Just as sports host some of the most incredible physical achievements in the realm of man, they’re also the arena of some of humanity’s greatest lowlights. For every circus catch, wall-climbing outfield grab, or tackle breaking touchdown run, there’s a botched snap, an unforced fumble on the goal line, or a catcher taking a foul tip right to the balls.
The same is true for MMA as well. Sure there’s Demetrious Johnson’s flying armbar, or Yair Rodriguez’s up-elbow KO, but we also have that time Jarred Brooks knocked himself out trying a highlight slam, or that time Ion Cutelaba got TKO’d by his own over-enthusiastic acting chops.
MMA fighter Luiz Claudio submits himself
Sure this one didn’t happen at the highest levels of the sport, but it’s just so weird and unexpected, it couldn’t be ignored. This past Sunday, October 29th at Fight Music Show: Fight Night 2 in Curitiba, Brazil, 4-2-1 pro MMA fighter Luiz Claudio faced off in a lightweight prelim against 9-1 Yabna N’Tchala.
Just over a minute into the fight, the Brazilian found himself on his back, rolling for a kneebar against N’Tchala. A leg entanglement ensued, with Claudio searching for a potential heel hook. Only, he had his feet so badly crossed up around his opponent’s leg that when he cranked for the submission, he was the one that ended up having to tap.
Luiz Claudio submits himself while attempting a leg lock at FMS Fight Night 2🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/l90YByWN4X
Honest to god, never seen anything like it before.
Swords though?
The centerpiece of the Fight Music Show card was a four-man one-night kickboxing tournament, won by 12-6 pro MMA fighter Dioginis ‘Overeem’ Souza. But the real highlight of the whole event has to be the medieval knight fights event in the middle of the card, between two swordsmen wielding real steel and some heavy padding.
I’m not sure exactly who won this ren-fest nonsense, but my personal scorecard goes to the dude in the black pants for landing four or five uncontested right hands in close.
To my memory, we haven’t yet seen a self submission in the UFC. But with the increasing numbers of raw talent getting picked up off the Contender Series lately, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before someone replicates this kind of comedy masterclass in the Octagon.
Few fighters retire so firmly as former UFC superstar Georges St-Pierre did when he finally walked away from MMA for good back in 2017. The former two division champion was a cornerstone of the UFC’s PPV business from 2006-13, before taking a four-year hiatus from competition—returning just once, at UFC 217, to best Michael Bisping for middleweight gold.
In those intervening four years, and the six years that followed? St-Pierre hasn’t set foot in an arena as a professional athlete. Not for MMA, nor boxing, nor even BJJ.
All that was supposed to change this coming December, with the recent announcement that GSP would make his pro grappling debut at Fight Pass Invitational 6. The event series, hosted by the UFC, has been a regular showcase for elite grappling and MMA talents since debuting in 2021.
GSP reveals planned Nick Diaz bout
When GSP took the stage during International Fight Week back in July to announce his return to competition, speculation immediately began as just who ‘Rush’ might face off against in his return. Would fans finally get that fabled Anderson Silva fight? Would Matt Serra step up? Khabib Nurmagomedov?
For a minute, it appeared that Demian Maia was going to be the man across from the Canadian MMA legend. But, in a recent interview with TSN, GSP revealed that he has yet to finalize any bout agreement. Even though there was one opponent that he had hoped to see before an injury derailed the booking.
“They had an opponent, his name was Nick Diaz,” St-Pierre revealed (transcript via MMA Fighting). “People that are familiar with this sport know we competed against each other in mixed martial arts. Unfortunately, he’s hurt. I think he has a neck injury, and I just got hurt myself. I’ve got a shoulder injury.”
St-Pierre on who the UFC were matching him up with for his grappling match: "They had an opponent, his name was Nick Diaz"
Unfortunately, as GSP would go on to reveal, it could be that the whole December debut is off the table altogether, if injury recovery doesn’t go as hoped.
“I have to wait a few weeks to see if it will require surgery, because some of the things are wear and tear and can heal by itself, but when I got hurt, maybe it could be mechanical. I have to wait a few weeks to see if I’ll require surgery. Unfortunately, it will be cancelled, perhaps postponed [for] the future.”
