UFC 129 GSP vs Shields, ADCC 2011

Generally an awesome show. Stayed up late to watch this one and it was definitely worth it.

Definitely expected Machida to win this one in devastating fashion and he did. Did NOT expect him to win via front kick of course but his striking is excellent and Randy Couture is known at least more recently to get knocked down I.e. By Lesnar and Nogueira.

Randy started great by you always expected there to be trouble from Machida and he was always looking for that opening.

Jose Aldo I am particularly impressed by though. This guy is really tough. There are fighters who are great but his time you see a fighter who is amazingly talented, great striking, but also can take a punch. The only thing that I did not see from Aldo is his attacking jiu jitsu. As a jiu jitsu fan myself, it was disappointing to see no real attacking jiu jitsu that is normally displayed by other jiu jitsu world champions like bj Penn, demian Maia and Ronaldo Jacare Souza, not to even mention Roger Gracie. Jose did nothing from is back especially at the end where he could have at least tried for an arm bar or triangle. If Werdum was in that position, you would see a very different scenario play out in round 5 I am sure of that.

I have to say lastly that GSP is as great as ever. I love a calculating fight and this one was definitely one like that. Jake was powerless to do anything really. His takedowns I guess could have been more desperate but when you try to wrestle a guy like GSP I think you just have to be 100 pounds heavier than him because otherwise he is not going down and if he does fall, he is jumping straight back up.

Another great show for the UFC!

By the way if you are looking forward to ADCC 2011, it looks like it is coming to Nottingham UK this September 27-28. This incredible event featuring the best grapplers all across the world will be held near Braulio Estima's academy in Birmingham. It is also possible that Brock Lesnar will participate and a match between him and Roger Gracie will be worth watching with front row seats no doubt.

GSP vs Jake Shields

I am looking forward to this fight. GSP is doing all the right things to prepare for this fight. He is getting his jiu jitsu ready and is training with Braulio Estima and Roger Gracie, two bjj superstars. Roger has recently visited my club in Moscow, true champion, I thinknhe is going to do great in MMA.


I think he is a very smart fighter and does not underestimate Jake who has a very well balanced wrestling and jiu jitsu base. If Georges can keep this fight standing, he should be able to do whatever he wants. Taking down GSP is a huge problem. What GSP needs to remember is to avoid a ground fight. If he takes down Jake, then he needs to get up.

Jake's guard is not outstanding though. He has a great top game but I dont think that Jake will be able to submit GSP from the bottom. This is going to be a cool fight just to see who will be able to control the fight. Jake managed to control the much bigger Dan Henderson so it will be interesting to see what his game plan will be for this fight.

If GSP does get beyond Jake Shields, things are going to get interesting. There is really only Nick Diaz that will potentially be an interesting matchup for GSP. The other will be for sure a fantastic matchup against the much bigger Anderson Silva.

Even though Anderson Silva is such an outstanding fighter, I would just love to see how this fight will turn out. If GSP manages to avoid the dangerous striking of Silva, I still believe GSP could take down the middleweight champion and control the fight on the ground. GSP is extremely athletic and it would be interesting to see how he would try to deal with a much bigger and extremely skilled oponent.

Grappling Proves MMA Wrong

While it has been virtually accepted that to win an MMA fight against the best you have to be a well-rounded fighter, today guys with great grappling continue to prove people wrong.

Grappling is a difficult and sophisticated art to master. The ADCC, the Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships is the biggest event in the sport so far but it is clear that there are few who can deliver an all rounded game in grappling.

Grappling seems to have two crucial elements. The first is takedowns. Takedowns are critical in an MMA fight, but in grappling they can mean the difference between winning and losing against a strong jiu jitsu player. Freestyle wrestlers perhaps have the best takedowns in the sport. UFC fighters like Brock Lesnar, Velasquez, Matt Hughes, GSP and many others have shown that their ability to take down their opponents makes them superior fighters.

Jiu jitsu is the second part of grappling however. If you have great takedowns, you also need to pass the guard and submit your opponent. Most wrestlers who for the first time meet a jiu jitsu fighter struggle here. Jiu jitsu guys are phenomenal fighting from the guard and their amazing guard retention makes it difficult not only to escape every submission attempt but also to get anywhere from there.

Judo is a great takedown martial art but it is mainly a gi-focused art. Judo without the gi can be difficult to do when you have a freestyle wrestler facing you who is looking for a single or double leg.

Don't get me wrong. I am a great fan of the gi game and Judo, but to be successful in grappling you need to have a great takedown defense. You have to defend a single leg and counter yourself and I think Judo does not prepare you in this case.

Jake Shields is a great example of a guy that is not the king of grappling but has mastered it well enough to cause trouble for guys even as good as Dan Henderson. You can't submit Henderson but he has shown that you can consistently take him down, pass his guard and cause trouble. This is something that GSP has managed to do in his division as well.

Other guys like Frank Mir and even Shinya Aoki have shown the opposite. Their wrestling is poor and they try to rely on unorthodox and less effective takedowns . Once they are on the ground, they can do their magic, but without a good takedown they are not going to win the match against a great striker and here is the great flaw.

Jake Shields I think just proves how effective grappling is though. Dan Henderson was so much better at the strand up striking game but by setting up his takedowns and getting the fight to the ground Shields managed to defend his title against a guy that was highly favoured to win and who seemed a lot bigger and more powerful than him.