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.

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.