Ryan Hall: The Jiu-Jitsu skill in MMA is low, for the most part

Mixed martial arts was born from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, the dominant art in MMA is now wrestling, with the damage coming from striking. BJJ has dropped remarkably in dominance.

The highest level of fighting is shown UFC PPVs, by the male athletes. In the last two years there have been only two arm locks during a PPV main event by men, and both were by Demetrious Johnson. Arm locks are no longer at significant factor at the highest levels of the sport.

The success that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has had with armbars is the exception that proves the rule. Armbars work great if you are much better than the other fighter. In a close contest, not so much.

However, Ryan Hall has another take on the subject.

Hall is the founder of 50/50 BJJ, and a world-class grappler, who has medalled at both the ADCCs and the Mundials. Now a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber, Hall is now 2-0 with eye opening submission skills.

During a recent interview in Iceland, Hall said that the issue is more the rules, and that the level of BJJ in MMA is not high. Hall was asked why you rarely see submissions off the back in MMA. He cited the rules first, and then talked about the skill level on the sport.

“And then on top of that, the Jiu-Jitsu skill in MMA is low, for the most part,” said Hall. “Obviously you have your Demain Maias, Gunni in there, Rani Yahya, Roger Gracie. We can name the great Jiu-Jitsu players in MMA. But most of the guys just don’t have the skill to pull off submissions, off their back, at a high level.”

“That being said, I think Jiu-Jitsu works very, very well, even off the bottom, even though it’s not where we want to be. If you come with a strong Jiu-Jitsu background … I think that it’s within the realm of possibility to submit high level opponents off your back.”

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