Does Greco Roman wrestling really translate better to MMA compared to Freestyle?

[patton217]

Seeing as how this is the grappling section of the forums i figured i would find a few people who knew a thing or two about the Greco Roman style of wrestling. Im very curious about Greco and would love to learn more. As you can see in the title what i want to know is if Greco really does translate better to MMA as oppsoed to Freestyle or even other arts focused on grappling for ex. sambo or judo? Also any info on websites or books i should look into about the history of Greco would be much appreciated.

 

[luke2342]

Im not an expert on the subject, but I think Greco translates more into MMA because of the common position of the clinch in MMA, and Greco Roman works well with the clinch due to its rules allowing only moves above the waist or something.

Greco Roman can result in way more exciting fights, like Jones crazy ass suplex's on Bonnar, or can be used to wear down an opponent, like Randy Couture pressing oponnents up against the cage . Greco is always a good tool to have, but without also having experience in Freestyle wrestling, its not that effective.

 

[patton217]

Also, can anyone else think of a fighter (either a current one or from the past) with both a muay thai and a greco backround? or maybe muay thai and judo?

 

[Ryukyu Damashi]

Brandon Vera

 

[patton217]

Brandon Vera

i cant say i see too much of it in his game though definitely not in the same way as randy couture, dan henderson, matt lindland, joe warren, or jon jones for example.

 

[Nick Kilian]

Absolutely not. Its not like freestyle people don't do Greco moves when they train....

Question is does Greco train lower body moves? not really. Greco is a lot slower paced and I think the intensity of Freestyle being a faster moving style suits MMA better.

 

[knoxpk]

Short answer Not necessarily.

What you are looking at is specialization much in the same way BJJ specializes on mat-work and subs.

Greco guys specialize in clinch but it is available in FS and folk style. Wider variety of techniques and more ranges to focus on create more of a unique style. Greco guys are more likely to look the same due to limited options and practice. FS have a wider variety on the feet but you will see they will look similar to Greco on the mat ,with a few exceptions. Folkstyle will look more like FS on the feet since they have the same options but they have a MUCH WIDER set of options on the mat both offensively and defensively. So you will see FS guys probably better on the feet than the mat as opposed to a folk style guy.

Anyway, I hope that clarifies things.

 

[Mat Nemesis**]

i think it depends on who you are fighting.

take randy vs toney: greco has served randy well most of his career, but he would be much better off being able to shoot for a TD instead of clinching for a TD.

 

[Splatterbeast]

where do people go to learn wrestling for MMA? there is only like one place where i live and its miles away and with a limited schedule lol.

 

[CaliKid45]

folkstyle is the best for mma by the way. but freestyle is way better than greco for mma in my opinion. folk and free stylists do greco moves. if they are american they can do any of the wrestling

 

[SKizzit**]

It seems like they would have less effective sprawls and leg takedowns since that is not allowed, Hendo couldn't defend takedowns for shit against Jake Shields.

 

[TheSecondRush]

where do people go to learn wrestling for MMA? there is only like one place where i live and its miles away and with a limited schedule lol.

There are clubs you can look for but if you don't want to be shelling out some cash go check a local high school. Lots of high schools have open mats outside of the wrestling season and many allow people who want to learn wrestling but are out of high school practice also.

 

[KILL KILL]

It depends on the person. That's like saying bjj is better for mma than boxing.