FREESTYLE vs FOLKSTYLE wrestling in UFC...why freestyle DOMINATES in UFC AND wrestling competition

[-guerilla-]

It's hard to believe this subject isn't more discussed as the recent influx of international soviet bloc wrestlers are dominating their folkstyle opponents in the UFC

statistically it's overwhelming that folkstyle wrestlers get destroyed by freestyle wrestlers in the sport of international wrestling AND UFC

There are literally only 3 active freestyle wrestlers in the UFC and they are undefeated in 6 years of competition vs their folkstyle counterparts in head to head competition

Freestyle (and Greco) as a style is MASSIVELY underrepresented in the UFC

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...rs-in-the-ufc-past-and-present.3969399/page-2

(Same senario in international wrestling for MANY decades as folkstyle athletes have lagged behind freestyle athletes in international competition)

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/why-america-cant-win-international-wrestling.3962719/

the plain simple fact is freestyle wrestlers focus on the takedown, slam and throw whereas folkstyle wrestlers focus on turning a guy from turtle to his back in the breakdown and pinning combination series, a near worthless skill in MMA as the vast majority of your grounded opponents will be working off their back...not holding in turtle as they look for an escape or reversal

as the UFC can no longer legitimately exclude freestyle wrestlers from their cards we will see more and more freestyle wrestlers coming in and crushing the folkstyle leftovers (just like in the sport of wrestling)

as someone that has coached folkstyle wrestling for over 20 years it has always frustrated me that America never made the switch to freestyle wrestling but instead held on to their unique style practiced nowhere else on earth

hopefully they will learn their lesson (a very painful lesson) in the near future

I completely understand why Americans maintain the fallacy that folkstyle wrestling is awesome for MMA because all they see on TV is folkstyle wrestlers winning in their local American tournaments

I have a explained folkstyles dominance in American MMA already

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/the-real-reason-wrestlers-dominate-the-ufc-american-mma.3959991/

freestyle is making its appearance (FINALLY) and we have to brace for the impact



I concede that this (thus far) is largely work of one man as the UFC has wisely avoided feeding any other folkies to the FREESTYLE monster knocking on their door!

PS
These threads are all asking different questions and making different points

They are drawing the same responders whining about the same issues

(Try to ignore them and focus on the point of the THREAD)

in synopsis an underrepresented style is making a dominant run at the UFC golden goose and It's going to be a shock to the system because foreign athletes are going to take over the tournament (just as they did in the past)

funny how history has a way of repeating itself

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/are-americans-falling-behind-in-mma.3894589/

 

[Slatersan]

Has there been any high level folkstyle vs freestyle match ups? Khabib vs abel trujillo isnt that.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Ok I’ll bite:

Can you provide some notable examples of both styles that have had success in MMA, so that us uneducated guys can have some context? I asked a wrestler in my BJJ class the difference between the styles, but I didn’t really understand his explanation.

Are all American collegiate wrestlers folk style? It seems that Colby, Cormier, CCC, Colby, etc. are all pretty dominant. And I thought Barnett was catch? And what about the Dagestan/ Russian guys like Khabib? Are they all freestyle?

 

[JustOnce]

Romero would lose to Askren in folkstyle wrestling.

Lol

 

[Superman Elbow]

It's hard to believe this subject isn't more discussed as the recent influx of international soviet bloc wrestlers are dominating their folkstyle opponents in the UFC

statistically it's overwhelming that folkstyle wrestlers get destroyed by freestyle wrestlers in the sport of international wrestling AND UFC

There are literally only 3 active freestyle wrestlers in the UFC and they are undefeated in 6 years of competition vs their folkstyle counterparts in head to head competition

Freestyle (and Greco) as a style is MASSIVELY underrepresented in the UFC

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...rs-in-the-ufc-past-and-present.3969399/page-2

(Same senario in international wrestling for MANY decades as folkstyle athletes have lagged behind freestyle athletes in international competition)

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/why-america-cant-win-international-wrestling.3962719/

the plain simple fact is freestyle wrestlers focus on the takedown, slam and throw whereas folkstyle wrestlers focus on turning a guy from turtle to his back in the breakdown and pinning combination series, a near worthless skill in MMA as the vast majority of your grounded opponents will be working off their back...not holding in turtle as they look for an escape or reversal

as the UFC can no longer legitimately exclude freestyle wrestlers from their cards we will see more and more freestyle wrestlers coming in and crushing the folkstyle leftovers (just like in the sport of wrestling)

as someone that has coached folkstyle wrestling for over 20 years it has always frustrated me that America never made the switch to freestyle wrestling but instead held on to their unique style practiced nowhere else on earth

hopefully they will learn their lesson (a very painful lesson) in the near future

I completely understand why Americans maintain the fallacy that folkstyle wrestling is awesome for MMA because all they see on TV is folkstyle wrestlers winning in their local American tournaments

I have a explained folkstyles dominance in American MMA already

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/the-real-reason-wrestlers-dominate-the-ufc-american-mma.3959991/

freestyle is making its appearance (FINALLY) and we have to brace for the impact



I concede that this (thus far) is largely work of one man as the UFC has wisely avoided feeding any other folkies to the FREESTYLE monster knocking on their door!

