Why is Judo Underrepresented in Grappling? 

Says the man who's been defeated SEVERAL TIMES by Judo techniques. Man, you've been victim of Judo throws and Judo submissions: you've been choked with Sankaku-jime and joint-locked with Juji-gatame. What the hell, man? You've been victim of Judo so many times. The fact that you weren't able to spot the techniques you have been submitted to, says a lot about you.

2:13 for the magnificent leg cross

UFC to Judo: I can't let you get close.

I did judo for about 10 years and even represented my country. I remember fighting an american wrestler in judo practice one time. I was initially scared cause the kid was built, had huge lats and obviously stronger than me. Turns out I ended up taking him down at will with the technique of choice. The difference being that I was playing with his equilibrium while he was simply trying to overpower me. Judo techniques are used all the time in MMA not only for throws and takedowns but also in just about every submission which BJJ inherits from Judo.

Fedor - judo black belt Khabib - judo black belt Islam - judo black belt Ronda Rousey - judo black belt Amanda nunes - judo brown belt Fabrício Werdum - judo black belt Amanda Ribas - judo black belt Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva - judo black belt Valentina Shevchenko - judo black belt Vitor belfort - judo black belt Jacare Souza - judo black belt Yoshiro Akiyama - judo black belt Kayla harrison - judo black belt Don Frye - black belt judo Dan Severn - black belt judo Dong Hyun Kim - black belt judo Rick hawn - black belt judo Karo parisyan - black belt judo Yoshida (defeated Royce) - black belt judo Hector Lombard - black belt judo Ishii - black belt judo Dan Kelly - black belt judo Yushin Okami - black belt judo

I have my own theories why Judo is less popular in MMA: 1. It's a very old tradional martial art and not many MMA schools teach Judo. The ones that do, are usually modified versions blended with BJJ, that have no ranking system. So in order for most judokas to get into MMA, they would have to got to a separate school to learn some striking. This would be very expensive and not practical for the average person. Also, many judo black belts have a lot of respect for tradition and prefer not to teach it in an MMA setting. Similar to how there is no Karate in most MMA schools. 2. Most judokas are more focused on getting into the Olympics and perfecting their craft in Judo tournaments. MMA is not their priority. Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrisson got into MMA AFTER they won their medals. BJJ is not an Olympic sport, so MMA is the only place a BJJ practitioner can make good money within their sport. For this reason, along with the first reason I mentioned, it would make sense that there are a lot more BJJ people in MMA. 3. There are more wrestlers in MMA simply because that sport is more accessible to young people without needing to spend money. It's taught in both high school and college for FREE. You can even pay your college tuition with a Wrestling scholarship. You don't even need formal training to learn basic wrestling. You can just roll with the guys around you and learn as you go. Kids even do this at a very young age when play fighting. Judo is more technical and its only possible to learn formally with someone who has experience. And you have to spend money to do this.

Bjj is basically just a judo spin off

Most judoka don’t care much for MMA fighting. They want to go to the Olympics. They also get told they can’t fight because they wear a gi.

2:12 the speed of the transition, the way he changed rhythms, the way he used his hand to support the leg movement, the way he completely stopped talking as if to warn you it's coming. That was chaels best leg cross in recent memory.

BJJ has better marketing, no other reason. Remember what Kimura did to Helio Gracie?

Chael: “in America we know Judo as a rough sport, In other parts of the Country like France Judo is curriculum based” You heard it here first Ladies and Gentlemen France is now part of the USA because Chael said so.

1. Judo's not big in America 2. IJF are dicks about not letting their professionals do other grappling. 3. Gi 4. leg grab ban. not as big a hole in a Gi (or clothing) as it sounds but a big hole nevertheless, particularly in a clotheless context. If you miss the single leg in the gi you give the opponent dominant grips. 5. The idea of Judo is that the takedown is a weapon that ends the fight with blunt trauma, everything else is secondary if that doesn't work. The Judo rules reflect this goal but other grappling rulesets don't. 6. A basic understanding of wrestling is easier to attain for BJJ guys than a basic understanding of Judo.

I'm pretty sure Valentina Shevchenko has a black belt in Judo.

I believe if they still want to compete in judo the ijf doesn't allow competiting in other forms at some level. So only when done with international comp.

The problem is olympic Judo. They neutered the art.

Judo throws are highly effective on concrete, and any surface that is not a big springboard cushion. Also: Money: outside of the US, Judo is so huge that if you are a high level internationally successful judoka you make enough money you don't have to fight for your livelyhood.

