Demian Maia - A Study Of Wrestling & BJJ Takedowns For MMA

Demian Maia is one of the greatest BJJ players in MMA and in this breakdown I examine the wrestling takedowns he has used to get the fight to the ground where he can start using his Jiu-Jitsu grappling in the hunt for a submission.
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MUSIC
jinsang - Summers Day - version 2
Bluematic - Smoke
saiko - wet season
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#DemianMaia #bjjtakedowns #bjjinmma #mmatraining #bjjhighlights

[@GalryZ]

"You don't need Jiu-Jitsu to win, but you need it not to lose." -- Me

[@SonnyBrown]

Nice, If you don't train submissions then you will be submitted!

[@counterkidnapping1737]

@@SonnyBrown i trained submission on a bed. Does that count?

[@GalryZ]

@Lucas Cruz Sorry, lol. Didn't know.

[@summocommentaction3273]

Damien is one of the better takedown artists with a BJJ pedigree. Far too often I see Jiu Jitsu fighters with rather sloppy, uncommitted takedowns. And in my opinion wrestling, clinching and takedowns are the middle ground of MMA and is the most important aspect of the sport. Whether You're an anti wrestler looking to keep it standing or BJJ black belt looking to strangle someone, it's the most important but often overlooked area of the sport

[@adamakturin7939]

Agreed, also, wrestling clubs for adults are rare, which only makes having the wrestling pedigree even more valuable, as opposed to BJJ gyms.

[@SonnyBrown]

Yep, such an important aspect for anyone wanting to fight on the ground.

[@r.b.4611]

@@adamakturin7939 We need more wrestling for adults. Not all of us were lucky enough to enter the program as kids.

[@temoherbert172]

@@r.b.4611 Well there is catch wrestling for adults, but sadly there are not too much schools of catch

[@blackmarlin3166]

You're not first one to say that and no way wrestling is overlooked in mma.

[@ALLALL-dg3oy]

He taught me how interesting grappling is. And He is why I started BJJ.

[@OlivierTravers]

Modern MMA rulesets where you can't wear a gi, have 5-minute rounds, wear gloves, and the referee will stand people up for stalling, are much less favorable to ground grappling than early UFC.

[@SonnyBrown]

Yes the standup rules are very frustrating, even the reset in Maias last fight when they were against the fence was possibly too much.

[@OlivierTravers]

He almost had a standing twister on Usman!

[@r.b.4611]

@@SonnyBrown Leon Roberts is the worst ref ever. Breaking it up while Maia had Usman's back!!

[@liamdoes8580]

Idk about not being allowed to wear a gi, back when Royce was around that was maybe viable (even then if people knew anything about bjj it would've been a disadvantage). now there is very little reason why you would want a gi in mma it gives grips to your opponent and aside from a few gi chokes has no real benefit. I feel like stalling should be if someone is in guard and it's unlikely anyone gets a finish they get stood up stalling shouldn't be if someone has an incredibly dominant position (back mount) they get stood up cause they weren't finishing

[@kallepikku4991]

Also, not owning your own promotion, being able to hand pick referees or changing rules middle of match is a big disadvantage. Times have changed 🤷‍♂️

[@aidanfegan6605]

This is an excellent breakdown/compilation of Maia's most successful attacks. Thank you

[@Krissada1000]

Demian Maias is the reason I watch MMA. He is my hero.

[@gustavofarias5227]

O Maia é uma lenda! Ele é um dos melhores lutadores de jiu-jítsu da história juntamente com Royce e o Rickson. Orgulho do Brasil 🇧🇷.

[@elisabethastic6197]

Awesome work man, I love your videos keep doing it !

[@criostasi4080]

I am not an expert so take my words with caution. Answering your question I think in MMA is better going for takedowns, control and then ground stryking, taking submissions only if there is an opportunity and not as the first option. Look at Khabib or Askren fights and their analysis for better understanding of what I mean.

[@SonnyBrown]

Yep I get exactly what you mean, the ground control and striking will help setup a submission, but going for the sub first seems to be rarer and rarer.

[@nicorepetto5781]

My favourite MMA videos on KZbin by far. Everything from from the presentation, music, narration, to the wide breadth of knowledge gain on MMA after watching. I love all your videos. Amazing work, Sonny.

[@SonnyBrown]

Thank you !!!

[@OdinMMA]

Superb, thanks for this and keep 'em coming!

[@SonnyBrown]

Cheers Odin! Plenty more in the works!

[@fabianbenz7679]

Awesome work bro. Thank you

[@MrGunfunfun]

Very excited for your pulling guard analysis!

