i have seen karo fight a couple'a times; an my question is how good is he on the ground or in overall grappling... i see that his clinchwork...throws...are top notch, which makes sense w/the fact he is a national level and lower level judok; an he seems to be eff w/submission esp when transitioning from the throw to a sub. that being said how good is he w/in the context of subs..counters...sweeps...or even ground control...ground def.... he was able to eff control and def nick diaz, that being said diaz mma submission skills while eff; have never really impressed me, esp when facing an opp w/any sort of positioning skills... Secondly karo's ground def and subs got exposed in the same way when facing st pierre who manhandled...him and pounded out a dec. what do u guys think..in regards to pure mma grappling, grappling w/in the context of mma is my question because i don't care if u tap people all day in mundials or abu dhabi if u can't do it when u are in a mma fight, esp if u make ur money fame as an mma fighter is he on the level of a sudo..or busta..or sak..or even a yoshida..or nog..etc
From what I understand, pretty damn good. He's trained in the Hayastan system by Gene LeBell and Gokor Chivichyan. And what I found interesting is that, according to Joe Rogan anyways, he's well known for his leg locks. That should say something, considering he's primarily trained in Judo, where there are no leg locks. If I were Karo, though, I'd get a little frustrated. He's said before that he's not just a Judo player; he's an MMA fighter. I think he gets a little tired of always being known as "the Judo guy" when he trains his ass off in other aspects of MMA. I think anyone would rather be known in MMA for their fighting skill, not the martial art they use.
I haven't seen much on the ground. He seems content to hit from the guard. I am sure he is pretty damn good though. I think he is too small for the UFC WW division, however. UFC: MAKE A LW DIVISION AGAIN!
Dont forget his fight with Serra too- Karo is quite good on the ground, especially on top. I'd like to see how hed do against a wrestler who good at keeping you on the bottom (say Matt Hughes for instance).
The old gym I used to train at was a charter school of gokor and gene Lebell, so the instructors there have rolled with Karo many, many times over the years, and they give him nothing but the highest praise. They have said that he is better on the ground than other guys they have rolled with, such as Chris brennan, Javi Vasquez. In an MMA context all that changes because they didn't roll with strikes.
he didn't control diaz as well as he did serra, but his skills are definetly really good. I don't think he would be a match for hughes ever, for the same reasons he wasn't a match for GSP, they are to strong for him..
Would you guys be interested in seing him in ADCC? I think he would be able to make some waves there, if he would manage to win his weightclass it would raise his stock even higher so it could be a good move for him..
In his recent interview on Blackbelt Mag, February 2006 issue, he is not with Gokor and Hayastan Academy anymore.
Can you please tell me how yuo got a hold of an issue that is not even out yet? Almost 2 months in advance?
I think he could do quite well. He won't embarass himself but he won't finish anywhere near the top in his division either. Not with Marcelinho, Popovitch, Renzo, Jean-Jacques, Leo Santos, Shaolin and all the other guys still around.
Karo's good. He got Serra in some real dangerous positions. If Serra wasn't so damn compact and difficult to submit he would have got him. St Pierre simply has freakish strength and Karo just got totally overpowered. Karo's sub of Dave Strasser was beautiful also.
Karo was actually offered to fight in ADCC a few times, but turned them down, something to do with weight classes he mentions it in an interview on MMA-fighter.com
