADCC. If we crunch the numbers of ADCC 2013 and ADCC 2011, we get 39% of submission wins coming by way of leg locks, 18% by arm locks and 43% by chokes. Whereas in the UFC more than half of the submissions come by chokes, in sport jiu jitsu, specifically ADCC, more than half of the submissions come via joint locks. No-gi jiu jitsu players are becoming most proficient in the submissions that are comparatively less effective in MMA.
The other reason for sport jiu jitsu’s relative non-transferability to MMA is the same reason for wrestling’s success. In MMA, slightly more than half of all takedowns are done with the double leg or single leg takedown; compare that to the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Finals, where from 2012-2014, 50% of successful takedowns were single leg and double leg takedowns. The most successful takedowns in wrestling are the most successful takedowns in MMA. In sport jiu jitsu, if we look at the 2012 Pan Ams, more than 75% of the matches got to the ground because one or both players pulled guard. In the 2012 Worlds, roughly 75% of all matches got to the ground because one or both players pulled guard, with more than 50% of the matches going to the ground, in less than 10 seconds. Despite the fact that jiu jitsu requires a fight to be on the ground, sport jiu jitsu competitors are spending comparatively little time training in or fighting for takedowns. Sport jiu jitsu champions who cross over into MMA are hampered by the submissions they have overemphasized and the wrestling takedowns they have neglected in winning tournaments. What is the solution to this overdependence on joint locks and the neglect of effective takedowns?
