Shinya aokis statement

[JiuJitsu_Greg]

Aoki has the best mma guard, because it's the most aggressive mma guard. He doesn't wait around, doesn't play a sweep game, and doesn't play half guards and other positions where your face is exposed to punches from postured opponents. He simply fires up incredibly tight high full guards, stifles his opponents, and attacks quickly and effectively with nasty stuff from his back.

Maia is aggressive from his back with his sweeps and subs, but he plays his guards too loose for mma and takes punches to the face because of it - even from a journeyman like Ed Herman he was getting drilled in the face before eventually getting his triangle. Same goes for guys like Alberto Crane and Rani Yahya. Other guys like Werdum play a stifling guard with some sweeps, but don't throw up the number of attacks that Aoki does. BJ Penn is terrific on the ground, with great sweeps and escapes (and a tendency to take less damage in guard than other top-level bjj guys), but he simply isn't as dangerous from his back as Aoki is, and doesn't have nearly as many submissions from his back against top opponents (I can't think of any off the top of my head....). I honestly don't see how anyone who has seen Aoki fight for the past few years can claim that he doesn't have the most dangerous guard in the sport.

It's unfair to judge Maia on on performance. He really didn't take much damage from Herman. Aoki took a bunch of damage from jz on that attempted achilles lock. That doesn't mean his ground game is weak.

 

[Ryo]

It's unfair to judge Maia on on performance. He really didn't take much damage from Herman. Aoki took a bunch of damage from jz on that attempted achilles lock. That doesn't mean his ground game is weak.

Yea, but it's equaly rediculous to compare a journeymen like Herman to JZ. JZ is one of the best in the world in his weightclass. His ground and pound is phenomenal.

 

[Yojimbo]

Marcelo fights in a lighter weight class than Aoki.. 155lbs
BJ Penn has great BJJ, but all around grappler? easily debatable that Aoki is better on the ground.
Aoki has more wins via submission from the ground on MMA
and Aoki has the more impressive grappling career

do I think Aoki is the better fighter than BJ? no
Aoki is the better grappler.

Aoki has more submission wins because BJ likes to stand and bang, and he has the skills to do so. No way in hell is Aoki's grappling career as impressive as BJ's!! Aoki is very exciting to watch and he has a damn good active guard, but if he fought Penn, whether it be MMA or straight grappling, he'd get dominated.

 

[Yojimbo]

and it's all rubber guard

Yep same stuff that Eddie Bravo used to submit Royce Gracie at that ACDC concert! :icon_chee

 

[Deloitte]

Point? The guard is not a favorable position in MMA. Fighters should NOT pull guard when fighting other top level guys. That said, it takes nothing away from how dangerous Aoki's guard is. Do you realize how dangerous he would be with it in the UFC? If he could throw elbows inside his guard he would RUIN some people.

He's been crying all day @ contenders forum about how much he disliked watching Aoki's game plan. I am not very surprised it eventually made it into the grappling forum. Urban you claim you train 5 days a week, yet you still can't enjoy Aoki's technical dominance from his back. Sounds to me your guard sucks.

 

[killer_kicks88]

Yep same stuff that Eddie Bravo used to submit Royce Gracie at that ACDC concert! :icon_chee

hahahaha~ finally someone i agree with

 

[Q mystic]

IMO, nobodies gaurd game in mma matches BJ Penn.

His fight with Matt Hughes...holy smokes. He was 2 steps ahead of one of the Greats in top fighters. That spooked me.

No catching there either. It was consistant mauling from the bottom.

I like Rogerios too.

 

[UrbanSavage**]

He's been crying all day @ contenders forum about how much he disliked watching Aoki's game plan. I am not very surprised it eventually made it into the grappling forum. Urban you claim you train 5 days a week, yet you still can't enjoy Aoki's technical dominance from his back. Sounds to me your guard sucks.

