Quote:
Originally Posted by Malf
Even though I like him, Rich Franklin is a brown belt, under Jorge Gurgel...... I've seen Franklin submit one person via armbar, and he made a sweet escape from an armbar against the cardio machine that is Travis Lutter, after giving up full mount. The only reason I think Franklin's rank is suspect is because we rarely see him on the ground, and he got his belt from his best friend.
Also, I think Nick and Nate Diaz are both brown belts, but have better BJJ than most black belts I've seen. Ceasar Gracie doesn't mess around apparently.
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Nick's a black belt now. Got it some time after subbing Gomi.
And I agree, Cesar doesn't appear to give them things away too easy.
The obvious one that came to mind for me was Justin McCully.
That guy is supposedly a black belt. Remember his fight with Hardonk?
Jeez. Mir submitted Hardonk right away, and that's what all black belts should be able to do to him. Instead, he laid in his guard for 3 rounds.
In general I think there are way too many black belts around in MMA.
Finland for example has zero black belts, yet 3 guys from here made it to the ADCC 2007 Finals. My team-mate, who was a purple belt at the time, finished 5th in the competition and I bet he'd tool many of these "black belts" in a grappling match.