Progressive Martial Arts Blog A Modern Martial Arts Blog

Can We Still Learn From the UFC?

By David Corrigan

In 1993 the Ultimate Fighting Championship was used to showcase to the world which martial art was the most effective. The Gracie family came in and dominated the first few events, turning away fighters from virtually all martial arts backgrounds. There have now been 129 official UFC events and countless other MMA events around the world.

Over this time, the backgrounds of the fighters has shifted. Now, all fighters virtually are training the same techniques. As Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, and Jiu Jitsu proved their effectiveness in the cage and ring, every fight gym around the world incorporated the most effective techniques from these arts into their arsenals. With that said, as a MMA fan, is there anything that we can take away from these events besides entertainment? Are their any lessons of self defense still being taught in the cage?

The answer is YES but they are not as obvious as they were 15 years ago.

Last night at UFC 129 in Toronto, there were some great fights from legends such as Georges Saint Pierre, Randy Couture and Lyoto Machida. GSP defended his title against Jake Shields, BUT many were disappointed. Why? GSP's performance was far from exciting as he was hit in the eye during the second period. GSP is arguably the most trained athlete in the world and the 21st century Bruce Lee, but a scratch to his eye turned him into a very cautious and timid fighter.

Self defense lesson : there is a reason eye gouging is illegal in MMA! This is not a commentary on Jake Shields, as it looks like the eye scratch might have come from a legal punch. The moral of the story is that all of us have been driving down the highway and all of a sudden a piece of dust or lent gets trapped in your eye, and we may almost cause a wreck from the sudden irritation. It is very painful and distracting. Now imagine intentionally striking, scratching, or gouging at an untrained attacker's eye. This is a VERY effective weapon.

Now while this eye shot tremendously hindered GSP, he showed his true champion spirit and continued to maintain control of the fight. Why wasn't Shields able to capitalize on this obviously hurt Saint Pierre? GSP is a very well rounded fighter. He has not closed his mind to thinking that being dominant in one aspect of the fight is good enough.

Self defense lesson: you do not have to be a St. Pierre, but you need to learn to defend yourself in all ranges of a fight, including striking, grappling and weapons defense. GSP has the ability to neutralize his opponents' strengths, thus going home with a decision victory, and he occasionally might finish the opponent. A fight is not about winning as it is in MMA, it is about surviving. Therefore you should train to be able to take the fight wherever needed to neutralize your opponents strengths and survive the fight. You don't have to be great at anything, but rather decent at everything.

Bruce Lee taught us to use no way as way. Maybe the 21st century Bruce Lee has taught us to use all ways as way.