Ahead of Polaris 12, Luke Rockhold shared his thoughts on the current trends in the BJJ community:
On the grappling world being suspect these days and his Polaris opponent Nick Rodriguez
“I think this grappling world is somewhat suspect these days, and you know, I’m gonna have some fun. This kid Nick, I haven’t seen too much of him really. I didn’t really know about him until Abu Dhabi. He seemed to fair for himself pretty well, took second. And I’ve done a little homework. He seems to bully guys around with his wrestling and his decent high-school wrestling, which doesn’t mean too much when it comes down to when you wrestle with the big boys. I mean, he’s a good wrestler for Jiu-Jitsu. I think he’ll find that I’ll be able to push him there, I’ll be able to get takedowns if I need them. And then when it comes to the grappling, you know, I’m a physical guy, and a lot these Jiu-Jitsu guys aren’t physical. And I can match them in so many ways there. So, I’m gonna match him. He’s not one of those stupid leg lock guys that just kind of pull guard and butt scoot. This whole modern-day Jiu-Jitsu thing kind of pisses me off. It’s pretty stupid in the sport of Jiu-Jitsu, where the guys are all leg-lock based and they just compromise themselves trying to get these foot locks. So, it’s nice to have a guy that’s gonna go toe to toe at least.”
Why the BJJ world is suspect
“Jiu Jitsu, it’s a weird thing these days. I don’t know. (There’s) not a lot of rules. All these guys, these foot lock, I don’t know. I can fair well. If I dedicate myself and really do this thing like I really want to, Nick Rodriguez shouldn’t be a problem, and neither should a lot of these guys.”
On potentially grappling with guys like Gordon Ryan and BJJ’s biggest names in the future
“I’ve rolled with Craig (Jones), I’ve rolled with Gordon (Ryan), I go with Marcus Buchecha all the time. I’m very capable of doing what I need to do. But, I’m just gonna have fun. I’m gonna take it one at a time. I’m gonna go out there and try to put this dude away, put him to sleep. And then, I think beating a guy that took second at Abu Dhabi at heavyweight, I think it should say something. So yeah, I’m okay.”
On a lot of big names in BJJ now being specialists in one area these days and using that to win.
“I’m a little disappointed, truthfully. To be honest, Jiu-Jitsu, when I started back in the day, it was based off self-defense. And self-defense, when I’d go down to Brazil, you’d have two guys attacking you at once, and it’s based off self-defense where it’s like you’re defending yourself on the street. You’re not gonna fucking drop to your ass and butt scoop to these guys and go for a leg lock. You’re gonna get stomped in the face. So, I mean, all these guys who are completely compromising themselves and going underneath and just, you’re a fucking sitting target and you’re doubling the force of every punch potentially that would happen. So, I like Jiu-Jitsu which is more real, you know, where it’s more real life. The sport of Jiu-Jitsu, this leg lock revolution thing, I don’t know, I’m kind of annoyed by it. And, you know, it’s always about putting yourself in an advantageous situation, in a real-life situation for Jiu-Jitsu. That’s why I was always, my belief was with always Jiu-Jitsu. So, to see it change, it’s a little annoying. But those are my thoughts.”
Interview From submissionradio.com