“There were talks about Nick, and Kamaru Usman, at some point Demian Maia, Gilbert Burns, but it was only talk [because] the main guy was Nick Diaz,” St-Pierre explained. “I’m not the one on the front line to talk about these things. The negotiation is made with my agent, the name is there, and when everything is settled, let’s go.”
“This f—k nut [Dana White] kept Georges St-Pierre from making the biggest payday with me,” De La Hoya told fans on his Instagram page.
“Dana White and UFC just blocked Georges St-Pierre from fighting Oscar De La Hoya,” Triller head Ryan Kavanaugh also wrote. “It is a big payday for GSP and both he and Oscar’s dream to fight each other.
“Dana would rather hold back those who put the UFC where it is and why?” he continued. “I’ve tried to call and text Dana at least five times to make it work for both parties, not even the courtesy of a return call.”
GSP confirmed the reports
“And at first [Dana White] refused,” St-Pierre said, recalling his conversation with White in an interview on the MMA Hour (transcript via MMA Mania). “Then he thought about it but he came back with the argument that: oh, no, it’s not because he thinks Oscar is going to win; he thinks it’s because he doesn’t like the fact that Triller takes me and makes money off my back while I’m still under contract with UFC.
“So what Dana says—listen to this—then he came back and he asked me if I wanted to fight Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. And I told Dana, I said, ‘That’s very strange. Why didn’t you want to do the fight when we asked you a few years ago? Why is it now?’ He said, ‘Yeah, because Khabib was not retired and he was not the same guy that he was. Now it all makes sense.’ So I didn’t want to, but I was curious to see what would’ve happened, so I said to him, ‘I’m going to think about it,’ and I waited.”
“Dana White had a lot of heat for not letting me fight from the media, so he asked me to fight Khabib because he was expecting a negative answer from me,” St-Pierre said. “So he would’ve had a good argument, a good reason, saying to the media, ‘Georges refused to fight for us, so I’m not going to let him fight for someone else.’ So that was the reason I waited to see what happened, and turns out that I was right, I believe. So Khabib refused, but I didn’t mean that I was going to say yes.”
Eventually GSP did manage to get free of his UFC deal. That hasn’t meant a rush back to competition, clearly, but now at least he’s got more options on the table.
Former UFC two-division champion Georges St-Pierre didn’t exactly shake up the combat sports world when he announced his return to competition later this year, but even just an exhibition grappling match is something of a rare event for the MMA legend. After vacating his middleweight title back in 2017, GSP has barely made any motion toward competitive activity.
The closest he came was a briefly rumored exhibition boxing match against Oscar De La Hoya, back in 2021. A fight that ‘Rush’ has claimed Dana White stepped in and personally prevented, since the then 40-year-old was still technically under contract to the UFC. Since then? Nada.
GSP makes return this December with Fight Pass Invitational BJJ
Back in July, during International Fight week, the Canadian superstar made a surprise appearance at a UFC press event, announcing his official comeback. Not to MMA, or boxing, or even Karate, but to the grappling mats.
While now opponent was originally announced for the bout, multiple-time BJJ champion and UFC title contender Demian Maia took to social media in the weeks following the announcement to reveal that he would be facing GSP at the December Fight Pass Invitational event. As of yet, no other bouts have been announced for the card.
Every now and then, something comes up that still does really motivate you. Grappling @GeorgesStPierre will be a huge challenge & great motivation. You GSP are one of the greatest competitors ever, whom I respect a lot. I’m game! Looking forward to competing at @ufc invitational.
“I remember I was with the (UFC) Fight Pass guys and they were trying to ask me for opponents for GSP (Georges St-Pierre), for ideas, and I had no idea who (it) would be,” Craig claimed (transcript via JitsMagazine). “They asked me in the moment, I was like ‘I dunno…’ but I remember obviously I said Khabib (Nurmagomedov). I think they said Khabib wanted 5 million dollars to do the grappling match. I was like ‘whoa, obviously that’s priced himself out there’. Those guys would be cool to see.”
