Roger Gracie: Greatest Jiu Jitsu Competitor of All Time | Lex Fridman Po...

"If you're going to be good, you have to work on your weaknesses." Roger Gracie

Luke Thomas Talks with Jiu-Jitsu Legend Demian Maia

There are a lot of jiu-jitsu guys that I love. But there are few whose game and intelligence I admire more than Demian Maia. Very much enjoyed this conversation between Demian and one of my favorite MMA analysts Luke Thomas.

Ryan on Rogan

 

A lot of good takeaways from an interview I've been looking forward to for awhile now. Not a ton of surprises for any one who's been following Ryan's career, but some interesting insights into the teaching approach of the Danaher Death Squad and, more importantly, what he thinks distinguishes the DDS approach to jiu-jitsu from everyone else's.

Stephan Kesting Interviews PNW Black Belt James "300" Foster of FosterBJJ

"All Positive is What I'm Trying to Say"

For what must be the tenth time, I found myself last night watching Eddie Bravo's interview with Joe Rogan after his epic rematch with Royler Gracie. But this time, a line from Rogan really stood out to me. As someone who has loved MMA since the 1990s, and is having a harder and harder time of late justifying traumatic-brain-injury-qua-entertainment, I found a lot to like in this:

"So Saturday night rolls around and I couldn't imagine there being any more anticipation in a room for something. And it was a cool anticipation too because ... one of the things I like about jiu-jitsu is, no one's going to get knocked the fuck out. Even if you get choked out, you know ... There's something about seeing a friend fight (that) gets real rough. We've been friends with MMA fighters ... knowing a guy and liking a guy and watching him get headkicked - it's hard to do. So it didn't have, the danger, that aspect to it. But it was all, it was all positive is what I'm trying to say. It was like, holy shit, it's all going down."

Interview with Cindy "Sleeper" Hales Ahead of Her Return to MMA

Check out this awesome interview with Gracie Barra black belt and MMA veteran, Cindy "Sleeper" Hales.

Why I (Still) Love Eddie Bravo

If you aren't a 40-something black belt on the verge of becoming a 50-something black belt, then you might not appreciate the beauty of truth here. Indeed, no one has a better sense of their own limitations than a middle-aged grappler.

Eddie Bravo: I go with everything, man. I'm like 'You wanna go that way? Let's go!" And let me see if I can hold on and get a little clinch and then go back this way "Bam!" You know? I'm too old to force my way through anything.

Joe Rogan: That's probably the smart way to do it, though, right? That's the traditional way of jiu-jitsu-

Bravo: It's the survival way of jiu-jitsu! My jiu-jitsu is becoming very survival now. My guys are fucking me up, now. I'm getting tapped out all the goddamn time, now. The only way I can tap out certain purple belts is if I have gas. If I'm tired and I take a round with one of my purple belts, I'll be fucking on survival mode the whole time, man. My guys are coming with fire, now.

Getting Better and Throwing Down: A Striking Coach Talks Training

Luke Thomas: If there were no concerns about brain injury or beating the body down, would you still taper back on some of the sparring?

Brandon Gibson: Yeah, a lot of these guys I see spar from almost a conditioning element or moral-psychological development. I don't know how many go in and spar with purpose or intent to work on X, Y and Z and implement A, B and C. I think they just get in with guys who are the sparring partners that want to impose their will and they try to impose their's right back and they leave too many miles in the gym.

I'm an advocate that if you're going to spar, you should spar with intention on getting better. You should go in there with a game plan that will be applicable to your upcoming fight, not just go in there for the sake of throwing down.

Check out the rest of the interview with striking coach Brandon Gibson here.

The Daily* Oss: Post EBI 5 Interview with Gary Tonon

If you watch the EBI (the Eddie Bravo Invitational) series, then Garry Tonon needs no introduction. 

And if you don't watch EBI, I strongly encourage you to start.

Joe Rogan Interviews UFC Flyweight Champion, Demetrious Johnson

I cannot recommend highly enough this extended, three-hour conversation between Joe Rogan, color commentator for the UFC, and Demetrious Johnson, the promotion's flyweight champ and pound-for-pound top 10 fighter. If you ask Rogan, "DJ" is as good as it gets in mixed martial arts, and I'm inclined to agree.  And the fact that Demetrious trains in and represents the Pacific Northwest is just a big fat delicious cherry on top.

