It has nothing to do with the education system. It has to do with the people you are raised around, and the culture you adhere to. Most Americans don't want to accept that fact, and like to blame "the system." Often, it's for for political reasons, but mostly because Americans don't value education in and of itself. A lot of this is due to the Calvinist sheep herders who pursued America for land, and religious reasons only.
Americans are a much more material minded people, and less of an intellectually minded people. You don't even have to have a standard education to speak properly, and to master basic grammar. You simply have to be well read. Most Americans, and even many British people are not well read. They now rest on their colonizer's laurels.
With that being said, none of this matters in Brian's field of endeavor; so it's hard to imagine how this can be a serious complaint. I expect most MMA fighters to be as dumb as a box of rocks, and I am only surprised if they aren't.