If the Nurmagomedov price tag seems a bit outlandish, it’s worth remembering that the longtime AKA talent has made it clear on multiple occasions since retiring that he has no real interest in returning to the life of a competitive athlete. He even went so far as to take a step back from his burgeoning coaching career, noting the burdens of the constant travel schedule that cornering fighters can require.
“He just doesn’t want to miss being a father,” AKA head coach Javier Mendez said in an interview with Yahoo! Sports. “He talked to me about three weeks ago and told me of his plan and said he planned to talk to the team and inform them of his decision. He’s doing this for the right reasons. He’s a family man and he simply wants to spend more time with his family.”
Fight Pass Invitational 6 takes place on December 14th at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more grappling event coverage as the fight date approaches.
Martial arts have long laid claim to the ability to teach the weak to fight against the strong. Stories of Kung Fu being used to train farmers to fight back against soldiers have persisted for centuries. The Gracies famously pushed for Royce to be the family representative at UFC 1, in order to show the dominance of Gracie Jiu Jitsu, where even a ~175 lb. noodle in pajamas could beat massive muscled athletes.
However, if martial arts have taught us that training and technique can beat size and strength, combat sports have taught us that, to coin a phrase, there are weight classes for a reason. Put two people of similar skill together in a cage or ring and more often than not, the big one’s gonna win. It’s that kind of math that seems to have given some people the wrong idea.
Bodybuilder Bradley Martyn can’t believe he’d lose to Demetrious Johnson
Speaking to Brendan Schaub on a recent ‘Raw Talk’ podcast, Martyn claimed he would “crush” former UFC flyweight (and current ONE bantamweight) champion Demetrious Johnson if the two were to ever square off.
“150 pounds is like a towel to me,” Martyn enthused, adding that he would “crush his head on the floor.”
Clips from the conversation went viral, people started talking back and forth, and now it appears that the fight is actually going to happen. Well, not so much a fight, but a grappling match at least. Johnson —who’s been planning a move to grappling anyhow—announced his intention to make the bout happen in a recent podcast.
“It’s funny, you know. He’s 265, he’s a bodybuilder, so obviously he’s got the weight advantage. But, at the end of the day, that’s the beautiful thing about grappling; it’s not about weight, it’s about technique. And we’re going to try to grapple. I told Brendan Schaub that I want to make it happen. I’m busy doing other things right now, but when I get back from all my vacation I’m going to fly down to Calabasas and we’re going to roll, man. I’m going to roll him up.”
Mighty Mouse confirms he will be flying to Cali to roll with YouTuber Bradley Martyn https://t.co/Gx2GtNEleL
Brendan Schaub already made his position known to Martyn, that he would get absolutely annihilated by the record holder for most title defenses in UFC history. But what does the everyman think? We don’t know, but Joe Rogan has some ideas. Notably, Rogan feels that if Martyn and Johnson were to compete in a ‘street fight’ Martyn just might win it.
“Bradley is enormous and Bradley is so f—king strong,” Rogan explained (transcript via SportsManor). He’s an athlete. He’s a f—king specimen. Now if this was in a street fight, the thing about Bradley is he can hit you with the Earth you know what I’m saying… If that guy picks you up and smashes you into the ground, your body will shatter.”
“And Mighty Mouse is, you know, he probably walks around at a buck 50 or a buck 45 and he cuts down to 125,” Rogan continued. “If they just do a jiu-jitsu match, Mighty Mouse is going to get him.”
Who knows if or when we’ll actually find out the answers as to whether a world class bodybuilder is strong enough to out-grapple the best flyweight MMA fighter to ever live, with just strength and power alone? The two men have yet to make anything official. But, hopefully we’ll see some kind of exhibition down the line, just for the sheer circus sideshow strangeness of it all.
It seems that Mark Zuckerberg’s MMA fandom has hit full on obsession stage. Sure the man once rented out the entire UFC Apex to get a private audience for a UFC fight card, but that seemed—at the time—like more of a brand tie-in announcement for the Metaverse and their partnership with UFC FightPass. Was Zuck really a big UFC dude? Yes, yes apparently he was.
In the time since that event, the Facebook CEO’s interest in combat sports has only become more apparent. He (now somewhat infamously) secretly entered a local BJJ competition, and got into a public spat with fellow billionaire and Twitter CEO Elon Musk—which resulted in both men teasing the idea of a full-on cage fight that will absolutely never ever happen. Although if it does, Zuckerberg certainly seems to have the early edge in preparation.
