While I wish not to delve into the controversy that BJJ has lost its efficacy in MMA, let us, for awhile, lower our eyebrows, and allow our blood pressure to go down.

 Feeling better?

Here’s where my blood pressure went up:

I was in the office doing my typical clerical boring 8-5 job, when someone approached me and said, “hey you do BJJ right? It’s not as effective as wrestling. Nobody should doing BJJ anymore since it’s an antiquated art.”

I was like, “Ok. Go on.”

He argued, “BJJ was effective back then. But now everyone knows how to counter it. All you need is good wrestling.”

That got me thinking. Was he right? Did he have a claim valid enough for me believe him?

But let us first check on the statistics. Submissions in MMA has gone down dramatically over the past few years. One in every 4 fights end in submissions. But for the benefit of those who may want to contradict the numbers, here are the numbers for UFC in 2012:

 There are 95 decisions (47.5%), 58 KO’s (29%). 46 Submissions (23%), 1 Diqualification (0.5%).

It was a sign of relief when I had all the numbers crunched. It is not true that BJJ has lost its magic in the cage. The difference of 12 submissions than of a KO victory is a small variance.

Yes. It is small. 12 is just 2 fights over in an MMA event fight card. If one UFC fight card is packed with submission artists, I bet the numbers will inch closer to KO’s stats.

What is surprising is that almost the same statistical difference can be seen in Bellator. Not just in the UFC. Bellator in 2013 has 38.7% KOs vs. 27.9% in subs. Again, it’s somwhere between a 12 pt difference.

What does it say? I believe that the dude who approached me is misguided or may have been misled by the fact that everyone in MMA should be able to submit.

There are factors in submitting guys in MMA. For one thing, it​ IS MMA. It’s a lot tougher to submit guys when you are thinking about flying knees, showtime kicks, the foot-on-the-face-kick, the spinning elbow, and those evil leg kicks. Most guys avoid being taken down, nobody would want to be in the deep waters with someone who knows how to choke the life out of you. Therefore, there are more MMA fighters who takes the time in studying submission defence and escapes.

The more fighters incorporating BJJ into their game, the more ways fighters can come up with ways to avoid getting submitted. Tapping is always optional, though.

Knocking someone out gets more credit? Why? Because a knock out is shown on more replays in MMA events. The big screen allows fighters to bask in the glory of their handy work.

BJJ has yet to lose its magic in the cage. And so what if it does? Will it make the gentle art less attractive? I guess it won’t. Regardless is everyone stops using BJJ in the ring, I still would not quit training. The benefits are just far too great to let go. The lifestyle and the teachings alone is worth every drop of sweat that comes out of my pores.

 And one last thing: Putting on a Gi is just cool.

Jiu-Jitsu for everyone!

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