UFC has some of the worst BJJ Black Belts

[djason1988]

TS wonders why people who got black belts in a sport that utilizes a gi and doesn't allow punches to the head are struggling in mma, lol

 

[markg171]

Bjj is different when punishment is involved. Also those UFC black belts till beat 80-90% of regular black belts in schools that aren´t pro athletes.

There's a lot of keyboard warriors on here who like to think because they got a BJJ black belt after training 3 days/week for years, or train with those who do, that they have better grappling and have something over "pro fighters". It's just pure ego on their parts.

There's probably a lot of idiots on here who thought they had better grappling than Mighty Mouse simply because he was only a brown (even if we all knew he should've been black a long time ago) or because he was small. Then Mighty Mouse decided to actually join grappling tournaments and most people got real reality checks that yes, these guys absolutely are putting in insane levels of work on the mats during their MMA careers and actually are better than the vast majority of grapplers.

(obviously MM is a GOAT but you get the point)

 

[Ares Black]

Rashad claims to have a black belt .

It's not really a claim, his instructor (Rolles Gracie) give him one. That's how black belts generally work.

I've also never seen him submitted though so make of that what you will.

Probably just a coincidence.

 

[Poatan Power]

I find the whole topic off putting. Danaher has good content on what makes a blue belt, etc. -- but you either have sand baggers like the Cesar Gracie group who have blue belts in competition winning absolutes and smashing browns/blacks or you have black belts who according to Sherdoggers aren't good enough to have earned one. Fuck off unless you get on the mat and clean them up. It doesn't mean anything whether or not you believe in the veracity of their black belt. It's a piece of cloth.

A lot of you casual know it all fuckwits will scoff at Conor's BJJ ranking even though we saw him hit a sick sweep on Nate Diaz who out ranked him in a very tough system. The rest of you only know submissions and don't know good ground game when you see it.

 

[Pierced7681]

There is one aspect I will speak on

Its the fact that BJJ originally started with defending yourself in street fights and opened the doors to “luta livre” competitions so BJJ old heads always have a certain respect for the partitioners that challenge themselves in a “mma” setting

What I mean, and Im sure others can add to this, is that Ive seen jiu-jitsu guys get ranked far above their skill-set due to the fact they fought in mma. We see it all the time when a coach, even coach’s from Brazil, will honorably and gladly rank their student up after winning a bout, regardless if they won using a submission

I was a product of this myself. I was awarded a brown belt only after a couple years of practicing jiu-jitsu because I was subbing dudes in mma matches. I got my brown in 2007 so Ive already surpassed that but the I felt I was NOT a brown belt at the time I was awarded it

I had a teammate a long time ago go from white belt straight to purple belt for KO’ing a black belt in Bellator. Made no damn sense. Was a good win, but why did he get a purple belt when he broke the guys jaw with a right-hook?

So that being said, not all mma guys are your typical black belts

And there’s so many black belts these days that the bar has fallen I’d say

I think it’s mostly because very few bjj schools roll with punches anymore. I know Gracie Jiu Jitsu clubs do, but that’s about it. As such, majority of people who train bjj have no idea what to do when someone’s on top of them dropping gnp anymore.

 

[Trabaho]

There's a lot of keyboard warriors on here who like to think because they got a BJJ black belt after training 3 days/week for years, or train with those who do, that they have better grappling and have something over "pro fighters". It's just pure ego on their parts.

There's probably a lot of idiots on here who thought they had better grappling than Mighty Mouse simply because he was only a brown (even if we all knew he should've been black a long time ago) or because he was small. Then Mighty Mouse decided to actually join grappling tournaments and most people got real reality checks that yes, these guys absolutely are putting in insane levels of work on the mats during their MMA careers and actually are better than the vast majority of grapplers.

(obviously MM is a GOAT but you get the point)

Delusions of grandeur.

Poatan is grappling for what, 5 years ? I think he can own half the black belts globally. Just on pure beastness. UFC fighters train professionaly twice a day.

 

[Trabaho]

I find the whole topic off putting. Danaher has good content on what makes a blue belt, etc. -- but you either have sand baggers like the Cesar Gracie group who have blue belts in competition winning absolutes and smashing browns/blacks or you have black belts who according to Sherdoggers aren't good enough to have earned one. Fuck off unless you get on the mat and clean them up. It doesn't mean anything whether or not you believe in the veracity of their black belt. It's a piece of cloth.

A lot of you casual know it all fuckwits will scoff at Conor's BJJ ranking even though we saw him hit a sick sweep on Nate Diaz who out ranked him in a very tough system. The rest of you only know submissions and don't know good ground game when you see it.

If Conor wasn't a black belt Nate who is a real undisputed one, would have submited him in 5 rounds. It took Khabib 4 rounds. And Khabib is op in grappling.

 

[shunyata]

So because Dolidze (black belt, went on a tear at ADCC European trials not too long ago) outgrapples Smith (also black belt, but hasn't had major international sub grappling success in the last 10 years to my knowledge) your conclusion is not

there are levels to this shit

but

UFC black belts suck?

"Dolidze having good bjj means bjj is bad!"

What do you think happens in the black belt divisions at major tournaments? The majority of the black belts don't take first place.

