Mike Brewer

Looking at the modern MMA stage - arguably the only serious professional sport where wrestlers can go and make a good payday based on their wrestling abilities - what "style" or method of wrestling do you guys think is best suited to the MMA arena? To freestyle guys have an edge because their takedown "toolbox" is broader? Or do Greco guys have an advantage?

Which style fits better with other arts such as boxing and kickboxing in the MMA ring? Why?

Just some questions to get discussions rolling...

jubaji

I would actually say folkstyle would have an advantage over freestyle because of the greater emphasis on controling the top position. You earn a point for demonstrating control over that position in folkstyle (college anyway). This is obviously applicable to avoiding subs and establishing a G&P opportunity. Freestyle is intended to encourage faster paced and more dynamic wrestling, which might put the wrestler in more dangerous positions for being subbed and whatnot. Greco's great, but you aren't going to put someone out on the kind of deck used in MMA very often, and we've seen how leg shots can be used to set stuff up in an MMA context.

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l0rca

I could imagine some dangerous clinch work from a Greco guy, once he understands how to utilize his legs and defend against his opponents. Maybe I have a limited imagination though, because that's about all I can imagine that Greco will have really going for him.

Understanding leg manipulation is a big importance in fighting. There's a difference between working around a person's legs as barriers, and working on a person's legs as the other half of their four limbs. The limitations of Greco, while they may help focus attention on other attributes and tactics, are limitations that anyone with sense would admit.

One way to vaguely help understand it would be to consider the boxer's bob and weave. In boxing, going under another's arms is a very handy tactic, but possibly a deadly habit if that opponent was able to attack the back of your head, set up a clinch, or throw kicks. Similarly, there are tons of bases and leverages I would love to employ in submission and freestyle wrestling contexts, if it wasn't for the fact that I have to worry about the danger I'm placing my legs in. The more you warp the framework from other sports/real fighting, the further you encourage those participants to sink into compromising habits when they venture out.