Josh Barnett has some problems with the current state of MMA, and there are ways to fix them.
A constant conversation in the MMA world is how the sport can be improved. Now that the UFC has set the standard, other MMA promotions are trying to answer this question with their own tweaks. For example, in ONE Championship, knees to the head of an opponent on the ground are allowed and they try to discourage weight loss, whereas in the PFL, most matches have a season format and elbows are not allowed. Not yet. But Barnett, a former UFC heavyweight champion and veteran of Pancrase, Pride and Strikeforce, thinks they're all wrong.
“The rules structure of MMA has to change because we've already played MMA,” Barnett said on a recent show. MMA hour. “The system is gamified. You have five minutes. How do you use those five minutes? You act almost like a kickboxer and only get takedowns if you have to. It doesn't really even matter that you establish control on the ground, because even if you decide to do so, you'll soon find that they're back on their feet.
“If you look at the submissions already, it's essentially sleeper holds and rear naked chokes…but the problem is that a minute or five is not enough time to establish and establish something. And here's why a sleeper is a finisher.'' The most common thing you'll see is that it all happens because someone gets hit. If someone gets dazed and starts to stagger, you get on top of them, grab their back, and strangle them. Or you get carried away, you get exhausted, you start throwing punches, you turn, you choke. It's not a takedown, it's setting them up, getting behind them, just choking them and getting them clean. That's really rare these days. ”
Burnett, of course, comes from a martial arts background. The former IBJJF No-Gi World Champion is known for his catch wrestling style in MMA, winning 19 of his 35 career wins by submission. And for him, the recent trend toward kickboxing is moving the sport away from its roots. He points to recent UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira as pioneers of this movement.
“You look at a lot of events now and you're like, oh, this is basically a kickboxing match, this is a kickboxing match, this is a kickboxing match,” Barnett said. said. “Adesanya and Pereira are great fighters. They're great fighters. But watching their first fight and then their second fight, people are saying, 'This is the best MMA fight!' . They are not mixed martial artists. they do kickboxing. They were kickboxing all the time. I didn't see any MMA work.
“It just seemed like they were doing the same thing they were doing in Glory, but with smaller gloves. Why not fight in Glory? Obviously they don't have the money, the name recognition, etc. And they were able to make their style work, which goes to show how capable and capable athletes they are and how well-coached they are. They're game guys.”
Barnett made it clear that he is not criticizing Adesanya and Pereira, but simply that they are symptomatic of an overall change in the MMA metagame. In an ideal world, Barnett would like to go back to a time when martial arts was more mixed, and has some proposed rules that he believes will create more balanced fights.
“They're great fighters and would be difficult for anyone to deal with. But the longer the rounds are, people start to value takedown work and control more and they start to be very high-pressure when it comes to stand-ups. I don't think they would be as successful if they were just as egregious in getting people to their feet and grabbing the fence to get up and stop takedowns,'' Barnett said. “[Pereira and Adesanya] They'll still come out on top because they're very tough, but I think we'll see a different shakeout in fighter construction than we do today. I think we need more time for that.I think it will take at least 10 minutes [for a round]At the very least, putting a knee on the head of an opponent on the ground would help guys like Adesanya and Pereira, but I think it would also help grapplers. it helps everyone.
“And a PRIDE-style total fight score. It makes more sense. The guys that go there are like, 'I got to win a bunch of rounds, and I won the fight.' As long as I didn't get knocked out, I won the fight. 10-9, 10-9, I'm out of here. ”
Essentially, Barnett is making the case for a return to the Pride ruleset he has competed in for the majority of his career. But there's one thing that Pride hasn't been able to do that Barnett hopes will happen. That means eliminating weight loss completely.
“We need to completely eliminate weight loss,” Barnett said. “We need same-day weigh-ins. It's become a game. If you want to see people who weigh 170 pounds fight at 190 pounds, why not go to 190 pounds? That makes no sense. And… You'll see that CTE goes down and injuries go down even without losing weight. You're drawing out all the water, but we already know you can't get it back into your system. The less water in your brain, the less water you have in your brain. , this is a scientific fact and research has been done, so the more concussions you get and the harder you hit, the more bruises you get and the more brain calcification you get. .There is no cushion there.
“Now imagine not having water in your joints and ligaments like they used to. We're going to see more injuries in the future, people dislocating limbs and tearing ligaments. You didn’t weigh in because you’re depleted of everything you need to sustain you so you can have a weight class and fight in that weight class.”
While Barnett's idea may be interesting, it's highly unlikely that it will be implemented at MMA's highest level anytime soon.
Still, it's nice to know that “The Warmaster” is thinking of ways to improve the situation.