Does anyone here know how the kimura got its name? Also has anyone heard of khabib nurmagomedov? Or Ronda Rousey?

Imo, and I don't know too much about judo, it's because Judo has a more specialized set of rules, than jiu jitsu. It's like the difference between kickboxing and muay thai.

Judo teaches body control and position. Even if you're not using judo techniques you're probably using some degree of judo principles

A lot of the reason is that the governing bodies have a lot of control over the athletes. IJF will hit you with a ban if you compete in another combat sport, which takes you out of Olympic contention. Since a lot of judoka are chasing those medals, they play along.

You forgot Yoshida who beat Gracie.

I am a Judoka, and the most logical answer that comes to mind is simple : Judokas love their judo, they have everything they want in this sport, a very thight ans knitted community, and a sport that allows them to wrestle on foot and on the ground. Also, being a japanese sport, they share the prideful values that comes with Judo.

Khabib is actually a Judo guy

Like chael said in lot of countries judo is a common and respected sport (I'm French and it's true PE classes for kids include judo) Wich means successful judo players have more exposure and more business opportunities (sponsors etc. I mean out here Teddy Riner is almost in half of the commercials u get to see). Every week (barely exaggerating) judo players get to be talked about on TV. So they don't need to take the risk of a transition into mma in order to live of combat sports. Does that makes sense? 😅

You have to practice GI less Judo to make it translate. I'm not claiming Judo's supremacy, I'm just saying that any grappling art trained with a specific garment has to take that garment off to work in the rule set of MMA. If you know judo and use it in a street fight....with a thick jacket? The world and you will be one.

It’s a very underrated martial art , I train and compete in judo myself and at my dojo we also have a bjj club who uses our mats , many times when the bjj students step on the mat with us they can’t do anything to take us down and have a tough time on the ground as well (bare in mind we train a lot of Ne-Waza at my specific dojo) “ground work” ... a lot of fighters in the UFC use judo techniques but nobody seems to speak about it much but when us judokas are watching the UFC events we are always calling out the throws and sweeps they perform 😆

Chael: Why is judo underrepresented? Audience: What about Ronda Rousey? Chael: Ok great.

Lol Chael “Judo sucks! Why is judo unrepresentated?” Sonnen!

Here’s my two cents on why it’s underrepresented in MMA/grappling 1) it’s an in between style... it has takedowns and submissions!! Problem is wrestling is better for takedowns and BJJ is more diverse and submission oriented - therefore it gets lost in the shadows despite being effective for self defence, better use of your MMA time to learn the other two arts 2) a lot of throws and trips are initiated by grabbing the GI, therefore a lot of techniques may not be applicable in a no-Gi/MMA fight... but would likely be effective in a street fight scenario. I think Chael’s assessment is off. You would only have to watch Jake Shields vs Hector Lombard to see how it can work... or even Khabib with his trips against the cage

What do you mean ‘judo doesn’t work’? How could that sentence even make sense? It works against someone wearing a judogi. If you put on a judogi and go against someone better than you at judo you will get thrown again and again and you will be able to do nothing even if you’re a wrestler or a BJJ player. Trust me I train judo and I regularly get thrown by people I have a 60lb weight advantage against. Without a gi it works a bit and quite a lot if you train to modify and transfer the skills. This is not to mention that BJJ came from judo. Yeah they’ve invented new moves and they’ve practiced groundwork to where the average BJJ player is better at ground than the average Judoka but the main moves are the same

Because a lot of Judo ground base is recognized as jui jitsu, where most people recognize the throws

In 2005 Uncle Chael walked by a sorority house in New Orleans....a levee broke from the flood.

It's far easier to learn how to tackle somebody then it is to spend decades of your life studying a martial art.

Judo is the second most practiced sport in the world behind soccer i think.

Judo is very efficient in MMA. I would even argue that it's a better base for MMA than Wrestling and BJJ because you learn both upper body take downs and submissions within one art. The takedowns use mostly leverage instead of focusing more on raw stregth and power like in wrestling. Another good thing is that you don't need to change levels to get the take down. Grecco-Roman wrestling has this also, but once they get to the ground they have no submissions. And there are no leg sweeps allowed in GR Wrestling. The best Judo schools for MMA would be the ones that have a formal ranking system, that also teach No Gi Judo and BJJ.