[@SonnyBrown]

Cheers Daniel, appreciate the enthusiasm !

[@alecsandramocanu9709]

Sonny love your videos Thank you !👌🏽

[@Hazza1495]

Really great video! Entire channel is fantastic!

[@SonnyBrown]

Thank you my friend! I try to make an effort

[@kallepikku4991]

Takedowns /Ground control/Standing back up skills seems to be more important than Guard pulling/Submission skills.

[@iamthelizardking6239]

Absolutely, that’s why wrestlers dominate mma.

[@kallepikku4991]

@Jake Khabib is also a world class wrestler with no bjj training. In fact, Justin has trained bjj more than Khabib. Both Khabib and Justin have been dominating bjj fighters precisely because they refuse to stay on the ground, and just give up their backs in order to get up faster.

[@bradcrawford7284]

They are more important but that doesn’t mean that this is not important at all.

[@bennettfender9927]

@@kallepikku4991 Khabib is a Judo black belt though which is the sister art to BJJ and has many of the same techniques so he’s not really a great example.

[@rackembarry]

@@kallepikku4991 Khabib is proficient in Judo and is a Sambo master of sport, both use the same submissions of JJ

[@John2corner]

All fighters should start in the next round where they ended in the previous round. If it ended on the ground, fights should start on the ground in the next round.

[@SonnyBrown]

Thats a reasonable proposition that would seriously make grappling more effective within the current rule set.

[@John2corner]

Yes, and makes mma fights even more realistic.

[@yaboi-km2qn]

No rounds would be even better. That would stop the disadvantage grapplers have, they wouldn’t have to muddle and fuss about what position they were in and judging would be whole fight instead of round by round. And it would make the fight more “realistic” but I’m not sure why people are so obsessed with street fighting.

[@thedust850]

@@yaboi-km2qn I totally agree but this is not marketable. Only hard core fans like us would watch. The casual fans would find it too " boring".

[@deftrooper]

Very excellent analysis. Thanks for shedding some light on these techniques!

[@SonnyBrown]

No problem, thanks for the support!

[@deftrooper]

@@SonnyBrown 💯

[@MackTrainingAcademy]

Demian is an inspiration for those that learn jiu jitsu for fighting and self defense. Which should be everyone.

[@justaname935]

i really really appreciate this! I just became your patreon

[@tayl0165]

Greatly enjoyed

[@matthewmauldon9219]

Beast! Thank you for the detailed breakdown.

[@SonnyBrown]

No problems mate! Thank you for the support! 🙏🙏🙏

[@stumbras2000]

This is great!

[@ramareddy]

Great stuff, dude!

[@SonnyBrown]

Cheers Rama!

[@jongrappler287]

excellent work!

[@SonnyBrown]

Thanks Jon ! Appreciate it mate. 🙏🙏🙏

[@fujita_mario]

nice ! awesome video !

[@Kurdaehe1]

he is a awesome fighter and person

[@everardoandrade6420]

You need for everything 💯💯💯💯💯💯💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻beautiful video thanks for sharing

[@SonnyBrown]

Sure do, Thanks Everado !🙏🙏🙏

[@pierrebridenne8870]

Merci !

[@alexanderguest759]

On the last point, here's a thought: if everyone has high level BJJ, decreasing the number of submission victories, how successful would someone be if they heavily incorporated other submission grappling arts, such as catch as catch can? As far as I can see, it at least seems that other grappling styles are under utilised in MMA. Just a thought.

[@SanglierSaucisson]

I think for a ground fighter the priority is to develop the takedown, the wontrary is like having a plane and developing the wing designt o improve the fly with no runway and weels to actually start flying. It is the same for strikers, they have to develop strong distance management and wresling defence,

[@SonnyBrown]

Yep I would agree! THanks for the support!

[@pizzulo81]

They've already tried having a takedown heavy ground and pound in the earlier UFC when Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman. Then it was stopped when the BJJ practitioners started learning how to use BJJ for what it is intended for. And that's how to win a fight with punches being thrown and not a sport based grappling art where you don't have to worry about punches raining down on you when you're in someone's mount, or you have them in your guard for that matter. Then everyone (even wrestlers) started training in BJJ. Consequently, the skill of the fighters went up. Now we're full circle where a lot of fighters have focused so much on BJJ that they've abandoned wrestling training. The majority of strikers even have some level of BJJ even if it's purely for defensive purposes to get back to their feet. But they don't train wrestling takedowns.

[@SonnyBrown]

Hi mate, Thanks for taking the time with the in depth answer. Some really good points!

[@form_7wrestlingman810]

Can we get a breakdown of riding in mma / grappling?

