Andre Galvao?

[yetanother]

have wins in a top level MMA promotion.

He was an elite guy in gi and no-gi but he with all respect he kinda sucked MMA (roided up athletic local level brawler). He is the world champion whos ground game transitioned the worst. It shouldn't be taken against him (all the BJJ world champions sucks at a bazillion sports they don't compete in).
Luke Stewart outgrappled him badly on the ground.

 

[mataleaos]

i never been a big fan of andre tbh idk why he gets such praise ig euss due to being the head coach at atos he isnt as technical as alot of the other greats he seems to get off on being a great athlete than being super smooth ivonly really watched him no gi

Wow. This is one of the craziest opinions I've read on here. NO offense but to say Andre isn't technical is just an ignorant statement. You can't win double digit world titles (Mundials and ADCC) by not being ridiculously technical. He doesn't rely on athleticism anymore than guys like Buchecha, Lo, or Rafa, to name a few.

You say you think of him as athletic more than smooth?

Galvao is the smoothest medium heavy weight grappler of his time I think.

He may be known for no-gi more but he shines in the gi



Also check Budo Jake Rolled Up. The guy asks Jake if he felt strong and Jake said not really.

47:30

 

[mataleaos]

He was an elite guy in gi and no-gi but he with all respect he kinda sucked MMA (roided up athletic local level brawler). He is the world champion whos ground game transition the worst.

Word?

That slingshot armbar he did in DREAM by chucking the guy into the ropes and snatching his arm on the rebound by itself was pretty awesome. I mean honestly you can sort of say Marcelo transitioned worse. Marcelo is my favorite martial artist of all time but Marcelo was unable to adjust his game with the gloves to finish the rear naked choke.

In MMA Andre at last got multiple wins in DREAM and Strikeforce and he had several submission wins via armbar as well as one or two T/KOs. I know he fought less than 10 times but who did he lose to besides Tyron Woodley?

 

[Uchi Mata]

He was an elite guy in gi and no-gi but he with all respect he kinda sucked MMA (roided up athletic local level brawler). He is the world champion whos ground game transitioned the worst. It shouldn't be taken against him (all the BJJ world champions sucks at a bazillion sports they don't compete in).
Luke Stewart outgrappled him badly on the ground.

He wasn't great, but he's got a few wins in Strikeforce and they weren't against total cans (though I think he should have lost the Stewart fight, it was competitive). Definitely not a world beater in MMA, but he took it seriously and had some success which is more than you can say for most of the elite grapplers of his generation.

 

[Dana_is_your_GOD]

Why is Rafa goat?

Beyond achievements are contributions to the game like his effective use of leg drags and berimbolos and how he evolved those positions.

 

[mataleaos]

He wasn't great, but he's got a few wins in Strikeforce and they weren't against total cans (though I think he should have lost the Stewart fight, it was competitive). Definitely not a world beater in MMA, but he took it seriously and had some success which is more than you can say for most of the elite grapplers of his generation.

damn right. Quite a few elite grapplers of his generation did far less.

 

[mataleaos]

Why is Rafa goat?

He's not the goat to me (he's in my top 3 or 4) but I wouldn't argue it. I think he might have the best overall jiu-jitsu of anyone on the planet. So for that reason I wouldn't argue it. Also a big thing I look at is technical contributions. Rafa contributed a lot. He pioneered and pushed the berimbolo and dragon kiss game. Same goes for leg drag, leg weave, long step, and leg redirecting passing in general. The rolling anaconda/darce choke series. Rolling kimuras to the back. Delariva and reverse Delariva guard in general.

I'm not saying he invented all of the above but he made many of these things household name techniques and he forced everyone to learn these techniques or get left in the dust. Anyone that makes a big dent on the game like that has have that taken into account and it's a big reason why Marcelo is the goat to me---because along with his insane accomplishments on the mat, he pioneered and developed a lot of jiu-jitsu that we take for granted now. Rafa is similar in that regard.

 

[yetanother]

damn right. Quite a few elite grapplers of his generation did far less.

If Kosei Inoue competed at blue belt worlds and took second (and doing that got taken down on the feet) it would have been more then a bunch of elite judoka did but still nothing to influence how good of a judo player he was.