No, just used to be an Aoki fan before I realized he'll cheat to win and copout to avoid risking future losses and it annoys the fuck out of me. Trust me, I enjoy watching a lot of the shit Aoki does, this one Aoki HL vid is one of my favorite HL's of all time to watch, I just can't believe Aoki's pulled out of the same tournament twice and both times he suffered more damage than JZ did.

 

[damit2hell]

Aoki's guard is the best period...although it could be the pants Most of Aoki's subs come off his back with someone in his guard. Nog's guard is good for not taking ton's of punishment and for sweeps, but his top game in bjj is much better, and same goes for BJ penn, BJ gets many subs, but many are from rear mount or from the top position. Plus Aoki's up kicks owned JZ

 

[Q mystic]

Aoki's guard is the best period...although it could be the pants Most of Aoki's subs come off his back with someone in his guard. Nog's guard is good for not taking ton's of punishment and for sweeps, but his top game in bjj is much better, and same goes for BJ penn, BJ gets many subs, but many are from rear mount or from the top position. Plus Aoki's up kicks owned JZ

Interesting. While I don't think subbing from guard is what makes the gaurd, I do think I have to see more of Aoki. Rodrigo takes lottsa punishment and it still works for him. Rogerio takes very little compared. Still say Penn tho.

 

[Ryo]

Interesting. While I don't think subbing from guard is what makes the gaurd, I do think I have to see more of Aoki. Rodrigo takes lottsa punishment and it still works for him. Rogerio takes very little compared. Still say Penn tho.

Aoki's guard is more dangerous then Penn's. On top, or back mount is where BJ is most dangerous. Aoki has dominated two top ten fighters from his guard alone.

 

[WCLegend90]

No, just used to be an Aoki fan before I realized he'll cheat to win and copout to avoid risking future losses and it annoys the fuck out of me. Trust me, I enjoy watching a lot of the shit Aoki does, this one Aoki HL vid is one of my favorite HL's of all time to watch, I just can't believe Aoki's pulled out of the same tournament twice and both times he suffered more damage than JZ did.

When has he cheated to win? When he's been kicked in the balls twice, and elbowed in the neck? If someone elbows me in the neck to the point the fight has to be stopped, then I dominate him the second fight, I wouldn't want to have to fight in two weeks either.

 

[Q mystic]

Aoki's guard is more dangerous then Penn's. On top, or back mount is where BJ is most dangerous. Aoki has dominated two top ten fighters from his guard alone.

Ok. Define dominated. Cuz when I saw Penn/Hughes, it sure looked like Penn was doing the top control (from the bottom) on a GREAT top control vet in Hughes. He was mauling him from bottom and it looked like Hughes had to try and get outta there. To where?

I think I have seen better specific areas coming from others but no one has demonstrated that ability to maul from bottom like I saw that night vs Hughes. Could have been just that night, but he wasn't just working something, He was owning him.

In other words, I feel like I could mimic, at the very most, lottsa work from bottom(at least in my mind) but that night Penn was mauling Hughes from gaurd and I havent seen anything like it prior or since. Way too much there it seemed. Not tech, but total control, vs Hughes in an important fight.

Subs from guard? Awesome. Sweeps? Great. Till I see a paradigm shift like I saw from Penn that night..

P.S. Although, it seems he apparently cracked a rib or intercoastal while doing it.:icon_lol:

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Point? The guard is not a favorable position in MMA. Fighters should NOT pull guard when fighting other top level guys. That said, it takes nothing away from how dangerous Aoki's guard is. Do you realize how dangerous he would be with it in the UFC? If he could throw elbows inside his guard he would RUIN some people.

i beg to differ about it not being a favorable position. it's only unfavorable if you don't have a good guard or know how to effectively use your guard in mma.


that being said, i agree that aoki with elbows would be quite nasty.

 

[jamesmunlin]

+1.

QFT. He's easily the slickest. He still is starting to annoy me though. Can't say I don't admire the guy though.