[@josephruiz4163]

the key for the jui-jitsu guy is to not chase the takedown. We are talking about MMA as a sport not self defense. Jui-jitsu people have to learn to stand and , "through the chaos of it all" you hunt for the submission or take down. In a self defense situation it's not often you have a person training shakedown defense and dancing around you, so a lot of the work is already done for you. TLDR; level up your striking to buffer your grappling. Unorthadox ideas: 1)Butt scooting to dummy takedown has been shown to work sometimes. 2)Iminari roll might be the upgraded version of 1 filling in all of the weaknesses . 3)Faking being hurt has been sown to cause some chaos, maybe an opportunity ? 4) Drill more standing finishes, and snap downs ? *5) Maybe don't let everyone know you are a good jui-jitsu player when you are coming up ?

[@mvpmvp3861]

I have always said that the reason BJJ is being used less in modern MMA is because a lot of the BJJ experts and specialist lack proper chain wrestling. Anthony Pettis for example is a technical BJJ guy, but seems to not understand all fundamentals of folk style wrestling and when he was going on that losing streak against guys like Alvarez and RDA it was because Pettis only knew how to defend basic takedowns and if he did get taken down he would automatically rely on his Jiu Jitsu instead of getting up and that time going for submissions is the time his opponent has to coast and that is also time that Pettis is losing. As someone who has wrestled and done BJJ for years (years more of wrestling experience btw) if you know the basic fundamentals of getting over the legs and the proper knowledge of defending submissions and sweeps, than it’s easy to coast on someone, which is why imo wrestlers have more success in MMA, than BJJ experts. However, guys like Jacare, Reis and Maia during their recent winning streaks showed proper knowledge of technical wrestling and were dominating their opponents with ease once it got on the ground. Now imagine what a guy like Charles Olivera or Mickey Gall would be like if they understood chain wrestling and used technical wrestling more to their advantage. I think Maia was on to the BJJ expert+chain wrestling trend, but lost focus and relied too much on his bread and butter (that and going against high level wrestlers in his last couple of bouts). The great thing about BJJ is it can be used in many styles and I think it’s full potential as yet to be seen in MMA.

[@SonnyBrown]

Thank you for the throughtful input! Yep the chain wrestling is really where you start to see a separation in skill level and I agree that the best may be yet to come!

[@mpforeverunlimited]

Mickey gall is a biter who makes excuses

[@Justin-pu5pb]

Maia took the back of Usman and Woodley but was stopped by the referee in both fights. Some of the most horrible stops by a ref ever. Taking the back is one of the most dominant position in sub grappling and in fighting.

[@rudai123]

Best body lock trips in MMA today.

[@jakesivilla9321]

I feel the solution to the problem is that a grappler should know every aspect of grappling, not just practice one individually, but all of them together. After all, what does your Jiu Jitsu matter if you can’t take somebody down? What if you’re a wrestler, but somebody else’s Jiu Jitsu will just submit you on the ground? It just creates a stalemate where two people will struggle more than they should despite all the time they put to learn a martial art. You really see how fantastic a fighter can be when they blend all aspects of grappling together, like Khabib, with Judo, wrestling, and Jiu Jitsu.

[@SonnyBrown]

Well put Jake, I'm with you on that one!

[@MrLazenby007]

@caimmy de Sa too late its already happenned

[@graciederangementsyndrome3669]

Is the background music the theme from Spirited Away?

[@SonnyBrown]

The song is jinsang - Summers Day - version 2, that samples it !

[@CastroLombardo999]

Any word on the guard pulling video you mention here? I like the insights and I'm keen to hear your thoughts on that

[@SonnyBrown]

Its out now !

[@jacobnapkins1155]

Bro is your soundtrack for this video a remix from spirited away?

[@flugendorffilms6130]

Are judo trips and throws less defended currently?

[@odddzy]

So, Sonny, what makes his outside single so safe? Does he just do something we can't see or do the adversaries of Maya have no confidence in actually trying to grapple with him?

[@ruggerREL]

Me personally I always chase a sub positioning be damned won my 1st amateur mma fight via triangle in the 3rd. But if I were be responsible for a athletes mma journey positional domination or defense > submissions

[@jamesdeckert4040]

Would love to see him vs Ryan hall.

[@SonnyBrown]

That would be an awesome match up but Maia would have a big size advantage.

[@jamesdeckert4040]

Sonny Brown I know. If only

[@musacpuerto]

Probably got screwed by bjjscout's analysis

[@SonnyBrown]

haha imagine if that did make the difference.

