Mixed Martial Arts Competition
A waist-hold is applied to a wrestler in preparation of throwing him down to the ground. In the background, two ancient athletes are pictured in a stance known as akrocheirismos (finger-hold) with their heads pushing against each other's.Grappling and striking skills are both of importance in mixed martial arts competitions. Fighters who were accomplished wrestlers, gained respect during the early stages of MMA development. Some of these, went on to win several early Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12).
Successful fighters in modern MMA who began their training in various forms of wrestling, include Jon Jones, Frank Edgar, Cain Velasquez, former Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier and Brock Lesnar, a former UFC heavyweight champion who was a NCAA wrestling champion in 2000 and achieved 2nd place 1999, and former champions Dan Henderson, of PRIDE FC and Randy Couture, a multi-time UFC champion, both of whom competed extensively in collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestling before beginning their careers in mixed martial arts.
Read more about this topic: Wrestling
Famous quotes containing the words mixed, martial, arts and/or competition:
“Remember that the wit, humour, and jokes of most mixed companies are local. They thrive in that particular soil, but will not often bear transplanting.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“What, then, does a chaste girl do?
She does not offer, yet she does not say “No.””
—Marcus Valerius Martial (c. 40–104)
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“And who is left to understand my jokes?
My old Brother in the arts . . . and besides, he was a smash of
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—Robert Lowell (1917–1977)
“All adults who care about a baby will naturally be in competition for that baby.... Each adult wishes that he or she could do each job a bit more skillfully for the infant or small child than the other.”
—T. Berry Brazelton (20th century)