A Quote by Jake Hager
I grew up in one of the most prolific high-school-wrestling programs in the country, and MMA fighters are more successful when they have that amateur-wrestling background.
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Everyone thinks Australia and New Zealand MMA fighters don't have that wrestling base, whereas a lot of Americans and other countries have, with them being able to do wrestling at high-school levels.
I used to be weak - as did all British fighters - with wrestling, because we don't have high school wrestling or college wrestling here.
A lot of coaches in MMA focus on MMA wrestling. My coach, his high school team is ranked 10th in the nation. Izzy Martinez is very connected to the wrestling community.
Back when the UFC first started, I wanted to see what MMA was all about; at the time, I was training with Tank Abbott, and so I went to see him fight. While at the fight, I saw this guy fighting that I just crushed in high school wrestling, and I thought, 'Hey, I'm a street fighter, and I have a wrestling background,' so I gave it a shot.
It took me a few years to explain to my colleagues and my mentors and the people that I looked up to and I wrestled that I'm not in wrestling anymore. I'm in sports entertainment. Pro' wrestling doesn't mean that we're saying we're a step up above amateur wrestling, because there's nothing above Olympic wrestling.
In my first fight, I acknowledged it. I'm a professional wrestler, this is who I am, who you know me as. But guess what, I've also been wrestling since I was 5 years old - real wrestling - amateur wrestling, Olympic wrestling.
MMA is not jiu-jitsu. MMA is not boxing. MMA is not wrestling. It's a different kind of style of punching and wrestling and grappling on the ground.
When it comes to wrestling, judo and boxing they are at a good level. They can compete in an international level. On the amateur level it is extremely high. Transitioning to MMA for them would be easy. I think we will see a lot more Cubans in MMA as it gets easier for them to complete.
While wrestling in college as a junior, it came to a point where wrestling just wasn't enough for me anymore. I love wrestling, but I felt like I was missing something, and so the striking part about MMA, the boxing and kickboxing, was what got me really interested in MMA.
Wrestling was you wrestle in college and you become a high school coach. That was it for wrestlers. We just started to realize there is a legitimate career choice we can choose to use all our wrestling skills we spent our entire lives learning. There is something we can do it now, it's MMA.
The level of difficulty in most areas of MMA is very high. It's a high learning curve. The footwork in boxing alone takes years to master. I will rely heavily on my amateur wrestling to get out of bad situations and take me from defense to offense. I'll try to dictate the fight on my terms.
Obviously wrestling is a core component of MMA. And among UFC fighters, my take-down defence is considered quite high.
One of the things that made me love wrestling in general was my career in amateur wrestling in high school and college. Just being on the mat made me feel a type of aggression I wasn't really able to produce in my regular life.
Wrestling used to be land of the giants and I think MMA has opened he door for smaller, more athletic competitors to climb up the card in wrestling and be top draws and main event.
While wrestling in college as a junior it came to a point where wrestling just wasn't enough for me anymore. I love wrestling, but I felt like I was missing something, and so the striking part about MMA, the boxing and kickboxing, was what got me really interested in MMA. I saw it on TV and I just knew that I wanted to do it.
To a lot of MMA fighters, pro wrestling is a very popular thing and I'm very thankful for them to try and make the transition into professional wrestling. But then they figure out its not as easy as a lot of people think.
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