UFC 60

WOW...
What a non-event that main event turned out to be!

What can I say, the BJJ master turned out to make rookie BJJ mistakes, and look the most pathetic out of all who represented BJJ or submission wrestling in UFC 60. A couple things were readily apparent.
1. Royce Gracie did not train against wrestlers. One of the biggest things about grappling wrestlers is their ability to gain the side mount. The way he extended his arms and allowed one to be trapped in Hughes legs, and the other to be extended in an arm bar, showed he did not expect to be in that position. His head was not prepared for the defense.
2. Royce lost his composure when his positioning was quickly dominated. How does a Jiu Jitsu master commit the cardinal sin of giving up his back unless all heart had failed him? Giving up your back, only to play possum in that situation, showed that Royce's heart was defeated. His legendary status will label him a "warrior," but his performance showed anything but.

Many modern UFC fans will hate the Sanchez vs. Alessio fight. The only complaint I had about that fight was Sanchez' inability to use any other takedown technique. Shooting in for a wrestlers one leg takedown was not working, and though willing to exchange a few blows, he did not use those opportunities to shoot in high. Alessio did well in the defense, and it was nice to see a striker hold his own and stay on his feet, but clearly he was all to happy with "surviving" and not fighting. He knew if he pushed the fight, Sanchez would control the position. In boxing, the Golden Boy started losing decisions to other good fighters that he would simply just avoid. Likewise in the UFC, the ignorant fans who booed Sanchez in favor of Alessio should have been pissed at Alessio's performance and known the fight belonged to Sanchez. Avoiding good fighters is not to be rewarded by a judges decision. I liked the fight because it was a chess match. How could Sanchez get passed the de fense of Alessio to finaly press the fight? The question was answered and the judges scored correctly.

The best fight of the night, being a Jiu Jitsu enthusiast, was Dean Lister. In classic BJJ fashion, Dean fought his way into an opportunity to take his apponent down, work his guard, and apply a textbook triangle, which is one of the most gratifying submissions to work against an opponent. Chuck Liddell needs to stand by.

I just wanted to point out the biggest fights of the night. I didn't mention Brandon Vera, but he had a good showing as well and I think he will go a long way. I am not sure if he was a Marine or Sailor, but that mixed with fighting out of San Diego means I will keep my tabs on him.

Overall, the Hughes vs. Gracie fight was the worst of the night, fans of BJJ left more disappointed and angry at Royce than anything, but encouraged by seeing Lister. The UFC is weeding out the competition. The victories were submission based, the fighters in this UFC were more disciplined than others I have seen lately. Fighters like Chuck Liddell and Forest Griffen (brawlers) will not last long as contenders in the UFC if Lister and Vera have anything to say about it. Though the growing pains hurt, the future looks a little bit brighter.

Nate

Gracie vs. Hughes

Royce needs to win this fight, not only for his family, but to bring the sport back to its truth.

I think Hughes' style will actually benefit Royce. He will take the fight to Gracie and press him. In that type of fight, it will allow Gracie to be more aggressive as well and not just settle in the guard. If one of the two make a mistake on the ground it will more than likely be Matt. I think it has a chance to end in the first round with Royce winning. If Hughes wins, it will be a lucky punch knockout (very doubtful) or a bias UFC decision. (Anyone remember Ruas/Oleg)?

Anyone honest about the UFC competition today will admit that the fighters have weaker skills than in the past. "Jack of all trades, master of none." Time limits that force aggressiveness have led to sloppy fighters and boring fights for anyone who appreciates the tactics of it all. How often have the great tacticians lost due to a knockout? Or is it a judges decision awarding victory to stupid aggression over patient dicipline? Someday it will be ugly like boxing. Too bad.

I was concerned that with the pulling in of fans with NO CLUE to the discipline of real fighting, due to the rules that force sloppy fighters in the UFC, that the climate would become like that of boxing. Some people are wondering if this fight is fixed.

IT IS NOT FIXED.

Not only would Hughes or Gracie not do it, but Dana (UFC President) doesn't need to do it. If Hughes wins, the sloppy fighting is justified and the fans with nothing better invested in the sport than to want to see a good brawl will be happy and flock to the UFC even more. If Gracie wins, he again proves that discipline and technique is the best way to fight, and MMA purists who are tired of the "jack of all trades, master of none" brawlers will come back to the sport with renewed passion. It is not fixed because either result is win/win for the UFC.

