Legendary MMA coach Firas Zahabi recently spoke about the future of the sport, and he thinks BJJ is going to play a key role in it. Given that organized MMA is only a few decades old, fans have been able to witness the rise and fall of different tactics and approaches in rapid succession. In just a few years it became impossible to succeed at the highest level without being competent in all areas and as specific styles have become popular, others have emerged that run counter to them. From the development of ground and pound to the sprawl and brawl strikers all the way up to the modern era where fighters are able to transition seamlessly between different tactics.
One of the most common talking points in the sport is where those trends will head next, and what style of fighting might emerge. When Zahabi was asked to think about that question, he gave an answer that might surprise a few people:
“I think it’s going to go full circle. I think the Jiu-Jitsu guys are going to come back and dominate one day, completely. I’ll tell you why. Jiu-Jitsu is so young compared to wrestling, boxing. It’s so young compared to Muay Thai in terms of like mainstream, being mainstream… I think from what I saw last, it was the second fastest growing sport in the world. Like, Jiu-Jitsu is coming up quick.”
What Firas Zahabi is alluding to is the fact that BJJ was the original successful sport in MMA, dating back to Royce Gracie dominating at UFC 1. Although it’s still vital for every fighter to learn how to grapple with submissions involved, the age of the Jiu-Jitsu specialist is long gone. Zahabi didn’t just predict that it would return, he also explained why he can see it happening:
“There’s so many new ways to go about things. Like, I think in the future they’re going to perfect how they get the fight to the ground in Jiu-Jitsu ways. They’re not going to use direct wrestling. Sure there’s always gonna be double-legs, single-legs, bodylock throws, trips, that’s always going to exist. But they’re going to find a way to get wrestlers to the ground in ways that wrestlers are not familiar. Like rolling for knee bars, jumping into a leg entanglement of some sort. That’s gonna really surprise wrestlers and there’s going to be a time where they’re going to marry wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu so well that you cannot avoid the ground.”
The full interview with Firas Zahabi where he talks about BJJ in MMA was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of The Simple Men Podcast:
