questions for the wrestlers

[devante]

this is tuf related; but something that bothered me when i first heard it, before kos and sanchez fought... diego said something to the effect of if i had not trained w/him i would have thought my wrestling was better.

I don't wrestle, i have been around wrestlers though; an having seen both fight i would not understand why diego thought that. Confident i can get; but the statement is just ridiculous, i don't see where his credentials/background says his wrestling was even in the same region, much less country that kos's are.

i know mma has variations and all; but that is like sylvia saying his striking is better than cro cop or his subs are better than nog or barnett or hughes saying he is gonna ko gsp.

I find wrestlers to be very informed of the history/cred/background of other wrestlers and very insightful and intelligent in assessing another's skillset/ability. tHAT BEING SAID.. why would sanhez ever feel his wrestling was on par w/kos

 

[samurai guy]

Maybe Diego wasnt aware that Koscheck was a two time NCAA champion.

 

[Joey M.]

this is tuf related; but something that bothered me when i first heard it, before kos and sanchez fought... diego said something to the effect of if i had not trained w/him i would have thought my wrestling was better.

I don't wrestle, i have been around wrestlers though; an having seen both fight i would not understand why diego thought that. Confident i can get; but the statement is just ridiculous, i don't see where his credentials/background says his wrestling was even in the same region, much less country that kos's are.

i know mma has variations and all; but that is like sylvia saying his striking is better than cro cop or his subs are better than nog or barnett or hughes saying he is gonna ko gsp.

I find wrestlers to be very informed of the history/cred/background of other wrestlers and very insightful and intelligent in assessing another's skillset/ability. tHAT BEING SAID.. why would sanhez ever feel his wrestling was on par w/kos

Because MMA wrestling and pure wrestling are not the same thing. Kos may be a very proficient pure wrestler (NCAA champion and 4x All-American), but in an MMA application, both he and Diego are much more evenly matched.

But even so, it sounded like Diego was more humbled than he was bragging by the sound of his statement. He was complementing Koscheck for his superior wrestling ability and for providing him with a sort of reality check.

 

[Q mystic]

Cuz how old was he when he really left wrestling for mma?

Same with Karo and judo. He was not very high in judo when he bailed but still quite young and doing ok. He would have prolly gotten much better and became prolific in judo in the same way that Sanchez may have become more prolific in wrestling, albeit most of his wrestling was done more for mma and it paid out.

Being not so good in youth doesn't mean everything. If he has the 'time in' and matures into a late teen or 20's, then he may have banged out big wins. Same with Fedor in judo and plenty others in all sports.

 

[DaRuckus337]

I think Diego is just a confident fighter and wrestler who - like most athletes - thinks he's as good as anyone out there (at least until somebody proves otherwise). I'm sure Diego just thought that he was also a great wrestler due to his high school success, and like many ex high school wrestlers, was not fully aware of the gap in skill and style between the high school and college level. Five minutes on a mat with Koscheck was enough to convince Diego that his best bet is sticking to jj and striking, because the wrestling match-up was not even close.

 

[samurai guy]

Cuz how old was he when he really left wrestling for mma?

Same with Karo and judo. He was not very high in judo when he bailed but still quite young and doing ok. He would have prolly gotten much better and became prolific in judo in the same way that Sanchez may have become more prolific in wrestling, albeit most of his wrestling was done more for mma and it paid out.

Being not so good in youth doesn't mean everything. If he has the 'time in' and matures into a late teen or 20's, then he may have banged out big wins. Same with Fedor in judo and plenty others in all sports.

Congrats on your red belt!

 

[Wrestler189]

its ridiculous

the only reason i could think that is because he may have thought kos wouldnt be able to translate his wrestling to mma like diego did. other than that, diego mustve been ignorant

 

[Q mystic]

I think Diego is just a confident fighter and wrestler who - like most athletes - thinks he's as good as anyone out there (at least until somebody proves otherwise). I'm sure Diego just thought that he was also a great wrestler due to his high school success, and like many ex high school wrestlers, was not fully aware of the gap in skill and style between the high school and college level. Five minutes on a mat with Koscheck was enough to convince Diego that his best bet is sticking to jj and striking, because the wrestling match-up was not even close.

