Wrestling in MMA

Wrestling in MMA
There has been a lot said recently about the use of wrestling in mma. Some critics and fighters say it is killing the sport. Other critics and fighters it’s just the evolvement of mma and should be embraced. My own view is that wrestling seems to be the best base to start in mma as you can dictate where the fight is going to take place.
Im going to break this article down into three sections. The for arguement, the against arguement and my own opinon of it. As i write this three of the ufc belt holders (Frankie Edgar, GSP and Brock Lesnar) use wrestling extensively during their bouts. Also all the number one contenders in the ufc have a wrestling base.
So what makes wrestling such a weapon in mma? Fighters with a wrestling background can control the fight which gives them a distinct advantage. High level wrestlers are renound for being being extremely tenacious and mentally tough due to their years of hard training. They also already have high levels of strength and conditioning.
Fighters such as Chael Sonnen and Clay Guida are renound for their tenacity during fights. Always working for finishes on the floor, in the clinch and in the stand up. When you see a fight with either of these fighters you know it’s not going to be a boring fight.
So what is the disadvantage of having all these wrestlers coming into mma? Some fighters are using it just to secure the win. Recently there have been alot of decisions in mma going to wrestlers who have controlled the fight but haven’t done any damage. Safely winning the round by getting the takedown and controlling the other fighter. At the end of the fight you see the other fighter looking like he has just had an easy sparring session.
This is starting to get called “lay and pray” by some critics. Even ufc president Dana White has not given fighters title shots due to their boring fight style even though they are winning the fights. Jon Fitch and Gray Maynard both never got their title shots due to this reason. At the end of the day mma is a business and the more exciting fights there are the more the fan base will grow. Fighters are employed to fight not to wrestle.
So it’s time for my opinion on this subject. Im not a seasoned fighter nor am i some meathead who just wants to see a brawl. If i want to see that im sure i could go down some pub and watch it. What i want to see is a mixed martial arts fight. Wrestling has and will have a massive part to play in the evolvement of mma. It is still a young sport so who knows what is going to be the next martial art which controls mma for a while. We have all seen the early mma fights where solely bjj fighters came in and submitted guys for fun.
Now every fighter trains in bjj. So i do believe all fighters are going to start training in wrestling alot more now so they can control the fight. This will hopefully bring an end to the boring one sided fights and more grappling wars like the fight from Joe Stevenson v Nate Diaz tuf 9 finale. If you haven’t watched that please do. It was transitions submission attempts and plenty of ground and pound.
Dan Young

p.s. You can follow me on twitter @danyoungmma