Wrestling in the Sport of MMA—What Happened?

I will come out and say it now—I miss the days of Tito Ortiz.  I also miss the days of Don Frye.  Guys with wrestling backgrounds actually used to finish fights.

Back then, if Tito got a guy on the ground, he had a relentless ground and pound that actually finished the fight, which was the same with Frye.  Now a guy gets someone on the ground, throws a few elbows, opens a cut, and lays in a cuddled position for the remainder of the fight and is praised for doing so.

It has gotten to the point where the only way we can see a wrestler finish a fight is if the other fighter is close to equal on wrestling skill, or the other fighter is a BJJ expert, and the wrestler avoids take downs and lands a hay maker. 

Has the defense to G-N-P improved that much...well if you landed something that cut your opponent, you are obviously doing damage.  If a wrestler is going head up with a striker, then you know unless the striker catches the wrestler with a good punch, you are going to see a snuggle fest brought on by the wrestler.

I hear things about dominating performances in the ring by wrestlers, because the wrestler took a man down seven times in the fight.  That also goes to show that the guy either escaped seven times, or the fight got so boring that the ref restarted the fight seven times. 

Then you have people like Joe Rogan getting upset because the fight gets restarted.  Joe went on to say, "I don't see why they are standing them up...they are fighting." 

Sometimes two fighters get into a stalemate on the ground because their skills are almost equal.  THAT IS WHY THEY ARE RESTARTING THE DAMN FIGHT SO SOMEONE CAN GET AN ADVANTAGE!!!

If someone wants to see two guys throw punches the whole time, there is kickboxing.  If someone wants to watch BJJ fighters roll around looking for a submission, there are BJJ tournaments.  There is also wrestling that you can watch on ESPN from time to time.  MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts.  Fighters supposedly have evolved to become well rounded fighters, but there are several that have not. 

Landing a big punch and finishing a fight doesn't make you a great striker, unless you are Brock Lesnar or Josh Koscheck, because I hear about their stand up skill all of the time.  There is a huge difference in having striking skill and having power. 

Having a great take down defense doesn't make you a good wrestler, as well as a general knowledge of submissions make you a submission fighter.  After watching Junie Browning fight Effrain on TUF, I realized that I have to say something.  Everyone rejoiced after seeing Junie "get his ass kicked." 

I saw two guys half ass trade punches, and one man lay on top of another and eventually choke him out.  Junie was laying on his back with Effrain on top of him.  Junie had his arms out to his side as if to ask the ref when are you going to restart this damn thing...the fight never got restarted.  I wanted to see Junie get his ass kicked for real. 

I watched a fight with Dan Henderson against Palhares in which Henderson, the wrestler, was up against a BJJ expert.  Instead of Palhares setting up takedown attempts, he charged in blind a few times and then decided to roll on the ground with his legs behind his ears.  That was the part I used to hate the most about MMA.

Back in the dark ages of MMA, between the controversial beginning and when things got turned around, I had a serious hatred for BJJ fighters, but since then there have been fighters coming from Brazil with BJJ mastery skills, as well as the ability to fight on their feet too.     

I personally want to see more fights restarted if the fight is going no where.  Maybe this will encourage wrestlers to actually use the ground and pound to soften up their opponents to finish the fight...the way it used to be used rather than soften up their opponent so that way they can't escape the boring hugging match that is taking place. 

If you are a fan that thinks that what I have been describing is a dominant performance, are you also one that believes that you can't leave it up to the judges?  Anything can happen on a judges scorecard...right? So, why is someone not trying to actually end the fight a dominant performance?