PS
These threads are all asking different questions and making different points

They are drawing the same responders whining about the same issues

(Try to ignore them and focus on the point of the THREAD)

in synopsis an underrepresented style is making a dominant run at the UFC golden goose and It's going to be a shock to the system because foreign athletes are going to take over the tournament (just as they did in the past)

funny how history has a way of repeating itself

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/are-americans-falling-behind-in-mma.3894589/

You claim freestyle is better than folk yet folk is what dominates the sport in most cases. Strange.

 

[Superman Elbow]

as the UFC can no longer legitimately exclude freestyle wrestlers from their cards we will see more and more freestyle wrestlers coming in and crushing the folkstyle leftovers (just like in the sport of wrestling)

This is proof you are bias if you think guys are being blocked from the ufc for being freestyle.

 

[Blayt7hh]

You claim freestyle is better than folk yet folk is what dominates the sport in most cases. Strange.

Yeah ts is full of shit and just saying what he wants to believe

 

[Communion]

Folkstyle wrestlers are at a disadvantage internationally because there is no folkstyle. It's all freestyle or greco-roman. And some of them still win the gold, which is more impressive imo.

Imagine training your entire life in one style, then you have to wrestle guys in a different style that they've been training their entire lives.

Practically speaking, folk style seems to be a better martial art for self defense.

 

[Where you at Georges?]

Was khabib a freestyle wrestler?? I thought he was just sambo. Couture and sonnen were olympic alternates in greco roman. Guys like aaron pico have been getting there ass kicked in mma for years btw..

 

[Slatersan]

Was khabib a freestyle wrestler?? I thought he was just sambo. Couture and sonnen were olympic alternates in greco roman. Guys like aaron pico have been getting there ass kicked in mma for years btw..

Khabib has been training freestyle dagestani wrestling his whole life. Pure sambo guys dont wrestle like that. Look at fedor. Fedor is pure sambo. Mark coleman easily outwrestled fedor. Fedor just had way more tricks up his sleeve and was a complete grappler.

 

[-guerilla-]

Has there been any high level folkstyle vs freestyle match ups? Khabib vs abel trujillo isnt that.

well khabib has torn through three of them but otherwise the UFC is being careful not to feed any of them to the zabit and Romero thus far

 

[-guerilla-]

Ok I’ll bite:

Can you provide some notable examples of both styles that have had success in MMA, so that us uneducated guys can have some context? I asked a wrestler in my BJJ class the difference between the styles, but I didn’t really understand his explanation.

Are all American collegiate wrestlers folk style? It seems that Colby, Cormier, CCC, Colby, etc. are all pretty dominant. And I thought Barnett was catch? And what about the Dagestan/ Russian guys like Khabib? Are they all freestyle?

Khabib, zabit and Romero are primary freestyle wrestlers there has only been a tiny handful of them in the UFC

Long story short freestyle wrestlers are usually from Japan Soviet bloc or Islamic countries whereas all folkstyle wrestlers are from the American public school system

 

[Slatersan]

well khabib has torn through three of them but otherwise the UFC is being careful not to feed any of them to the zabit and Romero thus far

What high level folkstyle wrestler has khabib beat? I dont think he has gone against any elite folkstyle wrestlers.

 

[-guerilla-]

Romero would lose to Askren in folkstyle wrestling.

Lol

yeah they don't practice folkstyle in Cuba so he better

 

[-guerilla-]

You claim freestyle is better than folk yet folk is what dominates the sport in most cases. Strange.

Folkstyle wrestling dominates American MMA and nothing else

askern is the only folkstyle athlete who dominated in international MMA

But not anymore...

 

[-guerilla-]

This is proof you are bias if you think guys are being blocked from the ufc for being freestyle.

100% of my wrestlers are folkstyle since my gym is in the United States and the vast majority of my Fighters came from the public school system where I coach folk style wrestling

 

[-guerilla-]

Yeah ts is full of shit and just saying what he wants to believe

So the fact that Freestyle Wrestling is undefeated vs. Folkstyle wrestling in head-to-head UFC matches is " just something I want to believe?"

Maybe folkstyle won a match somewhere in the past that I missed?

 

[Superman Elbow]

100% of my wrestlers are folkstyle since my gym is in the United States and the vast majority of my Fighters came from the public school system where I coach folk style wrestling

That doesn't mean you can't be bias towards freeestyle, you hich you obviously are if you think fighters are being blocked for being freestyle.

 

[-guerilla-]

Folkstyle wrestlers are at a disadvantage internationally because there is no folkstyle. It's all freestyle or greco-roman. And some of them still win the gold, which is more impressive imo.

Imagine training your entire life in one style, then you have to wrestle guys in a different style that they've been training their entire lives.

Practically speaking, folk style seems to be a better martial art for self defense.

Great point

the fact is Americans only trained freestyle part-time after they have been exposed to folkstyle as their primary wrestling ruleset and this puts them at a massive disadvantage in international competition

just like I Linked In My o p

I'd say Judo is better for self-defense then either one of them since it includes chokes and lapel grips

 

[-guerilla-]

Was khabib a freestyle wrestler?? I thought he was just sambo. Couture and sonnen were olympic alternates in greco roman. Guys like aaron pico have been getting there ass kicked in mma for years btw..

The vast majority of khabib's training background is free-style wrestling through the old Soviet Bloc infrastructure that his father is in control of

Khabib's father is also primarily a Freestyle Wrestling

However all Soviet Bloc grapplers are pretty well-versed in Judo and sambo as well