Respect Revisited
By Josh Stein on Oct 30, 2008
Watching The Ultimate Fighter, it’s hard not to wonder if this season in particular was picked (with a few exeptions) solely for their entertainment value outside of the ring.
I knew that was going to happen with some of those guys. Certainly, after the opening episodes, I expected Junie Browning’s stupidity to be a regular staple. Vinny, though, a multiple time world Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion, was not someone I expected that kind of disrespected and foolishness from.
The real question becomes, of course, was Vinny’s disrespect within the legal limit, or was his ego out of control. Obviously Nogueira is not one of the most technical Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu guys in the sport. He is not a Mundial champion, but I was surprised that anyone would throw the word “basic” around when talking about Nogueira’s guard game.
Perhaps there is some snobbishness (as there sometimes is) within the jiu-jitsu community, like the stigma surrounding jiu-jitsu fighters that finish with the guillotine choke. Maybe Vinny has even gone so far as to think that his jiu-jitsu translates to MMA better than Nogueira’s does (which, frankly, would be an absurd assumption about a guy who is 2-2 in his MMA career).
There is a great deal of simplicity in Nogueira’s primary attack off of his back. The triangle/armbar/omoplata combination is one that, within the Brazilian world, everybody knows inside and out, but Vinny is actually factually wrong if he thinks that Nogueira’s game is simple on the basis of his primary weapon.
His finishes of Heath Herring and Hirotaka Yokoi, while admittedly not very good grapplers, were with a choke that most people hadn’t seen in MMA, and one that was still on the way up in the jiu-jitsu world.
Nogueira has a lot of tricks in his bag (including the spider guard sweep he almost caught Josh Barnett with when they fought). He wins with the same moves because that’s what he’s good at. The fact that Vinny trivialized that may simply have been an issue of the moment, and I will admit that it seems like the most reasonable explanation at this point, more than general ignorance, and he may just be trying to build up Frank’s confidence, but the reality is that it’s not an accurate representation of Nogueira’s ability, and that kind of talk puts Vinny and Frank in a very awkward position, should Frank get tapped by Nogueira in December.
Filed Under: Opinion
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Nog’s game is far from basic. Someone from a BJJ background should in particular understand that.
The reason that in MMA, Nog’s Jujitsu seems grounded in fundamentals is because those same fundamentals are the moves that are the lowest risk, highest reward moves in MMA.
Truth is, a lot of the intricate gi-work is thrown out in MMA. A whole bunch of other techniques are made much harder to pull off with strikes in the equation. That leaves relatively little room for top BJJ artists to demonstrate their fancier moves.
A good example of this is Marcelo Garcia’s favoured arm-drag. He puts it to phenomenal use in competition, but in MMA, you’ll rarely see an armdrag when not in the clinch. That’s because in the process of trying to grab that arm, someone’s going to smack you in the face.
Even the omoplata, a relatively common submission (often used to change positions) is rarely seen effectively used in MMA. That’s because, again, you can get punched in the face (not to mention the lack of gi makes it a bit harder to break the guy’s base).
While it’s true that Nog probably isn’t a top BJJ competitor, his game is far from basic. He just likes to stick to what works in MMA.
In defense of Marcelo’s arm drag, it’s actually a move that translates to MMA pretty well, as he’s put it to good use in no-Gi competition.
As far as the omoplata goes, it’s also a relatively uncommon submission in the lower levels of BJJ, which is where most MMA fighters reside. That has always been my reasoning for it’s scarcity in MMA, as well as the sweat issue.
Still, I’m with you on this, George.
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