Nope, I've been talking about it for years, nobody listens and nobody really cares about the technical and developmental aspects of the sport but...MMA in Brazil is huge, the dollar goes for so 20/20k contracts make you an upper middle class man in Brazil and theres loads of talent with a strong combat/martial arts culture.
That said and its going to sound mean, but Brazils grasp on MMA is just stupid. While its one of the most populated countries in the world and a top 3 MMA nation with tons of resources...you see guys like Oliveira with with some bum wrestling coach thats 5'6 and a failed regional fighter, who was semi good in Iran and goes "im ready for Islam because my coach is a better wrestler". Jiujitsu in the way its taught, is largely a waste of time for MMA in modern day....you learn so many useless things but you don't learn how to wrestle from bottom, create space in the clinch, work off the cage etc. Brazils really do tend to have...bad top control like Khabib would point out, not that it matters they do not have strong takedowns.
Standing they tend to be so offense focused that they constantly have bad defense. Even Poatan doesnt have good defense, there's exceptions to this but in general even their most elite fighters have bad striking defense and gear very offensive. Plus the strong Muay Thai influence in their games leaves a great many being flat footed, plodding footwork wise and pretty high hipped for getting taken down easier.
Its no coincidence so many Brazilians when they make it big, have their camps in the US. US just has greater resources, better coaching, more access to necessary styles and strengths. Japan struggles with this too, they cannot develop their fighters for shit, they're gyms and formulas just aren't set up for it but the talent is there. The US is falling behind too, just due to the UFC not offering them a livable wage. And then the UFC refuses to sign Russians and Central Asians. So it all kinda offsets itself in a weird way.