I might be wrong but it sounds like Diego was saying that Kos was sooo much a better wrestler.(?)

 

[Q mystic]

its ridiculous

the only reason i could think that is because he may have thought kos wouldnt be able to translate his wrestling to mma like diego did. other than that, diego mustve been ignorant

What about maybe Diego wasn't in wrestling over the long haul where he may have been up there, over more time vs Kos?

 

[Q mystic]

Congrats on your red belt!

Damn. Intiailly wasn't looking forward to losing the black, but red actually looks good on me.

 

[DaRuckus337]

I might be wrong but it sounds like Diego was saying that Kos was sooo much a better wrestler.(?)

That's what I was getting at. I think Diego was just saying that he THOUGHT due to his confidence as an athlete and wrestler that he was in Koscheck's league until he stepped out there on the mat with him. It was a compliment to be sure. Can't blame a young, talented guy like Diego for believing that he cannot be outclassed, even if in some cases and in some areas, he obviously is.

 

[samurai guy]

Damn. Intiailly wasn't looking forward to losing the black, but red actually looks good on me.

you should get an AV dude! Something Judo related! Maybe Murilo Ninja in midair from Sergei Kharitonov's hip toss?

 

[devante]

thx for the responses

like i said his statement jus seemed incredulous to me; an im sure there are diff within mma and pure wrestling, but he never clarified. He said i would have thought my wrestling was better than his...i.e. i can match or outwrestle him.

an to another point leben knew who he was an his cred, so i find it odd diego being on his team would not be aware of his background...

if he said better grappler, yes...better wrestler...NO

Sidenote-i was under the impression karo was one of the better judoka in the us at least and somewhere rated in world rankings....not high or anything like that. But def one of if not the best judoka in ufc history.

 

[Q mystic]

That's what I was getting at. I think Diego was just saying that he THOUGHT due to his confidence as an athlete and wrestler that he was in Koscheck's league until he stepped out there on the mat with him. It was a compliment to be sure. Can't blame a young, talented guy like Diego for believing that he cannot be outclassed, even if in some cases and in some areas, he obviously is.

Actually, my mess up there, sorry. I meant it seems that Diego was saying outside of the technical in class, he was just as good. I might be wrong tho, but it sounds that way.

edit: it says 'before they fought' so your right.

 

[brianX]

I think Diego is just a confident fighter and wrestler who - like most athletes - thinks he's as good as anyone out there (at least until somebody proves otherwise). I'm sure Diego just thought that he was also a great wrestler due to his high school success, and like many ex high school wrestlers, was not fully aware of the gap in skill and style between the high school and college level. Five minutes on a mat with Koscheck was enough to convince Diego that his best bet is sticking to jj and striking, because the wrestling match-up was not even close.

That's it. Trust me, as a former Diego-level high school wrestler, that you can't believe how much better an NCAA champ is. It's a whole different ballgame.

 

[Hammer Time]

most of u guys got it wrong. diego was saying that he has never fought a guy like kos and everyone he beat until that point he out wrestled them and sub or gnp for the won. that was how he beat everyone and it was not a problem and now if he didnt train with kos or know who he was he wud prolly try to take him down and out wreslte him. now that they were training partners he knew kos was a better wrestler and he decided to try to ko him or tap him out. just mentioning his strategy and game plan as well as complimenting kos. he was not being arrogant or ignorant

 

[Shaolin Bushido]

... diego said something to the effect of if i had not trained w/him i would have thought my wrestling was better.

tHAT BEING SAID.. why would sanhez ever feel his wrestling was on par w/kos

Sounds like he was emphasizing tht his wrestling wasn't on a par with Koscheck's and candidly admitting his own wrestling which he previously thought was excellent wasn't quite that good.

 

[Shaolin Bushido]

most of u guys got it wrong. diego was saying that he has never fought a guy like kos and everyone he beat until that point he out wrestled them and sub or gnp for the won. that was how he beat everyone and it was not a problem and now if he didnt train with kos or know who he was he wud prolly try to take him down and out wreslte him. now that they were training partners he knew kos was a better wrestler and he decided to try to ko him or tap him out. just mentioning his strategy and game plan as well as complimenting kos. he was not being arrogant or ignorant

yeh.