What is common among them? A wrestling background.
And while the martial arts have helped many MMA athletes to earn wins by submission or knock out, it is tough to get that end result without taking your opponent down. In other words, a wrestling background is becoming more and more important in MMA.
A case in point is the recent fight between UFC Hall Of Fame member Royce Gracie, the man who single-handedly popularized jiu-jitsu in the United States. Gracie, however, was no match for former Eastern Illinois All-American Matt Hughes, who dismantled Gracie in less than five minutes.
The fight was won with Hughes riding the legs of Gracie, a common wrestling technique. From there, he used hip pressure to hold Gracie down and punch his head until the official stopped the match.
Jiu-jitsu, in a sense is a form of wrestling. It is in the same family, just as a kitten is related to a lion. Jiu-jitsu, judo, wrestling –- they all learn from each other. Though it could be said that the sport of wrestling is the most refined of all of the mixed martial arts styles.
As the UFC recently celebrated its 12-year existence with its 60th pay-per-view event on Sunday night and Pride prepares to enter its 10 th year of competition, it is inevitable that more wrestlers will inch their way to the top of each circuit.
History of MMA
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is an intense and evolving combat sport in which competitors use interdisciplinary forms of fighting.
These forms include jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, and wrestling among others. Athletes use these martial arts forms in a supervised and controlled environment to compete against one another. The interesting part comes with the relation of these sports to one another.
Each discipline gives and takes from one another. Many wrestlers have also excelled in judo because of the takedown aspects involved. Jiu-jitsu can be used in many ways to help with wrestling, especially when the competitors are on the mat and not on their feet. Boxing and kickboxing can help with set-ups for shots and takedowns.
The sport began centuries ago with the ancient Olympic Games in Greece. Then, it was known as pancratian, which today, simply means athletics.
Often times, these contests were fights to the death. Surrendering before that point may have proved shameful to the losing competitor then. The ones who did surrender, or had merciful opponents, lost limbs, were greatly disfigured and in some cases, left brain-dead, which led to certain death.
Over time, these sporting events evolved into the early forms of wrestling throughout many civilizations. Sand and oil were used on the bodies, and the competition area often resembled a modern day sumo ring, only larger.
Different regions of the world began to specialize in different areas of the combat sports world. The South Americans became skilled in the martial arts such as judo and jiu-jitsu. Those in the European region became skilled in wrestling. All of these were infused with each other.
What is today known as mixed martial arts was resurrected following the brutal combat sports of the 1906 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Soon after that event, Brazilians began to compete in a combat fighting sport named Vale Tudo, which translated from Portuguese means "anything goes."
The Brazilians, not known for their wrestling skills, began to incorporate many of the martial arts into these Vale Tudo competitions. Over time, the sport made its way to the Eastern hemisphere and grew a major fan base in Asia. Then, like a wave of killer bees, MMA began to migrate north from Brazil.
The sport really took off in 1993 with the inception of the UFC, the first MMA promotion geared at popularizing the sport. Gracie brought jiu-jitsu into the fold and dominated using only those skills.
Since then, Pride and K1, a kickboxing league, have always gained worldwide notoriety and in the last five years, numerous independent promotions have popped up all across the United States.
Each promotion has its own niche. The UFC is fought in a cage, and has many restrictions on how you can attack and strike your opponent. Pride, however, looks to keep restrictions to a minimum.
One of those independent promotions is LA Sub X, a purely submission fighting league, which held its first show in Santa Monica, Calif. this past weekend. The league was started by former Iowa wrestling great Rico Chiapparelli.
Wrestling and MMA
Chiapparelli may be one of the first great U.S. wrestlers to get involved with MMA. He has competed in numerous leagues over the years and has helped involved many former wrestlers gain experience through the promotions he is involved with.
In 1987, Chiapparelli won an NCAA title in wrestling for the Hawkeyes. In 1989, he won a U.S. freestyle national title. After that, he fell behind some of the greatest U.S. wrestlers of all time, including eventual Olympic gold medalist Kevin Jackson and Royce Alger.
He then dove into the world of MMA.
"I found it to be an intriguing sport," Chiapparelli said of his early involvement with MMA. "You have to have a different mindset to want to compete in any MMA production. It's not like in wrestling, where if you fall behind you can come back. If you fall behind in MMA, you might not get up."