I can’t believe Chael would disrespect the martial art of Judo when without it he wouldn’t have had a career that he’s had. Mitsuyo Maeda -> Helio Gracie -> UFC. He was never a student of the martial arts.

we need no gi judo classes for mma

If it wasn't for judo, bjj wouldn't even exist today as we know it. It owes most of it's techniques to judo. With the exception of takedown fall on your butt and pull guard. 😅

Judo is underrepresented, like where? Khabib, GSP, Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey ? To name the few? Khabib used Judo in every fight he took and that was his advantage. Judo is that tiny thing that makes a huge difference on some level of proficiency in MMA. As in to why Judo isn't represented by Judokas fighting in MMA? Well, Judo is an olympic sport, so people concentrate on that, rather than competing in MMA. BJJ, for that matter, isn't an olympic sport, and more relevant in appliance to MMA than to anything else at all (through Gracie). It is also a Western thing. It isn't only Judo by the way. How about Muay Thai? There is zero top Thai fighters that embrace MMA. Does that mean Muay Thai is ineffective in MMA? Nope. Muay Thai practitioners just fight their sport in either their own country and/or they are dedicated to just it, nothing else. Not many Karatekas also embrace MMA. Almost none, apart from Western Karatekas like Lyoto Machida, or Stephen Thompson. Most top tier Judokas or Karatekas, who are Japanese, are really interested in doing the sport they love as homage to their country and Japanese tradition. On the flipside, there is plenty of Kickboxers that transfer to MMA. It would seem strange at first, given its similarity to Muay Thai, right? Wrong. BJJ and Kickboxing are Western thing, and mentality here is a bit different. At some point the motivation of Kickboxers or BJJ practitioners to move to MMA is simply get rich, grab some money and go home. There is no homage to the sport or tradition.

Fedor, Aoki, Yoshida, Nastula are judo guys he left out.

Doesn't khabib do judo?

You see Judo techniques a lot more in Women’s MMA than in Men’s MMA. Never grappled so I don’t know why this is, just an observation I’ve noticed

Simple cause wrestling is the best and hardest form of grappling , you have to get a real grip not use some GI that no one would wear outside the gym

Judo is underrepresented in grappling because grappling is racist

Because BJJ stole the spotlight on a bunch of submissions judo had

Judo competition don't even allow double leg takedowns... figure that out.

Ronda was the most known Judo practitioner. It says a lot when that is your spokesmen and most of those guys don't compete in MMA.

Chael you POS tell me you have not forgotten my dad beating you up in practice on the regular, you know, JUDO JON. Not to mention I have tossed you and lindland as a teenager for a fall and I wasn't even that good, only person at tq I never tossed was Schultz as he was simply too fast and imho the most skilled collegiate wrestler at tq at the time I was there

It’s nice to see Judo getting the respect it deserves, really took my BJJ to the next level 🙌

In the UK you're more likely to find Judo than any traditional wrestling and maybe even more than BJJ in some places. Very strange there isn't more of it represented.

if you are a ranked judoka you are not allowed to compete in other competition out of the ijf circuit.

Don't forget Gene lebell!!!!! The best EVER...RESPECT CHAEL Good question.

Fedor literally never used a double or single leg takedown. Do you know what he used?? Judo!!!

Is Rhonda the most accomplished judo player in mma?

Clinching (specifically elbows) and throwing are stupidly underrepresented by UFC competitors, with the exception of several highly-ranked fighters like Jon Jones; who consistently uses both and has clearly been very effective with it. Wrestling moves like takedowns generally require significantly more energy expenditure compared to well executed judo throws, but takedowns also require more head exposure (to potential knock-out strikes) because you drive into their side instead of turning your head away from the opponent when throwing. Elbow striking is neglected because you cannot train it as much - given how dangerous it can be; but that is also exactly why fighters should use them regardless of muscle memory and instinct. Elbows, throws and clinching should be the most typical aspect of these fights, but people have become obsessed with ground-fighting and ‘chess-match’ striking exchanges that mostly become flinch contests between opponents who believe they can read minds. BJJ was a revelation back in the 90’s and people have over-compensated by thinking it has more value than it does. The Gracie family are the only people generating statistics about the effectiveness of BJJ, so you cannot make a fair comparison to Judo or Muay Thai when nobody is actually working to equally represent those martial arts. 70% of fights end on the ground - why though? They could have been thrown - Judo would do that. They could have been knocked out - striking of any kind would do that. They could have been taken down and pinned - wrestling could do that, but that is harder against bigger opponents, and it usually requires more practise to implement. Then you have a 30% likelihood of not fighting on the ground, so BJJ is almost useless in that situation. Judokas and wrestlers spend far more time working on standing techniques. Also, if you get mugged then you want to throw them and run away - not roll on the ground with one mugger so you can find a chokehold while the other mugger is standing over you with a knife. It only makes sense if you work in law enforcement and need to prevent someone from getting away.