Rogan has his detractors. But if you are a fan of the art of combat, his conversation with Demetrious Johnson is not to be missed.

Why I Fight: Conor McGregor

“I didn’t get into this game because of the sport, or because of sport. I was never interested in sport fighting. When I started training for combat sports, for self- defense, it was never to win a national title or never to win anything like that. I don’t give a shit about that. 

I done it to be able to defend myself in any situation that I found myself in. Because I felt if I was finding myself in any situation, I wanted to be able to be comfortable in them. 

That’s why I began doing this: to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations.”

FightingLifestyle UAE Interviews Leo Viera

"And New Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World ..."

I've had a jiu-jitsu crush on Fabricio Werdum ever since seeing a video of his uber-classy submission of Matt Lindland at ADCC 2003.

So call me biased about Vai Cavalo's upcoming UFC heavyweight title unification bout with Cain Velasquez, But I do think the world would be a better place if the Man Who Submitted Fedor was also known as the Man Who Finished Cain.

Disagree? Read this profile of Werdum and then explain to me how having a guy with this much talent, personality, and charisma as the official "Baddest Man on the Planet" wouldn't be the best thing to happen to mixed martial arts since rings became cages. 

Werdum, who tried to get a job at a petrochemical complex in Sapucaia do Sul but failing the test, celebrates sucking at other jobs and getting beat up by his ex-girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. 

"If I never had accepted my girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend’s challenge, I would never start training jiu-jitsu," he said. "And thank God I failed that test, or I wouldn’t be where I am today. 

"And you see how things are. Ten years later, I submitted the best in the world, and now I’m fighting for the UFC heavyweight title."

I love me some Daniel Craig (having once been compared to him by a friend whose generosity on this point will never be forgotten). But if Fabricio wins the title this Saturday, they ought to cast him as the next Bond.

Prediction: Werdum defeats Velasquez (Triangle/Armbar) - Round Four

Heavy is Slow: Nick Curson and the Case Against Resistance

Interesting and controversial ideas from Nick Curson, S&C coach for UFC Lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos and student of the Marinovich Training Systems.
 

Sherdog: Catching Up with Demian Maia in His New Gym in Sao Paolo

Joe Rogan's Reasons for Extreme Fitness Over 40

There’s a big difference between how I respond to situations in life when I’ve been working out hard on a regular basis and not. If I get out of jiu-jitsu class after a really hard roll and a boulder landed on my car, I’d be bummed out, but my reaction would be so different than if I was on my way to class all tense and angry cause I haven’t had a chance to work out for a few weeks, and a boulder landed on my car. Then I would be like, ‘What the f—!?’ The perspective changes depending on the stress level.

Read the whole interview with Steph Daniels.

Rickson and Budo Jake: Invisible Jiu-JItsu

A unique opportunity to take a peek at Invisible Jiu-Jitsu in action.

Joe Rogan Interviews Rickson Gracie

Some great insights into jiu-jitsu past, present, and future from one of the art's greatest ever. Also featuring Eddie Bravo. Especially love Rickson's separating MMA from vale tudo, and his comparison of no time limit vale tudo fights and five-hour long professional tennis matches.

Eddie Bravo on Metamoris, Royler, and the Best Guard in MMA

I'm not convinced that Bravo's rubber guard suite of techniques is the answer to the challenge of winning mixed martial arts contests from the guard.

But I have an infinite amount of respect for him for raising the issue and continuing to innovate his way toward a solution. If there is a Mount Rushmore of American jiu-jitsu artists, Eddie Bravo deserves a spot on it.

And now that he's got a match coming up, returning him to competition for the first time in years, we're fortunate to be hearing a lot more from him than usual.

Eddie Bravo's Metamoris 3 Guide for the Casual BJJ Fan

That's what I've constantly been working on. It's been the biggest hole in jiu-jitsu, which is why we dropped the gi 10 years ago. We focused on that glaring weakness, the bottom game. There's a huge difference in bottom game with the gi and without it, especially when you add strikes to the mix.

There are so many BJJ blackbelts in MMA, but submissions from the bottom are very rare. We, as a community, should focus on making the bottom game more effective and dangerous.

Read the rest here.

Joe Rogan Podcast: Two Hours with Kron

A truly outstanding interview of Kron Gracie by Joe Rogan. The length of the interview - more than two hours - gives the two plenty of time to relax and get comfortable with each other, leading to some very entertaining and insightful exchanges. Well worth a listen.