The easy answer is both. But lets take a moment to break it down.
Above is a picture of Georges St-Pierre (UFC Welterweight champion) taking down Thiago Alves for the championship.
Having been in wrestling in the past, I will say that wrestlers have an advantage when they fight. Wrestlers dictate where the fight goes and when. You could be the best striker in the world but a good wrestler will take you down no matter what….Unless you have wrestling skills of your own.
See, wrestling is not just getting the take down, it is also defending the takedown so you do not end up on your back. Wrestlers know that they can dictate where the fight goes, they know how to shift their body weight on top of you, smothering you and interrupt your breathing.
Having a wrestler on top of you battering you is no fun and takes the energy right out of you no matter what condition you are in.
The problem with many wrestlers in MMA is that they can not finish a fight. Yes, they can dictate where the fight goes, whether standing or on the ground, but very rarely will they be finishing fights on the ground. Many just stay on top of you and perform what is called the “lay and pray”. Which means you lay on top of your opponents (because they can’t get up) and you pray for the judges to score the fight for you.
Lets move on to Jiu-jitsu
In Jiu-Jitsu, they also teach takedowns and takedown defense, but they also prepare you for every position you end up in.
When a wrestler ends up on his or her back, most of them do not know what to do.In Jiu-jitsu, there are numerous submissions you can perform off of your back if you get taken down by a wrestler.
That is Nick Diaz. He had just been taken down by Gomi. This is called a gogoplata. As soon as Nick got taken down, he slipped his left shin/foot under the neck of Gomi. He placed his right leg over Gomi’s head, giving Gomi no escape. He pulled down on Gomi’s head putting more pressure on the neck. Gomi was getting choked out and had no choice but to either pass out or tap out.
That picture above is Nate Diaz getting taken down, he wrapped his legs around Kurt Pellegrino’s head. One arm in and the other arm out. This choke squeezes the sides of your neck and causes one to pass out or tap out. Very Slick.
Here is another one. Ronda Rousey has just ended up in the bottom position against Liz Carmouche. As Liz goes in to punch her in the face, Rousey traps the right arm of Liz and whips her legs over Liz. At this point Liz is holding on for dear life. All Ronda has to do is straighten out her legs, cross them, and put her hips on the ground. The end result is this.
Here Ronda has one leg across Liz’s face and the other one across her chest. She straightens the arm out and lifts her hips. At this point it is either Liz tap out, or Ronda breaks her arm. There have been instances were people have refused to tap and end up with a broken arm, or in some cases, break right in half with the bone sticking out of the arm.
And there are many more submissions you can perform from the bottom position such as kimura’s, knee bars, and heel hooks, etc.
I believe that Jiu-Jitsu is more important in terms of fighting. While wrestling gives you many tools to win a fight, Jiu-Jitsu prepares you for every single scenario while wrestling does not.
You may think that I am biased toward jiu-jitsu, but keep in mind, I have done both. Thanks for reading.
Thomas W 