 

[mister piscadinha]

a lot of mma fighters get "prestige" belts in bjj, they're not really good at it, it's a NAME thing
there's actually very few bjj specialists in the ufc

any black belt that cant sweep a wrestler after a takedown is not a real black belt

i'll make a thread about it

 

[Aluminati]

Such as?

Vitor Belfort

 

[Ares Black]

Vitor Belfort

Is there any particular reason that you don't think his black belt is legitimate?

 

[Aluminati]

I find the whole topic off putting. Danaher has good content on what makes a blue belt, etc. -- but you either have sand baggers like the Cesar Gracie group who have blue belts in competition winning absolutes and smashing browns/blacks or you have black belts who according to Sherdoggers aren't good enough to have earned one. Fuck off unless you get on the mat and clean them up. It doesn't mean anything whether or not you believe in the veracity of their black belt. It's a piece of cloth.

A lot of you casual know it all fuckwits will scoff at Conor's BJJ ranking even though we saw him hit a sick sweep on Nate Diaz who out ranked him in a very tough system. The rest of you only know submissions and don't know good ground game when you see it.

We also saw him become a panic wrestler and give up his neck for a guillotine, get swept, give up his neck for the RNC, and get tapped out shortly after.

 

[Necrocrawler]

Vitor Belfort

?????

All i can think is how tough was getting something from Carlson Gracie at the time he was alive lol

 

[Aluminati]

Is there any particular reason that you don't think his black belt is legitimate?

I've watched his fights and seen a shocking lack of fundamentals consistently throughout the latter half of his career. In his case, it might be more that he earned it and experienced skill erosion as opposed to never really earning it.

 

[markg171]

We also saw him become a panic wrestler and give up his neck for a guillotine, get swept, give up his neck for the RNC, and get tapped out shortly after.

Conor got swept while ESCAPING the guillotine because

Wait for it...

Diaz is a very legit black belt and countered an otherwise good escape by Conor.

Take it up with Diaz who said he was shocked he didn't tap Conor with the guillotine he's otherwise used to sub guys like Miller, Tony, Maynard, Assuncao, Davis, and Guillard with.

 

[FriskyRandy]

Such as?

People have given examples in this thread almost right away. Do you think Potan is legitimate black belt? Did you see how it was earned? Have you seen him roll?

Zero chance. There's over a dozen examples like that, Brazilian strikers are notorious for it. Here's Islams own examples since you won't respect mine.

It's been a tactic for a long ass time. The amount of black belts that Jon has submitted as a white belt is hilarious.

Islam Makhachev says which UFC stars he believes don't deserve their black belts

Islam Makhachev has named several UFC fighters that he thinks don't deserve their black belts

bloodyelbow.com

 

[FriskyRandy]

Such as?

Tyrone Woodley, Cuba Swanson.

There's tons of guys that if they weren't in the UFC would have never received a black belt in a traditional gym.

 

[joy2day]

Yes, there can be different standards for fighters and belts, for example Wandy being given his black belt based on his BJJ-skills performance in an MMA match against Yoshida in the GP.

But no, wrestlers have NOT dominated the scene, a lot of recent belts have been won by strikers. There aren't many top BJJ guys in the sport because they can make money without brain damage; and no, wrestlers wouldn't always dominate them, and that has never really been the case.

 

[Left Hook Lacy]

I feel like a lot of these guys do surprisingly wel when they are on top but they almost never get on top and they are not great at guard work, sweeps or takedowns.

What I really hope is that some of the new gen BJJ guys with offensive leg lock games and/or good takedowns come to MMA.

 

[Poatan Power]

We also saw him become a panic wrestler and give up his neck for a guillotine, get swept, give up his neck for the RNC, and get tapped out shortly after.

...And?

Somebody better tell Olives to give his black belt back, he got subbed by a white belt.

Oh, and this guy must be unworthy.

How about this noob letting his far side arm get isolated and get kimura'd???

How about this guy getting caught by a leg lock of all things?

I wonder if this guy should have a BJJ black belt

My point is 1.) your point is invalid, because great BJJ black belts and even great MMA grapplers have been openly destroyed on the ground, even by people of lesser rank than them. MMA happens with striking, ffs.

2.) That there are levels to black belt. Many, in fact. I would assert that a lot of professional fighters meet the minimum requirement for a black belt and it helps them when they decide to open / coach MMA schools, BJJ schools, etc. and that's why they're given one even if they only meet the minimum required skill level. That doesn't mean they aren't black belts. In contrast, I'd argue that those in favor of gatekeeping the rank contribute to the sand bagging we see at competitions where ten year purple belts are smoking black belts for reasons other than authenticity to tradition.

I feel like a lot of these guys do surprisingly wel when they are on top but they almost never get on top and they are not great at guard work, sweeps or takedowns.

What I really hope is that some of the new gen BJJ guys with offensive leg lock games and/or good takedowns come to MMA

Getting top position dominantly is a wrestling specialty. Guard work, sweeps, etc. are money when you can't get decked in the face by the guy on top. Same with leg locks. That's why the modern leg lock game in BJJ is a new phenomenon based on old technique -- because old technique was stiffled in traditional BJJ where you could still get smacked in the face.

.