…The biggest reason being that the DYNAMIC aspect of the CATCH-ANY-HOLD-YOU-CAN philosophy utilized in catch wrestling is more compatible with the DYNAMIC turn that mma has taken in it’s crosstraining emphasis in recent years.
But there are also other reasons, starting with the wrestling base itself.
To start, first consider carefully what the following wrestlers have achieved in mma: Kazushi Sakuraba, Randy Couture, Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes, Shawn Sherk, Josh Barnett, (Chuck Liddell’s wrestling skills are what has enabled hin to stay on his feet and play the striking game that he prefers)…earlier on there was Frank and Ken Shamrock, Mark Kerr, Mark Coleman, Dan Severn, and so on.
Now consider that the wrestling base often follows a different set of principles (and of course there’s some overlap) than with arts like BJJ and judo…and those differences make for a freer flow in several significant ways - starting with (but not limited to) the fact that wrestling per se does not follow a particular positional flow chart as it exists in BJJ - and especially the Gracie version).
Now what does this have to do with catch wrestling?
Keep in mind that one way to define catch as catch can wrestling is that it’s free style wrestling with submissions added (and it also has an historical relationship with Greco Roman as well - but again with submissions being the name of the game).
Now take the shoulder pinfalls out of the equation and add punches, kicks, knee and elbow strikes and you get people like Sakuraba and Barnett (as opposed to the more traditional catch wrestlers from the past like Martin (Farmer) Burns, Joe Pesek, Frank Gotch, Tom Jenkins, Earl Caddock, Joe Stecher, Ed (Strangler) Lewis, Ad Santel, George Tragos, Lou Thesz, Karl Gotch, etc.
MMA has changed everything in the fight world. Now Greco-Roman wrestlers like Randy Couture learn some boxing, some kicking, and some submissions and they’re in a whole new stratosphere - but still using wrestling as his grappling base when the fight goes to clinch or to the ground.
And the same with the new breed of BJJ fighters like BJ Penn, Nog, and Renzo Gracie, to name just a few. These fighters have successfully crosstrained with boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai - and of course Vanderlai Silva also comes to mind…again just to mention a few names.
But what does all this have to do with catch wrestling being the grappling future within mma? What’s wrong with BJJ? Judo? Sambo? (Let’s not forget about Fedor - probably the best all around mma fighter to come along to date). And don’t people like Couture, St. Pierre, Hughes, Liddell, and so on use some BJJ as part of their grappling ground game?
There’s nothing wrong with BJJ, sambo, judo, etc. In fact, the entire martial arts world owes a great debt to the Gracie’s and thier Brazilian style of jiu jitsu.
So why say that catch wrestling is the grappling future within mma?
Let’s take a careful look within catch and the answers will appear. It’s a grappling style that does several things from a whole different perspective than BJJ.
Sush as: It rides heavy and prefers to pin the man down by making him carry your weight more so than BJJ - which prefers the mobility that a lighter ride provides in order to transition from one position to the other as it follows the BJJ flowchart.
Not that riding with the hips lower and therefore spending less time with your weight on your knees will make a catch wrestler slow - but it is easier and faster, for example, to go from side control to full mount as it is done in BJJ by first being on your knees.
But in catch a whole different game is being played as regards positional fighting. In catch it’s not POSITION-and then-SUBMISSION.
In catch it’s CONTROL-and then-SUBMISSION.
While catch prefers to have top dominant positions in order to make the man carry your weight and tire him out (and therefore catch looks upon the man “caught” in guard as being in the dominant position)…while it has certain positional preferences…
there are no golden positional rules to follow before going for a submission.
Catch will go for a submission from basically any “position” - because the golden rule is CONTROL over the opponent’s body - from anywhere.
One can say that BJJ will do very similar things - but with one very big philosophical difference: CATCH ANY HOLD YOU CAN means that not only does the catch wrestler look upon his opponent’s whole body as a target and views his own entire body as a weapon - BUT THEREFORE THE EMPHASIS IN CATCH is quite, quite often to go for a hold (or a submission) as a MEANS OF GAINING CONTROL…
which means that no top position has been established and no control has been established FIRST - but the hold is gone after and applied anyway. This is a major departure form the BJJ way - and is THE MOST DISTINGUSHING FEATURE of catch wrestling…
but require a very strong wrestling base in order to make this free-wheeling style of grappling with submissions work.
All this said, now go back and watch Sakuraba’s fights (and Barnett’s fights in recent years) and you will see the difference in their grappling compared to BJJ. They will go for holds (and often “catch” them) seemingly out of nowhere.
Quite often doing it by breaking another major cardinal rule within BJJ: turning their backs to their opponents. (But have either one ever been submitted for doing so?)
And then there’s the whole issue of the guard position. Catch will use the bottom scissors (guard) but the preference is not to stay down on one’s back any longer than you have to - meaning the strategy is to work escape routes first and foremost (and if a submission is possible WHILE working to escape back to one’s feet or to a reversal - fine)…
but the idea is not to “work” the bottton scissors (guard) for a sub or a sweep as the main goal. And never “pull” guard (bottom scissors).
If you’re taken down - get up and out as fast as you can.
The whole picture makes for a more dynamic grappling style that has many more submissions within it’s arsenal - and is more conducive (since it follows no strict positional flowchart) to transitions to striking…a key element within today’s mma.