And while it has its differences from wrestling, there is no doubt that wrestling is a crucial component to winning any MMA bout, not matter what production it is in.
"I've made a career in the UFC out of wrestling my opponents. I've grown to develop skills in other areas, but getting a takedown in any match gives me a surefire advantage every time," stated Randy Couture, who is known as "The Natural" when he fights in the UFC.
"Wrestling has changed MMA overall, and definitely the UFC. It is so tough to get the distance on your feet when in a fight to strike an opponent the way you would want to, so your next option would be to take him down. It's a big reason you are starting to see so many college wrestlers train in MMA all across the world," Couture added.
The main wrestling skill used in MMA is the takedown. Double-legs are the most common, though the athletes will execute single-legs from at times as well.
"Getting your man on the mat is half the battle," said UFC commentator Joe Rogan. "I would go as far to say that in a round where a submission takes place or a knock out occurs, the man who scored the takedown won that bout. In a decision, the man with the most takedowns will usually win."
The leg ride is also very common in MMA fights. In wrestling, riding an opponent is crucial, especially at higher levels. It wears an opponent down, which makes them prone to mistakes. In college, one minute of riding time even earns one point for the offensive wrestler.
In MMA, it is used for the same effect –- to wear an opponent down and make them prone to mistakes. Punches to the head and body are used from this position, and good hip control is what keeps an opponent on the mat. This skill is developed through wrestling.
"There is a reason wrestlers are dominating in the UFC and in other MMA leagues," Rogan said. "It is because they are using half the necessary skills their entire lives. Kids grow up learning proper takedowns and riding techniques. They don't necessarily grow up learning how to strike someone else."
It was those techniques that helped Couture defeat former junior college wrestler Tito Ortiz in a fight nearly two years ago. Ortiz had said before that fight that he would take down Couture throughout the entire match. It was the 42 year-old Couture who did all the taking down, though, and consequently won the match.
Couture has not officially retired, but he admits his competition days are slowing down. He is now helping former Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland with the day-to-day operations of Team Quest, which represents another former Olympic wrestler –- Dan Henderson.
"When it comes to submission, that is what half of pinning combinations in wrestling are – a submission. A lot of times when you get a pin in wrestling, it's because your opponent gave up," Chiapparelli said. "If I have to choose between a martial arts star and a wrestling star to work with or train, I'm going with the wrestling star every time. It's easier to teach you to strike than it is to get your opponent on the mat."
The Future of Wrestling and MMA
In the past decade, more and more wrestlers have looked for ways to try their hat in an MMA bout. On any given week, one could walk into the wrestling room at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and see a wrestler working on his MMA skills.
At a point two years ago, Hughes spent time training in Colorado Springs with Olympian Kevin Bracken.
"Around that time, I was just getting to where I wanted to be as a fighter," Hughes said. "Wrestling was becoming more important in the UFC, and it was a good way to hone my skills, but also, those guys know some good tactics for when you're on the ground, too."
Lindsey Durlacher, a current U.S. Greco-Roman World Team member, has fought numerous times in smaller promotions in the Denver area. Fresh out of college stars such as NCAA champion Josh Koscheck have made their mark as well.
Koscheck was featured on the show Ultimate Fighter, and is considered one of the sport's up-and-coming stars.
Even Olympic great Rulon Gardner dabbled in the sport, competing in a Pride fight on New Year's Eve, 2004.
With the development of Real Pro Wrestling (RPW), though, will any of these born fighters be swayed to continue to compete in wrestling? Possibly.
"If Real Pro Wrestling was around when I was moving into fighting, I definitely would have considered that option," Couture said. "I love the fight game, but wrestlers need viable options financially for when they are done competing in college, or even in freestyle and Greco-Roman. If Real Pro Wrestling can provide that, then you'll see a lot of wrestlers stay with wrestling."
And that is something RPW is providing. They are not competing with MMA promotions. RPW and wrestling in general does not focus on the amount of pain one individual can bring to his opponent. It focuses on the skill that is involved in defeating your opponent.
While chokes and moves that will break someone's arm or leg are glorified in the MMA world, it is illegal in the sport of wrestling, and is more likely to get an athlete disqualified than cheered.
Indeed, RPW is not competing with MMA. Instead, they are promoting wrestling, the truest mixed martial art of them all.
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