Which Martial Art Is Best Suited for MMA?

A wrestling background seems to be the best art to transition into MMA. If you have stand-up skills, you can be taken down and held there, resulting in a boring decision loss. Facing a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, you will be taken down and submitted, almost all of the time.

If your wrestling ability is top notch, you can defend a takedown and avoid being in a precarious position. Some of the top men in the sport are former wrestlers: Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Matt Lindland, Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson, Josh Koscheck, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, and Brock Lesnar, just to name a few. 

In martial arts, one of the first things you learn is balance. With a background in wrestling, the balance or base is already there. Afterwards, you can fine-tune your game with stand-up and Jiu-Jitsu, then put it all together. 

Based on the previous fighters I mentioned, wrestling seems to be a great tool to start in MMA. With the success of former wrestlers in MMA, it may just prove to be the art that allows the easiest transition.

Yours Truly

I will have to argue that Combat Sambo provides the most effective base for a transition to MMA. There are five distinct styles of Sambo: Sport, Combat, Self-defense, Special, and Freestyle. They all have differing rules, rituals, emphases, and skill-sets, yet retain a similar essence. Sport Sambo is the most popular variety and is akin to amateur wrestling and judo.

For our purposes, Combat Sambo is the subgroup that resembles MMA the closest, which is why I’ve given it special consideration. All types of Sambo focus on throwing your opponent and then using techniques to quickly submit him, while leg locks are especially favored.

Samboists have excellent clinch-work and like to use hip tosses, sweeps, and trips to take the fight to the mat.

Combat Sambo was developed for use by the Soviet military. It includes striking (only while standing) along with grappling, and competitors wear shin guards, head protection, and gloves. Points are not scored for striking (there are still plenty of knockouts); yet Combat Sambo rules more closely resemble MMA than any other style.

Every type of submission is allowed (chokes are banned in Sport Sambo), while kicks are not neglected. An elite Combat Sambo practitioner is ready to start a career in MMA; the only new kind of technique he will need to learn is ground and pound.

Combat Sambo is the primary style practiced by the greatest fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. How can anybody argue against that!

Conclusion

There you have it folks: five writers, five opinions, and five well-supported arguments. So, I open the perennial question to the Bleacher Report MMA community: Which combat style is best suited for MMA?

And remember: Martial arts styles rise and fall, but true warriors are remembered forever.

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