Road to Metamoris: Season 1 Episode 1

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Rosado

I get where you're coming from. If the same rules were applied to boxing, the OT would be two guys taking turns throwing their hardest punch until someone gets KO'd. So imagine Mayweather, being the better technician, fighting a guy who's a harder puncher. But boxing is not about who the hardest puncher is.

On the flip side, in submission only, one guy may not be the better grappler but he may have the better killer instinct for subs. One example I can think of is AJ Agazarm vs Garry Tonon in the Kumite. For like 30 minutes straight Agazarm totally dominated Tonon and scored an insane amount of "points." But Tonon still tapped him at the end. At that point, Agazarm was clearly the better "grappler," but Tonon was the better killer.

So I don't hate the EBI OT because it's not about who has the more dominant grappling style. It's about who has the better killer instinct for subs.

Nothing against AJ, I've never met the guy, but I've seen some of his matches and he seems like the kind of guy that would dominate in a very defined ruleset such as the IBJJF. The majority of his wins have come off points or gi chokes, according to that BJJHeroes site. He's a badass grappler, make no doubt about it, and he'd probably whoop me at this stage in my journey, but if I'm being honest, I'm not much of a fan of his style or his game. It's very takedown/stall for points oriented, from the few matches of his that I've watched. I'm a big fan of the EBI ruleset cuz it forces action and can give life to a great submission artist that goes against a guy that's very control and position oriented. I don't doubt AJ's a standup guy and this is just my view and honest assessment of what I've seen. He's world-class at what he does, which is wrestling and controlling. He's probably got some tricks up his sleeve that aren't on his youtube matches.

Tournaments like EBI need to exist to bring the focus on the best submission artists alive. The IBJJF is successful because they were the first mover in the space of having an organized federation and putting on tournaments. At this point, in 2015, they've gained enough traction to be held at a certain prestige. I think it's only a matter of time before people collectively realize that they'd much rather tune in to sub only tournaments than guys playing for advantages. Time, effort, and savages.