Mark Zuckerberg. IMAGO/Cover-Images
Mark Zuckerberg teases home Octagon
In a post to his social media (h/t TMZ) Zuckerberg shared a conversation with his wife over the new Octagon he apparently had installed at one of their several homes. Real, just a joke? Who can say, but the man does seem to really love MMA.
“I like Jiu Jitsu, I also really like MMA,” Zuckerberg explained in an interview back in June. “One of the things I think is very nice about these very high turnaround, conditioning sports is that you get feedback very quickly. It’s like, ‘Okay, I don’t counter something correctly, I get punched in the face.”
When someone’s got his kind of money and his kind of obsession, what’s to stop them from putting the ultimate training surface in their own back yard.
Perhaps then it’s also no surprise that Meta has more plans for the UFC. The virtual reality platform has already promised immersive Fight Night experiences for users. Now they seem set on delivering a sort of VIP package in which users can not only watch bouts and chat with other users, but also compete in mini games. Here’s a video trailer for the new Meta ‘experience.’
“MMA fans can expect 4K resolution and 180-degree VR capture as they experience live immersive fights with cage-side seats for free in Xtadium,” a press release on the Meta Quest Blog reads. “Enjoy the action alone or with friends and switch camera angles throughout the fight to get the best view of every matchup. And after the fight ends, account holders can log in to UFC FIGHT PASS to access a library of UFC PPV cards plus the best original UFC FIGHT PASS content such as Fightlore, Year of the Fighter, and more.”
“We’ve seen all kinds of communities come together in Worlds, but when we first broadcast live UFC FIGHT PASS events last year, we were blown away by the engagement and passion of this audience,” they Meta Product Marketing Director, Meaghan Fitzgerald, was quoted as saying. “Since then, we’ve been working with UFC and MMA fans to build a virtual clubhouse for this community. We know that MMA fans don’t just like to watch thrilling fights—they also like to be a part of the action.”
“That’s why we’re introducing a new dedicated UFC world, with a recreation of the famous Octagon and new immersive streaming formats that make people feel like they’re closer to the action than ever. It’s not just about exciting fights—it’s about sharing the experience with other fans, discussing MMA techniques, and being a part of the UFC community.”
Zuckerberg gets his blue belt
Alongside the MMA stuff and the Metaverse news, Zuckberg’s BJJ journey took another twist as well. Back in July, the 39-year-old posted an update to his Instagram account, that he had just received his blue belt from noted Guerrilla Jiu JItsu instructor Dave Camarillo. A black belt under Ralph Gracie, Camarillo has worked with a number of high profile fighters and celebrities over the years, including a stint as a TUF coach for Team Koscheck in Season 12 of the Ultimate fighter.
“Congrats @davecamarillo on your 5th degree black belt,” Zuckerberg wrote. “You’re a great coach and I’ve learned so much about fighting and life from training with you. Also honored to be promoted to compete at blue belt for @guerrillajjsanjose team.”
For his part, Camarillo was extremely effusive in his praise for Zuckerberg’s work on the mats as well.
“He’s amazing,” Camarillo told ESPN recently. “He is an extremely hard worker, as everybody knows. But a lot of people have a business and they’re successful and they have that side of their life, and rarely do they dip into the physical side, especially with something like jiu-jitsu and MMA, and have the same amount of success or even go past Day 1 or Month 1. He’s not that kind of guy. I think he has a good balance between what he does with his business and what he does in the physical realm. And he excels. He’s one of the best students I’ve ever had.”
All things considered, Zuckerberg seems to be 100% invested in his MMA and BJJ fandoms. We’re still never going to see that Elon Musk fight though.
The longest reigning champion in UFC welterweight history is set for something of a comeback. No fans won’t get to see GSP back in the Octagon, and there hasn’t been one word about that potential boxing match with Oscar De La Hoya that Dana White stopped from moving forward. But Georges St-Pierre is returning to combat sports competition this coming December with the UFC’s Fight Pass Invitational grappling series.
