MMA FAQ

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Ok, this is something I've been thinking about for a while, but never really wanted to invest any time into it. But I figured with the new folder and the rising popularity of the sport, something like this would help generate discussion, answer some questions, and hopefully spread the learnin. Maybe, in time, this can be a comprehensive FAQ.

 

So yeah, ask any questions, I'll throw some stuff up once in a while and pose some questions that anyone can contribute to.

 

Question 1:

 

Who are the notable fighters in MMA history?

[Lord of The Curry 0]

On this side of the pond: Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, Mark Coleman, Frank Shamrock, Don Frye.

[Guest Brian]

Royce Gracie, Shamrock, and Sakuraba.

[razazteca 0]

Mark Kerr, Mark Coleman, Shamrock, Gracie

[AboveAverage484 0]

Sakuraba, Bas Rutten, Royce Gracie, Couture, Ken and Frank Shamrock, Fedor, Nogueira

[razazteca 0]

Please define these terms:

 

Keylock

Kimura

Americana

[Lei Tong 0]

Keylock/Americana: Otherwise known as a "top wristlock." Basically, the user will grab an opponent's (in this case) left wrist with his left hand, with the opponent's bent towards the same direction as his head at a roughly ninety degree angle. He'll then snake his right hand underneat the bent elbow of his opponent, grab his own left wrist, and then begin torquing the opponent's elbow towards the sky while keeping the wrist and hand pinned to the mat.

 

The move relies much more on arm strength than most others, and is almost usless from the bottom, standing, or in an opponent's guard. Tends to be favored by wrestlers, as they'll often have opponents on their backs, and usually have arm strength to spare.

 

 

Ron Waterman keylocks Kevin Randleman

[Lei Tong 0]

Kimura: Similar at first glance to the keylock, often leading to confusion. Assuming that the user going after the opponent's left arm once again, this time the grabbing of his wrist is done with right hand this time, with the left arm again snaking through his arm, underneath the elbow and grabbing the user's own wrist. From here, the arm is pulled away from the opponent's body, then around towards and eventually behind their back, with their arm being torqued towards the back of their head.

 

A versatile move, the kimura can be used from both the top and bottom (though most effectively from North/South) as well as standing, though again, not from an opponent's closed guard. Though somewhat difficult to garner a submission with it from the bottom, it makes a great reversal move, as seen in Bonnar/Hogar.

 

Kazushi Sakuraba applies a Kimura to Royler Gracie

[starvenger 0]

OK, a general one:

What are the major fighting styles in MMA?

 

And a specific one that always puzzled me:

Was the triangle originally concieved as a choke, an armlock or both?

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Triangle choke is the original name, so that should give you the idea of its original intention. The whole point is that you block the oxygen to the opponent's brain by putting your leg on one side and squeezing with his own arm on the other of his neck. The free arm there is to be taken in case he doesn't defend it properly and the choke itself isn't really working out for you.

 

Major fighting styles in MMA are pretty Muay Thai Kickboxing, Western Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Freestyle Wrestling. You also have Judo, and Sambo. Another one is Catch Wrestling like the stuff they do in Takada Dojo. Those are the only "useful" ones that I can think of. Wrestling is probably the most efficient or important one to have, but that's just my opinion.

[Sass 0]

Royce Gracie, Ken & Frank Shamrock, Dan Severn, Bas Rutten, Mark Coleman, Kaz Sakuraba & Nobuhiko Takada.

 

Tank Abbot's worthy of a footnote. He defined the "puncher's chance" hope in MMA fights.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

In Alphabetical Order:

 

David "Tank" Abbott

Vitor Belfort

Mark Coleman

Randy Couture

Fedor Emelianenko

Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic

Don Frye

Masakatsu Funaki

Takanori Gomi

Rickson Gracie

Royce Gracie

Matt Hughes

Enson Inoue

Mark Kerr

KIMO

Chuck Liddell

Pat Miletich

Alexandre Franca Noguiera

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Tito Ortiz

BJ Penn

Jens Pulver

Kevin Randleman

Pedro Rizzo

Marco Ruas

Mauricio Shogun Rua

Bas Rutten

Kazushi Sakuraba

Hayato Mach Sakurai

Rumina Sato

Dan Severn

Wanderlei Silva

Frank Shamrock

Ken Shamrock

Akira Shoji

Maurice Smith

Nobuhiko Takada

Oleg Taktarov

Caol Uno

Igor Vovchanchyn

Kid Yamamoto

 

