UFC Commentator Joe Rogan Picks Best Foundation for MMA That Can Give ‘Massive Advantage’

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt holder Joe Rogan picks wrestling as the best foundation for MMA on his podcast.

UFC Commentator Joe Rogan Picks Best Foundation for MMA That Can Give ‘Massive Advantage’

Joe Rogan (Image via Instagram)

MMA fighters come from all sorts of martial arts backgrounds. In the modern day, wrestling, striking and jiu-jitsu are the three prominent foundations to succeed as an MMA fighter. Recently, UFC commentator Joe Rogan picked what he thought was the best foundation for MMA.

Rogan’s two decades plus experience commentating for the UFC has brought him a wealth of knowledge. He recently had rising prospect Ethyn Ewing on his podcast. The duo discussed a variety of topics related to MMA.

Ewing brought up the benefit of having elite wrestling skills, which can play a role in improving the striking as well as submission skills of a fighter. Rogan agreed with the statement and went on detail why wrestling was the best foundation to have a massive advantage in MMA.

If you could figure out how to be a great wrestler, you can figure out anything. It’s just a matter of taking that same focus that turned you into a great wrestler and applying it to whatever else you’re trying to do… It’s the best foundation for MMA, for sure, because if you can take a guy down and he can’t, that’s a massive advantage.

Joe Rogan via JRE MMA Show #185

Ewing then said that once someone has a good wrestling foundation, improving the boxing skills should be the next step. The rising prospect believed that wrestling along with boxing helps a fighter figure out the rest and succeed against most fighters.

There are a lot of examples of wrestling-based fighters winning a UFC title with average striking and submissions skills. Merab Dvalishvili and Belal Muhammad are two major examples.

Using their wrestling, Dvalishvili and Muhammad controlled their fights to win decisions. They both had a very long winning streak and went on to capture the title of their respective divisions.

This is what Rogan was referring to when he talked about a massive advantage. Opponents were able to wobble Dvalishvili, but he would use his superior wrestling to tire them out and win a decision.

Nevertheless, in recent times, fighters are trying their hardest to keep their bouts standing to not give the wrestler any advantages. The best example of that is Song Yadong defending takedown attempts from Umar Nurmagomedov before knocking him out on the feet.

Hence, it is not a forgone conclusion that wrestlers can come out on top in MMA. Having a wrestling background can help massively against lesser level fighters like Ewing said. However, it is a different story at the top of every division.

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Ethyn Ewing tells Joe Rogan about what most fighters lack in MMA

Ethyn Ewing shocked the MMA community with his short-notice victory over knockout artist Malcolm Wellmaker at UFC 322. Ewing used his jab to disrupt the style of Wellmaker and used timely takedowns to secure victory.

Joe Rogan had Ethyn Ewing on his podcast recently
Joe Rogan had Ethyn Ewing on his podcast recently (Image via YouTube/ABC News)

This year, Ewing knocked out the previously undefeated Rafael Estevam in the third round to extend his winning run in the UFC. The rising prospect defended 8 takedown attempts from Estevam before landing a body shot TKO.

Ewing has shown a well-rounded skillset so far. However, what stands out more than anything is his jabs. In both fights, Ewing used the jabs to control the striking exchanges and disrupt the plans of his opponents. He spoke about the effectiveness of jabs to Rogan on the JRE podcast.

I think that’s the most frustrating thing when I watch MMA or UFC fights, and watch the majority of the guys never use a jab. It’s always this big overhand right, I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ You have two hands.

Ethyn Ewing via JRE MMA Show #185

Joe Rogan agreed with Ewing’s point about most fighters not using the jabs properly. Mastering the jab will make a fighter’s striking skills improve massively.

The most recent example is Sean Strickland using his jabs to control the striking exchanges against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328. Strickland had a busted right shoulder, but that didn’t prevent him using his left hand to jab Chimaev to a decision victory.

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