To date, the UFC has run four high profile grappling events on their Fight Pass streaming platform. Their most recent card, back on June 29th, featured grappling star Craig Jones taking on Felipe Pena in the main event, alongside former Octagon foes Glover Teixeira vs. Anthony Smith.
Georges St-Pierre announces grappling return at UFC 290
During the UFC 290 media day on Thursday, July 6th, Georges St-Pierre made a surprise appearance with a big announcement. He would be entering his first competitive combat sports event since his second retirement from the UFC back in 2017.
We’ve really gone six whole years without a GSP fight of any sort. But that all ends in December.
“I’m 42-years-old and it gives me—because I felt at the end, when I retired, I was training, but I needed some—I like the kick of competition,” GSP explained to a small crowd of media members and fans. “I’d like to get it back, and I’d like to feel the adrenaline again. I think it’s also an avenue for fighters who still want to compete and make money and have fun with the fans and the family of the UFC.”
While no opponent has been announced as of yet, St-Pierre is set to return on December 14th at Fight Pass Invitational 6. In fact, as of yet. GSP is the only athlete announced for the grappling card.
‘Rush’ has competed once before in submission grappling competition, when he made a run at the 2005 ADCC tournament. GSP defeated Otto Olson in the opening round of the 77kg bracket, via points, before getting submitted by future Ultimate Fighter Brazil winner Leonardo Silva via flying armbar in the second round.
As for MMA, the now 42-year-old last competed back in 2017, when he returned from four years away from the Octagon to take on then middleweight champion Michael Bisping. GSP defeated Bisping via technical submission in round 3 to secure his second UFC title in his first ever fight up in a new division. Shortly after winning the belt, however, the Canadian superstar vacated the title, citing heath concerns. He officially announced his retirement from MMA in 2019.
We’ve heard a lot of talk lately about the problems with steroids in competitive jiu jitsu, but it seems like we may have just witnessed a prime case of roid rage on the mats. Either that, or some guy at a Los Angeles grappling tournament is just crazy to the max.
Combat sports analyst Ryan A Wagner turned a bit of competition wildness into a viral video moment, with a clip from the July 1st Jiu Jitsu World League competition in LA (h/t MMAFighting). In the line of matches running up and down the arena floor, two competitors can be seen in one of the center mats. One on top, the other on his back, grappling from guard.
The bottom grappler throws up a triangle choke, gets it over the shoulder and locks his feet behind his opponent’s neck. That’s when the top man decides that he’s not going to take that kind of nonsense sitting down.
BJJ guy lands wicked powerbomb through Spanish announcer’s table
Slams of any sort are banned from Jiu Jitsu World League competitions from the jump, so the moment our righteous protagonist decides to pick his foe up off the mat, he’s already in foul territory, but for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. With the match slipping away from him, he decides he might as well go out with a flourish, lifting his opponent into the air, running him over to a nearby table and dropping him through it. Kevin Nash would be proud.
Check out the video below:
Some dude at a BJJ competition powerbombed his opponent through the announce table lmao pic.twitter.com/vKhpAdLCJQ
As of yet, the competitors in the video have not been identified. But NXT fans should keep their eyes peeled, because someone might be getting a developmental contract.
Memories of Slampage
Of course, any powerbomb that well executed in the combat sports sphere is going to bring back memories of Rampage Jackson‘s wicked knockout over BJJ ace Ricardo Arona at Pride Critical Countdown 2004. At a point in his career where the future UFC champion was better known for his high octane throws than any other part of his game, Jackson followed Arona into his guard and quickly got himself wrapped up in a triangle.
For most fighters, that would have been a signal to disengage and get out of danger. For Jackson, it was all he needed to create one of the coolest and most singularly memorable KOs in MMA history.
World class grappler Haisam Rida appears to have got a chance to flex his street fight credentials recently. The 2021 IBJJF American Nationals NoGi champion black belt grappler recently made the jump over to repping Craig Jones’ B-Team grappling squad. Prior to 2023 he competed at numerous international competitions as a member of Assembly Jiu Jitsu. This time, however, it seems he got a little extracirricular work in.