Judo is represented as the most practiced grappling art in the world. This is evident in the Olympic games. Judo is the forefather of BJJ, sambo and taught catch wrestlers their submissions. Pawla Nastula fought Josh Barnett who lost but he was better than Barnett in takedowns during their fight. Nastula fought an elite fighter with only 3 MMA fights. Chael is a hypocrite knowing that he learned BJJ cause he was getting submitted all the time

Fedor Emelianenko is a judoka, Satoshi Ishi broke two Olympic records in judo, Khabib is a judoka, Makichev is a judoka, Darko Stošić is a judoka, Bojan Veličković is a judoka ... Everyone except the first two fought in the UFC ...

Judokas : Khabib Nurmagomedov (UFC) Ronda Rousey (Strikeforce / UFC) Yoshihiro Akiyama (K1 / UFC) Karo Parisyan (UFC / Bellator) Hidehiko Yoshida (PRIDE / Sengoku) Valentina Shevchenko (UFC) Rick Hawn (Bellator) Kazuhiro Nakamura (PRIDE / DREAM) Hector Lombard (UFC) Dong Hyun Kim (UFC) Shinya Aoki (OneFC / RizinFF) Fedor Emelianenko (PRIDE / Strikeforce / RizinFF) Islam Makachev (UFC) Yoshihiro Akiyama (ONE) Kayla Harrison (IFC) Louis smolka (UFC) Kazuo Misaki (Strikeforce) Jim Wallhead (BFC) Fabrício Werdum (UFC) etc ..

It got the olympic treatment. A thorough watering down.

Khabib and Islam are judo black belt.

Wrestling > Errthang

I can't let you get thrown.

In France we don't have judo in school.

I believe MMA to be the proving ground of martial arts. Survival of the fittest simple as that. If it's not being used it's because it proves to be ineffective. Having said that, I do see a lot of Judo being used inside/outside leg reaps, hip throws, drop knee shoulder throws, not to mention a lot of ground work which is identical/very similar to BJJ stuff. There is a lot of Judo that just isn't very appropriate for MMA (some stuff requires a Gi). Also I would like to add, I think Judo is lethal in the clinch, I wish MMA fighters would use it more.

Didnt you get defeated by someone who used Judo

Karo,manny,Sexyama,ronda were known for judo but we forget about people like Anderson Silva bjj and judo Amanda nunes is bjj black belt and brown belt in judo. There just isn’t a lot of people where judo is their primary art but lots of people train.

Another point that must be taken into consideration. Judo is very popular in Brazil, and the Brazilian Judo Federation always fares reasonably well in the Olympics. Even though Brazil has a very strong presence in MMA, and has a considerable number of judokas, the art still is underrepresented. I can think of a few reasons: 1) it's focused on gi fighting 2) it's extremely focused on the Olympics 3) judo culture is extremely stubborn, they don't like cross training and look down on BJJ

Here in France, there is a HUGE lobbying from the Judo federation to prevent judokas from competing in MMA (they could even lose their judo license...).

The rule change of taking leg grabs away has made it less effective. I think you really need to train both BJJ and judo to compete Gi grappling

*Vladimir Putin has entered the chat*

Think the Rulon Gardner v Hidehiko Yoshida Pride fight settled this years ago.

Like always the bad guy knows how to promote

No money in it.....

Dan Kelly

a lot of khabibs takedowns are judo takedowns

Khabib practices judo and used some of the judo throws in his matches in the UFC though he is does not have any judo belt. His father was a blackbelt and passed the knowledge to Khabib that's why in one video Khabib mentions Judo to be a higher class sport/martial art compared to wresntling

The Bullet's grappling is from Judo Uncle Chael.

"Judo doesn't work" Khabib and Fedor would like to speak to you Uncle Chael.