[@tiemanschnitzel7940]

I still follow the Demian Maia model: basic striking, powerful takedowns, excellent jiu jitsu

[@sybmundybuildingnorthernri6049]

I love demiqn Maia but I believe he focused too much on wrestling and not enough on his muay Thai his judo was lethal in the clinch IE chapel sonnen He was always going to get beaten by a world class wrestler that had good striking great vid

[@r.b.4611]

And what does he do if the first 27 takedown attempts aren't successful?

[@karabaskruger]

Очень схожая техника тэйкдаунов и борьбы в партере с Хабибом. За исключением некоторых нюансов типа скручивания пятки и треугольника...

[@arun455]

You should make video of Ben Askren. He took down maia several times during their fight.

[@jasonjayalap]

I dont understand how old-man-bjj can equal great freestyle wrestling, yet he does it. Perhaps that folkstyle comment you made at the end is a clue?

[@marcosnicolau9534]

👍✌👍🇧🇷👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@tayfuntayfun9244]

Maia vs. Khabib would be an amazing fight, if they were the same age and weight...

[@marcusmvpgoat1236]

Khabib would win hes more dominant

[@twinsunsurvivor8564]

Best BJJ in the UFC Demian maia Fighter needs bjj, at least for swip and control in the scramble , if not they ll get mounted BJJ4life

[@SonnyBrown]

All time BJJ great.

[@DanTheWolfman]

Nice job. Check out my recent weekly breakdown vids of mms events I u can

[@SonnyBrown]

Thanks Dan! Ive seen a few you started putting out , great work ! 🙏

[@DanTheWolfman]

Thank you. High level striking w TDD, and transitional submissions is pretty much all the future ala Adesanya....even he hit two quick kill snapdowns to high elbow guillotine. On the ground w energy efficient takedowns, fighters will need Khabib/Davis type riding, breaking down, mat returns, wrist control. Advancements like I said in vid 3 yrs ago, will be all the positions that take one or both arms away for GnP...crucifix, monoplata, gift wrap, seatbelt etc.

[@SonnyBrown]

Thats actually a lot of what I have been thinking at the moment! Controlling one or two hands on the mat seems like such a better goal.

[@DanTheWolfman]

Are you interested in doing Breakdown together, Credit screen by 2 black belts in beginning n names etc....taking my weekly breakdown vids I'll share to you, then editing in FIGHT FOOTAGE of what technique I am talking about followed by clip from one of my vids showing it again or different angle. We can put on both our page etc both get noticed. let me know or take one I've done, mod it, see how it goes?

[@aaronalbert4160]

Woodley would've went down but he grabbed the twice

[@inevitablemma1435]

Cant takedown woodley tho

[@SonnyBrown]

Yep, those folkstyle skills pose a real problem.

[@steverubio6072]

Maia has strong takedown unlike most of BJJ guys including the gracies. BJJ it self remove many takedown and throw from its parent, Judo. It look like maia learn the takedown from wrestling.

[@oneguy7202]

Bjj stand up grappling is just wrestling and judo, fundamentals of bjj in ground are very similar to judo. Also bjj influenced by catch wrestling and borrow a lot things by luta livre in 90s, bjj is a mixed grappling art

[@SonnyBrown]

Yeah Demian will be back stronger!

[@oneguy7202]

@@SonnyBrown i hope but he is too old and has no striking at all. ufc is not adcc

[@steverubio6072]

N one has the balls to bring the fight to the mat with maia in UFC.

[@justixn8934]

Your mistaken chael won he's never even lost a round💯

[@thomasarmstrong3917]

Maia has a better guard than Olivera change my mind.

[@andreazevedo7093]

Instead of you use the word "takedown" you should use "queda"

[@brettgainsford4866]

Gsp is better

[@SonnyBrown]

GSP is the GOAT! 🙏

[@andrewferris1903]

The biggest problem with BJJ based fighters is that too much emphasis is placed on remedial boxing and high risk shooting instead of advanced clinching and low risk trips throws&trips. They let themselves get stiff armed and sprawled out of the fight, instead of posing an actual threat on their feet with a wider array of techniques. Once you are able to work the leg with oblique and roundhouse kicks the sprawl is less of a threat, and elbows and knees in the clinch will take the wind out of a fighter before he even hits the ground. The sad thing is you are probably better off with G&P even when you get them into your preferred range, so BJJ will probably die out in MMA because guard is all it has to offer - and why learn guard before sprawl when it is an inferior position?

[@SonnyBrown]

Awesome response! Thanks for putting in the time.

[@andrewferris1903]

@@SonnyBrown Really enjoy your videos and topics, after the Maia vs Woodley fight not enough people have been asking these kinds of questions.

[@trashiestpotato673]

Boring fighters. Limited skill