r/judo • u/Wise-Self-4845 sankyu • Mar 27 '25

Judo x MMA Judo black belt Islam Makhachev with beautiful technique and execution

can you guys name all of these techniques? I got all except one hahah

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u/crashcap Mar 27 '25

I think its quite funny that judo is by all metrics a lesser art in MMA terms but some of the GOATs are highly skilled in it. Fedor was also pretty good

25

u/omnomdumplings Mar 27 '25

My theory is that a lot of good judoka don't go to MMA until their bodies are spent, so the only younger judoka who transition aren't as elite. VS folkstyle, where you age out in your early 20s anyway and might not do well in olympic styles.

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u/Mobile-Estate-9836 Judo Brown Ikkyu / BJJ Brown / Wrestling Mar 28 '25

This is exactly the case. This has also been the case with BJJ too where their high level people who go over to MMA are relatively older than their wrestling counterparts. It's changing for BJJ, but in most cases when wrestlers transition over, they're still in their athletic primes (early to mid 20s). A lot of it has to do with BJJ being accessible to the average person (commercialized) and them starting as hobbyists it in their 20s vs. wrestling and judo which almost everyone who wants to be competitive starts as an adolescent through a school funded program.

The reason why a lot of former Sambo fighters have such success in the UFC is because they transition over to MMA at a younger age with an already pretty well rounded skillset (standing, ground, submissions, sub defense, athleticism, strength, speed, balance, competition experience). The crosstraining part is easy if you have a good base. And Sambo is practically the same base as Judo. Most of those Sambo guys were former high level judokas themselves who washed out of judo due to level of competition.

1

u/powerhearse Mar 28 '25

It's important to note that the Sambo guys often compete in rulesets integrating striking with grappling a lot earlier than the majority of Judoka worldwide

Guys like Khabib and Islam have been competing almost exclusively in such rulesets since before they were adults. They were priming for MMA from the very start

This doesn't compare to the majority of Judoka worldwide and how they train