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)
“Lie lightly on her, turf and dew:
She put so little weight on you.”
—Marcus Valerius Martial (c. 40–104)
“For me, the principal fact of life is the free mind. For good and evil, man is a free creative spirit. This produces the very queer world we live in, a world in continuous creation and therefore continuous change and insecurity. A perpetually new and lively world, but a dangerous one, full of tragedy and injustice. A world in everlasting conflict between the new idea and the old allegiances, new arts and new inventions against the old establishment.”
—Joyce Cary (1888–1957)
“Wearing overalls on weekdays, painting somebody else’s house to earn money? You’re working class. Wearing overalls at weekends, painting your own house to save money? You’re middle class.”
—Lawrence Sutton, British prizewinner in competition in Sunday Correspondent (London)