Being a purist and a lover of the disciplne rather than the show of MMA, I hope Royce wins this bout and does it quickly. I have watched the UFC go from being a place where contrasting styles were tested against one another, and the grappler usually won, to a sport where thoughtless aggression is rewarded by a judges decision, even if the losser had the clear tactical advantage and would have dominated a no time limit fight. One example of this is the fights that Sam Hoger has been in of late. A new dedication to smart fighting made him so much better after TUF 1 concluded. Had the fight with Bonnar or Evans been allowed to continue with no time limit, he had the best chance to win those matches, even though in those matches, Hoger was forced to do more standup than he desires due to the time limits.

Nate

Biography

So just another MMA based blog, eh? Not exactly.

I am not a "world class" fighter. No official belts to speak of or wins/losses to brag about. So why read my posts?

Because reguardless of my position in the MMA world circuit (non-existent), I am and have been an MMA enthusiast since 1997. Since that time I have followed grappling and it's success in the tournaments with passion. My opinions are definetley my own, and they are by no means uneducated.

A little bit about myself...

I was trained in some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 1997 privately from a friend who took it in a class setting. This was not my first exposure to the discipline. My sister dated a second degree blackbelt who was trained under Helson Gracie in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Though he never taught me any of it, when I met my friend who trained me, much of what Fabrecio talked about came back to me. Learning it was the best time I have had doing any particular hobby. Much of it seemed to come naturally , and as long as I remembered the fundamental truths of the style, I did well.
After a total of 12 lessons, I was transferred in the service to Okinawa. I ran into a Marine who had been taking BJJ for 3 years with a friend in the similar type setting as I. I believe he was taught differently however. Though he spoke the language, his practice was not as disciplined. I submitted him with a triangle in less than 5 minutes. After that match, the first challenge apart from my teacher that I had experienced, I decided to look for official training. The only class I could find that even closely resembled BJJ, was a base taught Judo class. After 1.5 hours of witnessing the silliness of Judo, I asked the blakbelts if any wished to grapple. I explained my limited BJJ and one who was my age agreed. This was my first time ever rolling with a gi on, and within 10 minutes I had submitted him with a rear choke.
Finally finding a BJJ class, I attended without hesitation. In a class of 8, I was immediately the #2 student as far as skill was concerned. None of which I credit to me. The only problem with this class is that after 2 months I was still the sparring partner/teacher to the other 6 in the class, and I was learning nothing new. I realized that classes were a waste of time, I had already bagun learning in the best way possible...1 on 1 instruction with a solid foundation in the philosophy of the system, not the moves of it. Needless to say, I left. My only experience in grappling after this time was teaching firends, mostly ex-wrestlers, whatever I knew. They became good quick. 10 months later I returned home.

I looked up my friend and instructor right away and we trained again. Immediately I could tell the difference. It took him quite a while to submit me (around 20 minutes)and he commented that he was impressed at my progression. He asked how hard I trained there and I told him that only for the first 3 months did I "train." Beyond that I just immersed myself in video or teaching others, and even that time was slim. I learned that by studying the discipline and watching or teaching others, you improve greatly even with a lapse in training.
Since that time I have not trained with my instructor but I have been involved in the Marine Corps Martial Arts. Though a decent program, I believe it lacks those fundamentals that made me successful. I have yet to lose a grappling match to a fellow Marine reguardless of the belt. I do not believe thaat streak will continue if I do not begin my training again, but again I find myself in the role of sparing partner/teacher than that of a person being taught. I hope to change this soon. I have been reconnected with my old friend and instructor who has very good connections these days with world champion talent. I did not connect with him for the reason of networking, and I cannot say I would train to fight MMA.

Maybe, if you read all this, you will be interested in this commentary blog I have created. Maybe not! However I will not disappoint for those who are MMA purists and not just simply brawler happy. I credit my knowledge and success to my firend who taught me all I know, and I hope to see some of you out there...maybe in a ring?

Nate

Me at 193 lbs in Iraq