Why Do Some Pro MMA Fighters Mislead Their Styles?
I totally understand that fighters cross and co train in several martial arts and fighting styles but why do some of them highlight these styles verbally and on paper but rarely use them in application. For example you have Paulo Filho and Big Nog who claim to be both black belts in BJJ and Judo, but demonstrate very little Judo technique when fighting. Ramesu Sokoudjou and Frank Trigg claim the same, but they use primarily Boxing and Wrestling. Heath Hearing and AA claim to be Sambo practitioners but show very little Sambo skills in the cage/ring. I do realize that very few people can incorporate Judo like Aoki, Fedor, and Karo Parisyan, but why mention your proficiency in something when it is hardly used. This was a big complaint I had with fighters like Tito Ortiz and Guy Mezger early in their careers. They both claimed to be "submission fighters" when one was a Wrestler and the other was clearly a Kickboxer. In all reality this is a very stupid and minor complaint but why is it still being done today by so many fighters. I practice several styles, but when I talk to people i tell them i practice "Freestyle" or "A hybrid self defense system that can best compared to Krav Maga or Combat Sambo". I don’t go on and try to add or say my whole MA experience. So why do pro fighters do the opposite? Is it just to give respect to their other styles that they learned or is learning? Is to beef up their credentials? or is it to intimidate their opponents? Can someone please explain to me why.
"For example you have Paulo Filho and Big Nog who claim to be both black belts in BJJ and Judo, but demonstrate very little Judo technique when fighting. Ramesu Sokoudjou and Frank Trigg claim the same, but they use primarily Boxing and Wrestling"
They claim it because they are. Nog, in his book, talks about doing Judo long before getting involved in Jiujitsu. Sokoudjou can be seen in Judo matches fighting the likes of Karo Parisyan. Same thing with the others you’ve listed, though I can’t say for sure about Herring. Arlovski is actually ranked higher than Fedor in Sambo, and you can see it in his submission victories (leg lock vs. Sylvia, arm bar vs. Brink, scrambling for a leg lock vs. Rothwell, etc). "Submission fighting" was an early expression for MMA, and with their training at the Lion’s Den and the Pit, respectively, Mezger and Tito can claim that background.
You’re confusing background with strategy and skill strengths. We learned in his fight with Machida that Tito has a good enough guard to nearly submit a BJJ black belt with a triangle choke, but his comfort zone is clearly getting top control and working his ground-and-pound game. Arlovski has all the credentials of a great Sambo guy, but prefers to stand and strike. Same with Sokoudjou, who was the 2001 US Open Judo champion, but has fallen in love with kickboxing, and after back-to-back KO’s of Arona and Little Nog, who could blame him? It’s like Chuck Liddell, who has great wrestling (better than Ortiz, by all accounts), but prefers to strike. Or Machida’s early matches where he took the fight to the ground instead of striking.
I’m willing to bet a lot of the fighters you’ve listed take great pride in their background, whatever it is. If Sokoudjou hadn’t studied Judo, or if Nog hadn’t, or Mezger not gone to the Lion’s Den, or Arlovski didn’t have his Sambo backgound, would they be the MMA fighters they are/were? Probably not.
Fighters sandbag all the time. Like when they say they are injury free in prefight press conferences, then afterwards say they’ve missed the past 3 weeks of training with a back injury. Or saying they will stand and trade to KO their opponent, then immediately take the guy down and submit them.