 

[mataleaos]

i never been a big fan of andre tbh idk why he gets such praise ig euss due to being the head coach at atos he isnt as technical as alot of the other greats he seems to get off on being a great athlete than being super smooth ivonly really watched him no gi

Andre was the first guy I saw do this so smoothly back in the day against someone as good as Rodolfo

To me that's straight up technique and very little athleticism.

 

[yetanother]

He wasn't great, but he's got a few wins in Strikeforce and they weren't against total cans (though I think he should have lost the Stewart fight, it was competitive).

One legit win against a brawler. But it's still silly to judge his BJJ accomplishments by his MMA career. It's like having Rafa's wrestling title make him more of a BJJ GOAT.

 

[mataleaos]

If Kosei Inoue competed at blue belt worlds and took second (and doing that got taken down on the feet) it would have been more then a bunch of elite judoka did but still nothing to influence how good of a judo player he was.

Sure. And that's fine. I'm not using anyone else's shortcomings to boost Andre. Andre's accomplishments speak for themselves. I'm just saying that I think him competing in MMA was just another thing he did that proved he was a well rounded martial artist that competed in a lot of different formats and styles.

His resume in BJJ and submission grappling is what it is. I wasn't speaking on that.

But it's still silly to judge his BJJ accomplishments by his MMA career.

I agree. I judge his BJJ career by the 10+ or so world titles (Mundials and ADCC)

 

[yetanother]

He doesn't rely on athleticism anymore than guys like Buchecha, Lo, or Rafa, to name a few.

Galvao relies on athleticism more than they do. His whole game is built around it and his techniques are chosen to maximize it.
For me as lanky clumsy guy almost everything Galvao shows is worthless. I can use the stuff Lo or Rafa do, and even things from Buchecha are generally solid.

 

[EGDM]

Galvao relies on athleticism more than... Buchecha

I disagree. Buchecha is great, but uses his size and athleticism extensively to get away with the mistakes inherent in his otherwise open game. It's what makes him so exciting. Galvao is much tighter and more technically conservative. As far as whether Galvao's favorite techniques scale to "lanky clumsy guy(s)" that's a different issue.

 

[mattemate]

I mostly remember him for his loss to Ryron.

-Ryron

 

[mataleaos]

I disagree. Buchecha is great, but uses his size and athleticism extensively to get away with the mistakes inherent in his otherwise open game. It's what makes him so exciting. Galvao is much tighter and more technically conservative. As far as whether Galvao's favorite techniques scale to "lanky clumsy guy(s)" that's a different issue.

Exactly. Bucecha plays so much more wide open than Andre does.

Just because someone may not be able to use the techniques doesn't mean they are rooted in athleticism.

I've never understood the fetishization in BJJ with separating strength/athleticism from technique. Proper strength applied correctly IS good technique. Good technique is strong. Multi-time BJJ athletes are generally athletic people. How is that a problem? I honestly think with Galvao it's the visuals. He looks fucking massive so people think he feels like a gorilla but if you ask people that roll with him how strong he feels they will mostly tell you they were surprised he didn't feel as strong as they expected. Like you said. He plays a tight game and is more on the conservative side.

 

[kpoz12]

He lost via defensive dominance to Ryron Gracie; he needs to come back and prove he can beat him.

 

[imarayda]

I'd put him in whatever tier is under the holy trinity.

 

[yetanother]

How is that a problem?

For Galvao the technically correct option might be to design his game around being a ball of steroids for me it doesn't because I'm not.

 

[ziggyholiday]

Wow. This is one of the craziest opinions I've read on here. NO offense but to say Andre isn't technical is just an ignorant statement. You can't win double digit world titles (Mundials and ADCC) by not being ridiculously technical. He doesn't rely on athleticism anymore than guys like Buchecha, Lo, or Rafa, to name a few.

You say you think of him as athletic more than smooth?

Galvao is the smoothest medium heavy weight grappler of his time I think.

He may be known for no-gi more but he shines in the gi



Also check Budo Jake Rolled Up. The guy asks Jake if he felt strong and Jake said not really.

47:30

Yeah, 2015 euros was CRAZY! I loved watched refs stop him to have him explain his one sub. Watching Galvao and Megaton in person will always be fond memories.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

For Galvao the technically correct option might be to design his game around being a ball of steroids for me it doesn't because I'm not.

If you are going to go hard on Andre because of his steroid use, you may as well go hard on 99% or elite Bjj athletes. Adcc is Like Comic-Con...