Jones posted a short clip to his Instagram page, featuring what he claims was the aftermath of an attempted car theft. Apparently, the unfortunate man being loaded on to the stretcher in the background tried to jack Haisam’s ride, and got a whole heap of trouble instead.
By all appearances it doesn’t seem that Haisam was too shook up by the experience, as he can be seen in the foreground apparently explaining the series of events to the arresting officers. While he did re-post the video to his own social media, he has yet to make a public statement about the incident.
Haisam Rida and the armbar heard round the world
While Haisam has had a rough run in recent grappling contests, dropping his last four matches and six of his last seven (with only a DQ to account for the lone win in that run), his profile on the international grappling scene shot to new heights last year when he hit what’s been known as the ‘armbar heard round the world.’ The move was good enough to capture the title of FloGrappling’s 2022 Submission of the Year.
Part of that was the major platform where the submission took place, in the opening round of the 2022 ADCCs. But the bigger deal was who it took place against. Just one minute into his bout against 5x IBJJF world NoGi champion Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu, Haisam stuffed a shot, hit the transition and tapped the Jiu Jitsu legend out.
The win marked just the 12th time in his nearly 20-year grappling career that Abreu had been forced to tap out.
Who is Haisam Rida?
Born in Ghana, Haisam’s family moved to Tokyo in 2009, when his father was hired to work at a Japanese construction company. The 6’3″ ‘Giraffe’ started his BJJ career just one year later at the age of 17. After several years of training, Haisam moved to the Carpe Diem Academy as a brown belt, with an eye toward a professional grappling career. He first started competing professionally in 2018, winning the IBJJF Asian Open championship that same year. He currently lives and trains in Texas.
The UFC’s newest middleweight signing has the hardcore MMA fan community hyped. Sharabutdin Magomedov is Dagestan’s latest MMA export. A 29-year-old talent with a perfect 11-0 MMA record, with ten of those wins coming inside the distance. He’s also already made a reputation as a man prone to violent outbursts.
“One has to understand the situation, in Makhachkala there are unwritten rules, a kind of moral code of our own,” Magomedov explained of the incident. “In Moscow it is acceptable [to show affection in public], but with us it is not acceptable. I could not shut up”.
Sharabutdin Magomedov in trouble again
News broke that the GOR MMA talent had signed with the UFC back in December of last year, with his manager, Ali Abdelaziz confirming the reports. More recently rumors have been swirling that Magomedov is being penciled in for a high profile Octagon debut at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi. Potentially against top-ranked UFC middleweight Derek Brunson. Whether or not that bout actually comes to fruition fans should expect to see the Russian back in competition soon… provided he stays out of trouble.
To keep busy and to keep himself in fighting shape, Magomedov recently competed at the ADCC Southeast Asia tournament, where he had a grappling match against Poland’s Jakub Bilko. At one point, with Magomedov on top, looking to stack his opponent, Bilko rolled for a heel hook. After a few seconds of twisting and adjusting on the mat, Magomedov was forced to tap.
Shara Bullet got into a scuffle in Thailand at the ADCC Southeast Asia tournament
Shara Bullet was caught by a heel hook and then made a hand movement that looked like a tap. When Bilko let go of his leg, Shara jumped on him and kicked him. The victory was awarded to the Pole. pic.twitter.com/rD9NpgW1EZ
After tapping, Magomedov was clearly unhappy and exchanged words with Bilko before kicking him and walking away.
Sharabudtin Magomedov shares his side of the story
What was behind the incident? In a video interview with the Ushatayka YouTube channel, the fighter gave his side of the story. Notably, despite a big stage like the ADCCs, this was Magomedov’s first time in a grappling competition.
“I signed up for the entry level,” Magomedov explained (transcript via fight.ru). “It was my first grappling competition. I came to the tournament, and they told me that since I am a professional fighter, they can throw me into blue belts. I went and signed up for the blue ones. And in the end they take me and throw me into black belts. I signed up for 90 kg, and they threw me into black belts up to 100 kg. Just crossed out of both sections and thrown into black belts.
“I thought I’d fight, no big deal. A Pole was drawn for the semi-final bout. [Coach] told me not to fight him, he does twisting of the heel, this is a big risk, the ankle takes a long time to heal. You can drop out of competition for six months or a year.”
