I’m pay-per-viewing that mutha. Actually, I think Chuck may have a bad night. He doesn’t do the type of close infighting that Jackson does very well. Not to mention that Jackson has an iron head. Not as tough as somebody like, say, Don Frye, but definitely not easy to take out with one massive strategic bomb.
Not so much that as the format. The “no gi” rule, for one. A gi gives a BJJ guy traction, handles, and chokes, and taking away the gi deprives him of that part of his arsenal. Timed rounds is another. If time isn’t a factor, a grappler in good position can tire his opponent by making him waste his energy and struggle unecessarily, which gives the grappler the opportunity to slowly work for better and better position like a python, or to completely gas his opponent to the point where he can’t resist a submission at all.
Worse than that, though, is standing up grounded fighters for “inactivity.” If you’re in good ground position and your opponent is wasting all his energy struggling against you, inactivity isn’t a bad thing; it means your opponent is getting gassed and you’re not. You can’t play that war of attrition under modern rules, because you’ll get stood back up. Even actively seeking the submission can get you stood back up if you take too long. I understand it’s to keep audiences from being bored to tears, but it takes away from the ground game and gives a big advantage to strikers.