 

[FLMikeATT]

Aoki's guard is the best period...although it could be the pants Most of Aoki's subs come off his back with someone in his guard. Nog's guard is good for not taking ton's of punishment and for sweeps, but his top game in bjj is much better, and same goes for BJ penn, BJ gets many subs, but many are from rear mount or from the top position. Plus Aoki's up kicks owned JZ

Nog's guard good for not taking punishment? Are you smoking crack?

Nog got ruined by Fedor from the guard. Granted, it is Fedor, but still. He also got lit up by Cro Cop before he got the sub.

He's got a great guard to be sure, but not one that avoids punishment. Nog's whole strategy is pretty much eating punishment until he can eventually lock in the sub.

 

[BigKO34]

If you define the best guard as the person who will get the most subs from his back, then Aoki has the best guard in MMA right now.

However, that isn't how I define the best guard. As we all subs aren't always the most important part of a ground game. I look at Aoki, and I see a guy that is a one trick pony, and if he beats you it will be from his back. However, when I look at a person like BJ, I see a complete fighter. BJ doesn't end fights form his back, because he looks to sweep. As stated before, you don't want to be on your back against a top level fighter, or you will get your faced smashed eventually. So, BJ uses his guard to to sweep, because he gets out of a volunerable position and then can work the rest of his game. Not to mention, BJ has very good defense from his back and always a THREAT to sub you from any position.

I would rather be in Aoki's guard any day. Sure, he may GoGo me and put me to sleep. However, if I ended up in BJ's gaurd, he would sweep me and then pound my face in with punches and elbows. I'd rather go to sleep, lol

 

[Tony Manifold]

If you define the best guard as the person who will get the most subs from his back, then Aoki has the best guard in MMA right now.

However, that isn't how I define the best guard. As we all subs aren't always the most important part of a ground game. I look at Aoki, and I see a guy that is a one trick pony, and if he beats you it will be from his back. However, when I look at a person like BJ, I see a complete fighter. BJ doesn't end fights form his back, because he looks to sweep. As stated before, you don't want to be on your back against a top level fighter, or you will get your faced smashed eventually. So, BJ uses his guard to to sweep, because he gets out of a volunerable position and then can work the rest of his game. Not to mention, BJ has very good defense from his back and always a THREAT to sub you from any position.

I would rather be in Aoki's guard any day. Sure, he may GoGo me and put me to sleep. However, if I ended up in BJ's gaurd, he would sweep me and then pound my face in with punches and elbows. I'd rather go to sleep, lol

Well put. I think Aoki is the most dangerous guy in MMA from his back but there are a few guys who I would put above him in total BJJ for MMA. BJ is one, maybe nog and a few others I am to tired to think of right now.

 

[hayliks]

i beg to differ about it not being a favorable position. it's only unfavorable if you don't have a good guard or know how to effectively use your guard in mma.


that being said, i agree that aoki with elbows would be quite nasty.

Unless you have a very dangerous guard, it's better to be inside a guard and to fight off your back. People are getting much better at defending submissions and preventing submissions through smart striking. You couldn't get even 5% of MMA fighters to say they would rather have somebody in their guard than to be in somebody's guard, and that says to me at least it is not favorable. Unless you compare it to being mounted, well of course you would rather have guard rather than be mounted.. =P

 

[ozyabbas]

I think it all depends on what criteria under which you judge a persons mma guard. For example

1) How much damage a person will take from their guard.

2) Whether the guard is better to be able to sweep the opponent from.

3) How many submissions the person can get from their guard.

And so on.

I would say that Aokis guard is best for submissions and taking less damage to get those submissions.

I don't think he is the best bjj mma guy or that he is able to use bjj best in mma. Those awards are most likely to go to bj penn, rodrigo, almeida and countless others who can work from both on top and from their backs.

As far as best grappler (non mma) he is even further down that list.

Recently there has been some grappling legends (Jacare, Marcelo, Roger, Damien Maia) who we have no seen enough of yet in mma to make a descision.