Recently, Mark Francescutti a journalist at dallasnews decided to take on the local UFC star Johny Hendricks in a cage match, just for the fun of it. Hendricks had said that after his latest victory over Matt Brown, he wanted all people to know that he still has some grappling and jiu jitsu moves left. To put this to the test, the journalist decided to take a look at his approach at the star’s gym in Texas. Hendricks has incredible skills as a grappler, and he has been wrestling since he has been able to walk. He beat the journalist’s first jiu jitsu coach, who was Bruno Bastos, in a grappling event.
The martial art style of jiu jitsu looks similar to wrestling, but there is a greater mix of chokes, leg locks and arm locks. No strikes are allowed in this martial arts fight, and the vast majority of the wins are performed by submissions. When it was finally time for the fight, it went about as much as the journalist expected. Hendricks was able to crush him, but the two shared a laugh after, displaying the camaraderie that the sport is so well known for.
Just because Hendricks is a blue belt in BJJ doesn’t mean he has less “skill” than a higher belt. His wrestling skills and MMA training (essentially no-gi BJJ) gives him an arsenal of take downs and submissions. I know a “white belt” in BJJ that trains in the open division in BJJ tournaments because he is also an olympic level wrestler, and lower belts can’t compete with him.