If I forgot anyone notable (I look at influence, popularity, styles and success), throw in a name where appropriate. I'd like to do a write up for each fighter, it doesn't have to be comprehensive or anything like that, but a summary of why they are notable would be great if anyone wants to contribute.

[Lei Tong 0]

I think your list should be condensed a good deal, Rudo. A guy like Kid is a good fighter, but he's barely blip in the history of in regards to name value and/or accomplishments. Guys like Enson Inoue, Hayato Sakurai and Alexandre Franca Noguiera are all more influential SHOOTO guys.

 

Also, guys like Kerr, Vovchanchyn & Rizzo are, stories of mental issues aside, notable only for being busts.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Igor and Kerr were considered the most dominant fighters on the planet at at least one point or another. I wouldn't call them busts per say.

 

But yeah, that list is too long.

[Lei Tong 0]

Kerr and Igor were considered great fighters because they looked good against nobodies, just like 99% of HW's throughout MMA history. Losses to Sperry, Herring, Fujita, Telligman, etc., really speaks volumes.

 

IMO, there's only been a handful of GOOD heavyweights throughout MMA's short history.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I was thinking about different time frames in a promotions history. Kerr was very prominent in both UFC and PRIDE at one point, (and certainly Vovchanchyn was(. Plus he had the documentary "The Smashing Machine". And flops are very notable in sports. "What went wrong" is just as important as "What went right". Rizzo, Randleman, and Kerr are examples of guys who had all the tools physically, who had the skills to be dominant, yet weren't. Why they weren't is big in helping foster an understanding for MMA.

 

I put Kid down mainly because of what's going on right now in k-1, at least by what Meltzer is saying. Supposedly Kid is their biggest star, which -if not notable now- will probably be in the future.

 

I will add Inoue, Sakurai, and Lil Nog.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with a big list of guys, as long as there is a legitimate reason for them to be up there. I look at this as a guide, so when someone is watching a Mark Kerr fight in the UFC and sees him crush his opponents and ask "where is he today" and then "well, what the fuck happened?" then it can be addressed.

[AboveAverage484 0]

There are three predominant styles: Striker, wrestler, jiu-jitsu specialist. Then you can break it down into subcategories; sambo, judo, muay thai, etc. More and more now though, styles are being eliminated in favor of more "freestyle" fighters. For example Fedor is a good striker, wrestler, and ground fighter. Same for Gomi, Kid, Penn, Arlovski, and other top fighters today. It's hard to restrict fighters to certain styles anymore, but guys like Cro Cop (striker) and Nogueira (jiu-jitsu) are still pretty easy to classify.

[razazteca 0]

Who are the top trainers and teams? I notice several names get mentions such as Lions Den, Chute Boxe, Takada Dojo, Top Russia/Brazil team etc but find it hard to follow at times. And to further the confusion I notice alot of fighters have egos and want to claim that they invented a style as in the case of Gracie, Ruas, Militich, Takada etc. so can somebody give an orgin story if you will.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Who are the top trainers and teams?  I notice several names get mentions such as Lions Den, Chute Boxe, Takada Dojo, Top Russia/Brazil team etc but find it hard to follow at times.  And to further the confusion I notice alot of fighters have egos and want to claim that they invented a style as in the case of Gracie, Ruas, Militich, Takada etc. so can somebody give an orgin story if you will.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The Lion's Den is definitely not one of the top gyms out there. I just think they've been passed by in modern MMA. Brazilian Top Team has always had great fighters who could hold their own on the ground and standing, same with Chute Boxe, who I credit with bringing a more brutal style into MMA from their Vale Tudo background.