Despite the trepidation, about weight, level of competition, and potential for injury. Magomedov was prepared to go ahead, and tried to strike up a deal with his opponent before hand: No leg attacks. Despite both sides seemingly in agreement, it seems all bets were off once the bout actually started.
“Then, at the entrance to the arena, I ran into these Poles,” Magomedov revealed. “I went up to him and asked: ‘Do you understand Russian?’ He says, ‘Yes, I understand a little.’ We agreed [to grapple] with him without ‘heels.’ I thought that if he agreed so, then I would fight. He agreed. Then he approached one of the coaches and complained about me. He asked me what I want from him. I called a friend, asked him to explain to him in English, because maybe he misunderstood me, thought that I was running into him.
“Then a friend approached me and said that the Pole agreed and 100% would not twist my legs. I go to the fight, and he immediately lies on his back, does not fight with me, but immediately lies on his back. I attacked him from above—and he immediately goes on his leg. Scoundrel. This made me angry. The will to fight is gone. He acted wickedly. I got up angry and called him an asshole. I got angry, I was emotional.”
What’s the lesson?
It’s not hard to see the logic here of why Magomedov was angry. He thought he’d made an arrangement, but his opponent went back on the deal. It also seems like a pretty tragic misunderstanding of the nature of grappling and of competition. For Magomedov, this ADCC event was a chance to get experience and do some light work in prep for the UFC. But there’s no reason anyone else there should be treating the event the same way.
Clearly the fighter got thrown in way over his head, as can happen with grappling competitions where a limited pool of athletes means that last minute consolidations are made to get people matchups and to keep events together. But it also seems like—at the point Magomedov was asking his opponent to change the rules just for him—he probably shouldn’t have been there at all.
If a competition like this one were a higher profile combat sports event, this would be closer to fight fixing than a friendly gentleman’s agreement. And revealing a weakness to an opponent looking to win is more an invitation for them to take an easy victory than it is a way to create a level playing field.
Hopefully Magomedov can manage his expectations and his temper in the future, or his time in the UFC could be as short as it is eventful.
The last few years have seen a number of high profile MMA fighters make the jump over to boxing. Everyone from Conor McGregor to Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz; hell even Ben Askren laced up a pair of gloves to test his mettle inside the ring. Given the potential for larger purses and higher profile bouts, it’s little wonder that so many combat sports athletes look to boxing as an opportunity they can’t pass up.
With that dynamic in play, it’s also no surprise that we rarely see fighters going the opposite direction. James Toney made a notable spectacle of himself back in 2010 against Randy Couture. He’s pretty much the start and end of the conversation when it comes to notable boxers who have set foot inside the UFC’s Octagon.
“You know what I’m willing to do?” Garcia teased. “I really haven’t said this out loud but what I plan to do is—say, at 26, I’m done retired and boxing is all good. You know what I’ll do? If they say, ‘Okay, you’ve beaten everybody in the ring, right?’ But somebody goes, ‘This ain’t real fighting. Real fighting is legs, choking, submission, all that.’ Guess what I’ll do? I’ll go prove to them that I’m the best fighter all around in the world. I’m talking about hands, I’m talking about wrestling. I will go to MMA to prove a point that God is greatest and I’ll beat whoever in MMA that they say I won’t beat. If it has to be Conor McGregor, I will. And I’m not saying this to get money. I don’t care about money. I’m saying this because that’s just how I feel.”
He’s still got a couple years to go before its time for the rubber to meet the road, but it at least appears that Garcia is still interested in making good on his proclamation. In a recent video uploaded to the Gracie Breakdown YouTube channel, Rener Gracie walked Garcia through his first BJJ class. Check out some highlights from the lesson below.
For the moment, Garcia’s focus is still firmly on his boxing career. Unbeaten at 23-0, ‘KingRy’ is expected to compete in a 136 lb. catchweight bout against WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis on April 15th. There won’t be any titles on the line for the bout, with Garcia otherwise competing in the 140 lb. light welterweight division in the future.
Even if fans can’t expect to see him in the Octagon anytime soon, it seems like Garcia is laying the groundwork for some exciting moves somewhere further down the line.
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