Great MMA Fighters With a Strong Judo Background
4 Nov 2021 20:40
In judo, you are taught how to use your opponents’ power and momentum against them. Judo is something special and quite different from most martial arts; in essence, it has no striking. To an untrained eye, judo can look much like wrestling because the fighters rely more on each other’s momentum and movements to create opportunities; judo is more than wrestling but definitely uses a lot of wrestling mechanics.
Judo is about defending yourself from incoming combat without needing to exert much offensive energy. An average street fighter going up against anyone that is decent at judo will find it hard to get anywhere as blind efforts of throwing themselves at someone trained in judo will often end with the street fighter being thrown and held on the floor in seconds. So do not find yourself on the wrong side when betting on fighters.
Judo’s power
Many of the world’s greatest MMA fighters will have a strong judo background for these reasons. The fighting style teaches patience and how not to be a constant aggressor and rather wait for your adversary to make a mistake or at least give you their energy to use against them.
Ronda Rousey
Ladies first? It happens to be common knowledge that one of the greatest female fighters in the world has chosen Judoka as one of her main fighting styles. She is the face of judo in MMA and really is one of the main reasons people care about judo nowadays. She does not use judo as a crutch in the cage but as her main style, throwing and sweeping her opponents off their feet! She has won multiple championships in the UFC, proving her style is not falling short of the bar! Speaking of bars, her signature move happens to be an armbar famous in judo. Ronda has gone as far as securing gold in the 2008 Olympic Games. Her mother was famous for judo and was a major part of enrolling Ronda. Sometimes when Ronda is fighting and using judo, it is clear her opponents have no defense for this non-offensive style of fighting.
Hector Lombard
Lombard is known well in the judo community. Before he even stepped into an octagon, he was winning heavyweight judo championships at international judo tournaments. Known for always being in the hundred kilos and over category, Hector’s had a smooth transition into the MMA world, dominating in the smaller companies. When he tried to go pro, he was met by six consecutive walls. The UFC is no joke, and only the best of the best survive. Hector is not quitting but is currently still looking for his first win since his six losses. Ronda is proof that judo is not the problem contributing to Lombard’s lack of success within the company. Besides that, his judo never failed him in Bellator, where he held his championship spot successfully nor in his opening 3 UFC fights. The AFC was too easy for Lombard proving judo is a force to be reckoned with in the MMA world.
Karo Parisyan
A Judoka through and through. 24 wins in the MMA scene, with only two coming from striking and knockouts. The Armenian superstar was a champion in WEC and held his welterweight title until his smoother-than-Lombard’s transition into the UFC. He is considered one of the best fighters who use judo and has shown why he is deserving of the title. He beat Nate Diaz, which rocked the MMA world and proved the worth of judo as a fighting style. He seems to have taken a particular liking to the submissions he can draw from his victims in the cage with the judo holds, chokes, and bars available in this Judoka’s arsenal.
Rick Hawn
He started his judo career at age 12 and was a natural prodigy; his talent was unmatched. Many of you will not have heard of Rick Hawn because he never set foot in a UFC cage, but in the cages he did step into, nothing seemed to stop him from tossing, flipping, and making his opponents tap. He was working, living, and training at the Olympic Training Center in the 1990s but his transition into MMA happened years later after Rick decided to retire from judo in 2009. This says a lot about how he felt about the challenges ahead. After his signing to Bellator, he had a respectable career winning a couple of his tournaments and always proving to be a dangerous athlete to face in every bout.
Fedor Emelianenko
Name another fighter that went on a 27 fight winning streak and he is still as strong as ever before with a recent impressive knockout victory. If that doesn’t prove judo is a force to be reckoned with, no fact will convince you. Some go as far as saying Fedor is the greatest fighter, but that definitely is still up for debate. He was an extremely well-rounded fighter capable of throwing multiple blows, able to switch it up to become the most dangerous grappler of his time. No one was able to beat this man for eight years! That is still unheard of today. Fedor was a black belt in judo before touching MMA, and with that background, he was practically impossible to sweep or secure on the ground. He used all his skills to be an all-around threat in every fight he took part in! If you have not heard the name Fedor Emelianenko, you definitely should YouTube a fight or two after this.
Stop overlooking judo
Judo is clearly a powerful discipline that does not teach aggression but rather the technique of using your opponent's offensive nature and momentum to your advantage. This makes it perfect for kids to do without parents having to fear their children will become violent. Instead, it lets them learn a valuable style of fighting that can be applied in real-life situations as inexperienced fighters will not be ready for an opponent to use their own strength and aggression against them.
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