 

Don't kid yourself if you think Takada Dojo is one of the top gyms. Takada, Yamamoto, and Matsui weren't exactly A class or even B class fighters, and the gym should be named Sakuraba Gym, if anything. I'm sure Takada is just a figurehead for the dojo as he is for Pride.

 

As for the invention of styles who can really say who invented what. Most of those fighters came around in MMA's infancy so it's anybody's guess as to whether they "invented" anything or just expounded on existing knowledge to fit their own strenghts and weaknesses (I'm leaning towards the latter)

 

Team Grabaka and Lei Tong's Killer Bees are two of the really great Japanese teams presently.

[Sass 0]

In Alphabetical Order:

 

David "Tank" Abbott

Vitor Belfort

Mark Coleman

Randy Couture

Fedor Emelianenko

Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic

Don Frye

Masakatsu Funaki

Takanori Gomi

Rickson Gracie

Royce Gracie

Matt Hughes

Enson Inoue

Mark Kerr

KIMO

Chuck Liddell

Pat Miletich

Alexandre Franca Noguiera

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Tito Ortiz

BJ Penn

Jens Pulver

Kevin Randleman

Pedro Rizzo

Marco Ruas

Mauricio Shogun Rua

Bas Rutten

Kazushi Sakuraba

Hayato Mach Sakurai

Rumina Sato

Dan Severn

Wanderlei Silva

Frank Shamrock

Ken Shamrock

Akira Shoji

Maurice Smith

Nobuhiko Takada

Oleg Taktarov

Caol Uno

Igor Vovchanchyn

Kid Yamamoto

 

If I forgot anyone notable (I look at influence, popularity, styles and success), throw in a name where appropriate.  I'd like to do a write up for each fighter, it doesn't have to be comprehensive or anything like that, but a summary of why they are notable would be great if anyone wants to contribute.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You fuckin overachiever...

 

But, Taktarov???

 

I love Tank/Oleg but...why Oleg?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Won UFC 6, made it to the finals of an Ultimate Ultimate, participated in the first PRIDE, had a big superfight with Ken Shamrock. At the time in the UFC, Taktarov was one of their biggest names. Plus, he was FANTASTIC in that Rollerball remake.

[Sass 0]

Plus, he was FANTASTIC in that Rollerball remake.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Touche.

 

Okay, I'm sold on Oleg. But, you need to watch 15 Minutes if you haven't done it yet. Oleg really shines well in that flick.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

He's also in National Treasure.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I was trying to think of 15 Minutes, but forgot the name, so I went with Rollerball.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

What are the weight classes in MMA and who are the notable fighters in them?

[Sass 0]

206 to 265 is the UFC "heavyweight" division.

 

Yeah, and fans get onto PRIDE for their "open" weight divisions...

[Golgo 13 0]

Explain the UFC scoring system. I think I have it right, but I'm not sure. 10-9 for close rounds, 10-8 for thorough domination, is it not? Are there point subtractions for takedowns and knockdowns?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Points dont get lost on takedowns and knockdowns, but they contribute to the overall score. Reshad knocked down Brad twice and it was still a split decision. Judging is rather inconsistent, so it's hard to exactly say what wins for a fighter. Typically, a fighter who ends up on top tends to get scored more favourably than the guy on the bottom, no matter how good the guy on the bottom is there. Submission attempts don't get you as much points as GnP. So they favour wrestlers more than jiu jitsu artists. Leg kicks typically don't score well, no matter how effective they are. A lot of the judges, I believe, are more used to scoring boxing than anything else.

[Guest nWoCHRISnWo]

How often are UFC PPVs? Once every two months? How do they do the matches for PPVs, since not all the main fighters will fight on each PPV, they spread it around so every PPV will have a share of the big stars?

[Fökai 0]

Broad question:

 

If you had to select one show (and for a broader range, three shows) to introduce a viewer to MMA, what would they be?

 

My specific question:

 

The last show that I watched was UFC 40. Since then, what shows would you recommend for pay-per-view quality fights? Anything MMA-related (Pride, UFC, ROTR/ICON) is acceptable for me. Keep in mind that I don't necessarily need to start with the shows directly after that.