As I sat on my couch watching the Ultimate Fight Night card that preceded the premier of The Ultimate Fighter’s twelfth season, I found myself to be a victim of a case of deja vu followed by a personal revelation. As staff photographer Mallory Mejia (who also happens to be my live in girlfriend) will tell you, I have a tendency to become frustrated by the basic technical errors elite level mixed martial artists make in their stand-up. This often results in a verbal assault on the television. This was the case Wednesday night. The revelation came later that evening during a Spike TV special on the impact of Royce Gracie. BJJ and American amateur wrestling are directly to blame for the sad state of affairs in MMA striking. In part one of this article, I will examine first the white belt level errors in all but the elite of MMA strikers stand-up and then, in part two of this article, I will share the revelation of how BJJ and wrestling are to blame. Continue reading »
