Good article on the influence that wrestling has had on MMA

[valleyhc 0]

http://m.espn.go.com/extra/mma/story?storyId=5339430&i=FB&w=19ngx

When the Las Vegas debris settles in the aftermath of UFC 116's main event, the triumphant figure - whether it be the granite shell of Shane Carwin or the freight train frame of Brock Lesnar - will stand as one of the standard-bearers for an art that remains more integral to the sport than any other: Wrestling.

For all of Lesnar's schoolyard bully trash-talking and endlessly unwinding punches (see the Randy Couture fight for the latter), the reigning UFC heavyweight champion's game remains essentially based on his background as a four-time All-American, two-time Big Ten Champion and NCAA Division I National Champion. Not to mention his freakish size.

And for all of Carwin's scarring knockouts, of which there have been 12 so far, he too bases his bruising stand-up skills on a wrestling base that saw him cut his teeth as a two-time NCAA Division II National Runner-up and one-time NCAA Division II National Champion. Not to mention gloves the size of breeze blocks.

The chances are (particularly if Carwin wins on July 3) that we may not even see much wrestling in the biggest fight of the year, but in words that echo a similar belief held by Randy Couture, Carwin insists the discipline and self-perseverance learnt in wrestling cannot be replicated anywhere else.

"I would have to say a lot of it is work ethic," says the 35-year-old. "You're in there and you've got coaches yelling down your back and wrestling has never been looked at as a glamorous sport. Oftentimes, you never did it for anybody but yourself, but you were always there for your team-mates."

Based on such unrelenting drive, there was a time after the turn of the millennium when wrestling became such a fighting behemoth that MMA was merely becoming a battleground for the guys with the best single-legs. A sport based on the unpredictability of mixed martial arts had seemingly found a kryptonite to counter Gracie's jiu-jitsu and Bas Rutten's kickboxing.

A look at the UFC Hall of Fame tells the story: Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Mark Coleman, Dan Severn. Four men who, once they had hold of you, would never let you go.

Matt Hughes fought like a piece of skin-covered steel. Softly spoken and unassuming outside the Octagon, he was one of the few men whose emotionless expression just guaranteed a beating. Famous victories over Carlos Newton and Hayato Sakurai, in addition to wins over Frank Trigg, BJ Penn, Georges St-Pierre and Royce Gracie marked a dominant five-year spell when he lost only once. A rare breed of wrestler that chased a stoppage in every fight, Hughes only went to a decision twice in 13 fights during that time. In the welterweight realm, he ruled by fear.

At the same time, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture were doing likewise in the light-heavyweight division. The polar opposite to Hughes, Ortiz brought his Californian lifestyle and flamed-embroidered shorts to the Octagon, but when the klaxon sounded he was every bit as relentless in seeking out the ground-and-pound victory. Between 2000 and 2005 Tito and Couture bossed the 205lb world, Couture via his wearing mix of Greco-Roman wrestling and dirty boxing.

Elsewhere during the same period, Sean Sherk was shaking up the lightweight division, Mark Coleman was dishing it out in the heavyweight realm, and Dan Henderson was combining the PRIDE middleweight crown with his welterweight prize. Wrestlers owned the show.

Not until 2005/06 did the MMA map take a significant shift. The presence of Chuck Liddell's ridiculously direct hands and Anderson Silva's savagely accurate Muay Thai ushered in a new era where bouts were won in an upright fashion and Knockout of the Night honours were contested more vigorously than a five-minute round involving Leonard Garcia and the Korean Zombie.

BJ Penn's mesmerising jab and irresistible jiu-jitsu also became a significant factor around that time, although both Liddell and Penn will acknowledge that their games are heavily based on some of the best takedown defence in the business. In fact, until his loss to Frankie Edgar in April, Penn had not been taken down by a lightweight in six years.

In more recent times, the exceptional and - until UFC 113 - impossible-to-fathom striking of Lyoto Machida had threatened to take MMA in a new direction, but just two months on, it seems the wrestling fraternity has decided it's time to assert itself once more.

Take a look at the current food chain. In the lightweight division, champion Frankie Edgar: A two-time State Place Winner, four-time Division I National Qualifier and College Freestyle All-American. At welterweight, champion Georges St-Pierre: Arguably the most dominant MMA wrestler on the planet, and No. 1 contender Josh Koscheck: NCAA Division 1 National Champion and four-time NCAA Division 1 All American. At middleweight, No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen: A two-time University National Champion, NCAA All-American and Olympic Team Alternate. And in the light-heavyweight realm, No. 1 contender Rashad Evans: A Junior College National Champion and All-American wrestler.

Then there is Lesnar and Carwin. Two men who, like Matt Hughes once did, go through their opponents like human wrecking machines. The majority control of the UFC is back in the hands of the world's best wrestlers, and for those men attempting to rattle the MMA hierarchy, that's a daunting prospect to grapple with.