MMA is what it is today, thanks to Jiu-Jitsu. As many know, the UFC was created by Rorion Gracie as a way to test Jiu-Jitsu against other martial arts. In the early days, Jiu-Jitsu was the clear winner. As more and more fighters began to realize that without Jiu-Jitsu, their MMA game would be severely lacking, many began to focus on Jiu-Jitsu, thus leveling the playing field.
Nowadays, being an amazing Jiu-Jitsu practitioner doesn’t guarantee you a victory. However, it’s always great to see Jiu-Jitsu win fights. Below are our 5 favorite MMA comebacks that were won last minute thanks to Jiu-Jitsu. Enjoy!
1) Frank Mir vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira / Submission: Kimura
Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira were the co-main event at UFC 140, which took place Dec. 10, 2011. The two had fought 3 years earlier and Mir had defeated Nogueira due to technical knockout. In this fight, Nogueira put on the pressure quickly in the first round and punched Mir. Mir turtled up and Nogueira kept pounding him – it almost looked like Mir was out. Then Nogueira decides to go for a guillotine. It all looked lost for Mir, but he was he was finally able to escape. The crowd goes nuts and he grabs Nogueira’s arm for a kimura. They then began to roll over several times which was awesome while still holding the kimura, until finally Mir got some stability and started cranking on his arm. Nogueira’s arm ended up breaking!
2) Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin / Submission: Arm Triangle
Shane Carwin was coming off a win of Frank Mir for interim heavyweight champion and was ready to face the current champ, Brock Lesnar at UFC 116 July 3, 2010. During this time, Brock was suffering an illness so had to pull out of previous fights due to his condition. In this fight, Lesnar survived a first round massacre. The ref almost stopped the fight several times, as Shane Carwin continued to pound Lesnar. As the 2nd round began. Lesnar is all bloodied up. He takes Carwin down and goes from full mount to the side in order to sink in the arm triangle. Amazing comeback.