What's the most important aspect of MMA?

Question

I think it's wrestling, I mean if your wrestling is good you can keep it on your feet you can take it to the ground and look for subs or something. I'm getting an impression that generally good wrestlers can keep their options open.

What do you think? Is it BJJ, conditioning or something else.

Answer 1

Conditioning (physical and mental). If your opponent can out last you in a fight then there is little chance of victory.  

Answer 2

As others have insinuated, but not outright said, I believe that well-roundedness is the most important aspect of MMA.

I see your point, and I think that wrestling is arguably your best base to have in MMA, but it isn't the most important facet. Why? Because while the better wrestler controls the range of the fight, if his other skills are inferior, it doesn't matter.

For instance, let's look at that WEC fight a few weeks back -- Condit vs Miura. Condit had better standup and better ground game. Miura had better Judo (which will represent wrestling in this case.) Miura was losing on his feet so he opted to take the fight to the ground. However, he was getting outmaneuvered on the ground as well. While he dictated where the fight was fought, it did him no good since Condit was superior on either front.

Having skill in multiple ranges (well-roundedness) is probably the most important skill. It is a prerequisite to higher-level abilities, such as fluidly mixing techniques together. The easiest example of this is GSP's takedowns. Yes his shots are good, but not good enough to earn him that 80 percent success rate alone. What sets his wrestling so far above everyone else's is the way that he uses his striking skill to set up his takedowns.

Notice how he gets people worried about defending his punches and kicks and then shoots? Or even more so, notice how he times people's punches and shoots in under them? But if he didn't have skills in both striking and wrestling, he wouldn't be able to employ his takedowns in such an effective manner.  

Answer 3

It's the ability to listen inside the cage where it counts most.  Here's a prime example of a Kid listening to his coach ( Me ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYgpPVBYO... He was told to be looking for the triangle ( meaning triangle choke ) and he listened well. He made sure that he payed attention and he gets into his opponent with his legs like he had been instructed to do a thousand times during practice before this fight.  When a "Student" truely believes that he is "The Key" alone then he just becomes a "fighter" who will not listen to his coaching .... I see that happening more and more with "fighters" these days "not listening to their coaches that is".

Answer 4

The ability to win.

Long gone  are the days where a single aspect determined the winner, at first fighters didn't know grappling, so they were being submitted easily by Royce Gracie, as soon as fighters learned grappling, the Gracies pulled out.

After that wrestlers dominated (Severn, Coleman, Mark Kerr), then again fighters adapted. Fighters like Chuck Liddell can neutralize grapplers by sprawling, and having great knockout power.

Nowadays you have to be good at everything in order to succeed, you need really good grappling, and striking.

Answer 5

I got two words for Gracie Lovers.

Kazushi Sakuraba

Answer 6

Being well-rounded and having great stamina.

I'd suggest wrestling as the base. But you absolutely need jiu jitsu, and some form of striking.

My son started off in traditional martial arts. He learned wrestling in high school, and added jiu jitsu to that. And it seems that it's easier for a wrestler to add jiu jitsu than for someone initially trained in jiu jitsu to add wrestling. Still, you absolutely need the jiu jitsu. And you need striking skills. Nowadays, any one (or even two) of those three isn't enough.

It reminds me of the game "rock, paper, stone." A wrestler is great, but doesn't know submissions and isn't great at striking. A jiu jitsu expert knows submissions, but may be vulnerable to striking and often can't counter a good wrestler. And a striker may be weak in take-downs and submissions.

In any case, though, conditioning is absolutely critical.

Answer 7

it's brazilian jiu jitsu (gracie jiu jitsu). it was a bjj master called Rorion Gracie who started up the first mma event: the ufc. and it was his little brother Royce who competed in this no rules event and he completely wipped everyones ***. karate masters, kung fu masters, shoot fighters, wrestlers, freestylers, the whole lot got subbmitted by little Royce Gracie.

they proved to the world that gracie jiu jitsu is the best. if you look at nearly any mma champ you will see that they incorporate BJJ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlYD-j9GS...

Answer 8

I completely agree, that is what i was going to put reading this question. If your a stand-up fighter, wrestling can keep you on your feet. If your a ground fighter, wrestling can help you get there.