The best thing for this sport would have been if catch wrestlers instead of BJJ practitioners had laid the foundation for the sport. You'd see pinfalls count as a way to win which would eliminate guys lying on their backs while wrapping their thighs around the man on top of them and squeezing his body against their bodies as closely as possible. I don't want to see that and most people don't. It's the single biggest reason this sport hasn't become more popular than it has. Watching that makes most people feel uncomfortable and it also bores them. Boring the average sports fan while also disgusting him is not a great business strategy. Wrestling on the other hand has been part of civilization for thousands of years and part of the United States for well over a hundred years. Add striking to the submissions and pinfalls of catch wrestling and you'd have an absolutely great sport with far broader appeal to the mainstream than today's MMA.
It's no coincidence that Ronda Rousey is now the sport's most popular athletes and she never lays in the guard. Her fights are full of action and there is never "lay and pray" or "wall and stall." It's not coincidence that people just happen to love her style so much. Her style gets rid of the worst, most boring aspects of today's MMA.
It's no coincidence that Ronda Rousey is now the sport's most popular athletes and she never lays in the guard. Her fights are full of action and there is never "lay and pray" or "wall and stall." It's not coincidence that people just happen to love her style so much. Her style gets rid of the worst, most boring aspects of today's MMA.
