By Michael David Smith
- Lead Blogger
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If you want to know the difference between good Brazilian jiu jitsu and great Brazilian jiu jitsu, watch
Chael Sonnen's last two fights. On Saturday night at
UFC 98, Sonnen beat someone with good BJJ,
Dan Miller. Three months ago at
UFC 95, Sonnen lost to someone with world-class BJJ,
Demian Maia.
Both of those two fights went to the ground quickly. But against Miller, Sonnen was able to escape from an early guillotine attempt and then use his superior wrestling ability to overpower Miller throughout the fight. Against Maia, Sonnen also went to the ground quickly, but Maia put him into a triangle choke from which he couldn't escape.
Everyone who follows MMA or BJJ knows how great Maia is. He won his weight class at the 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, which is one of the most prestigious submission grappling tournaments in the world. But Miller came into the Sonnen fight with an 11-1 record, with seven of those 11 wins coming by submission. People thought his jiu jitsu skills were great, too.
Sonnen, however, was a good college wrestler, and he exposed Miller as someone who can be overpowered on the ground. After he pulled away from that first guillotine attempt, Sonnen was never really in any trouble. No one could ever spend 15 minutes on the ground with Maia and never be in any trouble. Miller is good on the ground; Maia is great.
Read More: chaelsonnen, danmiller, demianmaia, ufc 98, ufc98, Chael Sonnen (MMA), Dan Miller (MMA), Demian Maia (MMA)
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