Judo is overall underrepresented in MMA! Wrestling, BJJ, Muay Thai. Judo is among the udnerrepresented styles(and its practitioners). Greetings from Ukraine )))))

The main thing I think Chael lacks in his analysis is the ability to understand where the techniques he praises come from. BJJ stems from Judo, any submission outside from leg locks is likely to have originated way before BJJ, in Judo. Another example of this is Sambo, the styles are so similar to the point in which the cross train with each other. Lastly Greco-Roman wrestling, this is a style developed by removing the Judo-gi it later became westernized and lost the submission aspect to become what it is today. This are all great styles which have proven themselves on the highest level and to neglect Judo is to neglect them all.

Judo is biggest martial art in the world. It's just not popular in the US like soccer. Rhonda irrefutably proved Judo works putting aside that BJJ works.

1:46 never knew France was another part of America but if Uncle Chael says so who am I to argue 🤷🏽‍♂️

Fedor was a judo player, internationally ranked. Sambo (first Sport, then Combat) was something he dipped into when judo didn't work out. You can see some of that pedigree even as late as his fight with Frank Mir.

We did find the answer bjj won against all martial arts before it got mixed

I have an answer for you. The way judo tournaments are structured is antithetical to producing MMA grapplers. The ruleset banned leg picks of any kind, rewards super weak throws with a win as long as the opponent even gently rolls onto his back. I don't remember how much ground time you get after a failed throw before you get stood up, but it isn't long, It no longer answers the question how do I win a fight? It answers the question, how do I win in this very specific ruleset that has deviated from the art of fighting? pandering to the Olympics fucked judo up. Before someone tells me I don't know what I'm talking about, I myself am a judo blackbelt. I began before the leg pick ban and I still do go to the odd judo class. It's problems are easily remedied and it could be a powerful base, but you need to decide as a judoka if you are going to simulate violence or roll people onto the ground.

Simple answer: You don't wear a gi in MMA. In no gi, wrestling is better for takedowns. Judo throws and takedowns can still work, but they have to be modified with wrestling grips, under-hooks, over-hooks, Russian ties, arm drags, etc. In judo, if you don't have a grip, you can't throw. It's much harder keeping a grip on someone's wrist vs a sleeve. If you added a gi to MMA, it would look similar to kudo and combat sambo. Ground grappling wise, at the highest levels in judo and depending on the player, the newaza is equal to BJJ, if not better.

Judo is an incomplete art, more so than BJJ, and the disperity is only going to get worse. Problem with judo is the sport aspect. Governing bodies like the IJF keep eliminating techniques, and that in turn trickles down to the schools. Too many schools and dojos only teach for the sport aspect.

The IJF bans people from competing if they do other grappling sports, so that’s a huge part of it. Kodokan may freeze your grade also, plus in the country judo is most popular (France), MMA was illegal until recently. The gi is a big factor too, and then the modern rule set isn’t conducive to MMA in the way wrestling and sambo is. Any art where one throw can win the whole match isn’t as suited to mma competition as wrestling and sambo are, because they emphasise control more than judo does.

*Holly Holms enters the chat*

Uncle Is right, judo sucks for mma, and the reason is that IJF butchered Judo. Old school Judo with morote gari would be far better for MMA.

There was also that Russian guy, what's his name... was it Fedor or something?

Your closing song at the end of this video is remarkably bad. I'm not making fun of whoever it is but geez it's hard on the ears

How many judokas do any striking arts? It may just be that they don't like getting punched in the face.

No gi judo a thing?

Chael is way off on this one... first of all, ranked judokas can´t fight out of the ijf tournaments. And then we are going to say if Judo as a martial art works in a grappling event with rules for submissions, when Judo focuses on throws? That´s like deciding the best fighter between a boxer and a kickboxer, but only allowing fists. Yeah sure, the kickboxer can hang in there, but 90% of the times he´s gonna lose.

Judo generally isn't as effective as bjj and wrestling in a submission grappling format. The groundwork in bjj is better than in judo and takedowns from wrestling are usually more effective.

Would Judo be more realistic than sport Bjj for self defense? Just curious

No gi judo? Yea didnt think so. Theres your answer at least for the modern day

Because for last 100 years Judo has been degraded more and more. I remeber in 1980s learning first and foremost falls and bottom game Ne -waza. From then to now Olympic rules changed 3 times if i am right. In other words todays judokas dont learn something that they dont need on tournaments and that is mostly bottom game or Ne-waza. Ask every high belt in BJJ and he will tell you that is extremely difficult to graple with judoka... even today

Chael needs to learn where judo comes from is Japan