Depends on what you mean by “basics of self defense.” In the early days of Ultimate Fighting, from my vague barroom memories, I seem to recall that grapplers were constantly wiping the floors against much bigger and heavier opponents who were skilled (much more so than the “basics of self defense”) in fighting arts like boxing, karate, tae kwon doe, etc… If your discipline did not prepare you for a fight on the ground, you were toast against these guys, no matter the weight differential.
You’d be surprised. I’m 6’2", 200 lbs, have been training kickboxing, BJJ and MMA for about seven or eight years, and am a decent fighter for a hobbyist. My weight and reach give me an advantage against most of the the guys I train with at my academy, but I’ve trained with two pro fighters that I outweigh, a UFC fighter who fights at 155 and a WEC fighter who fights at 135, who I am not at all ashamed to admit would definitely and almost definitely kick my ass, respectively. I’ve sparred light contact and rolled with the 155 pounder; in stand up just his taps were bone-bruising, and on the ground he’s a Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who can tap me pretty much at will. The difference between these guys and your average amateur in both skill and conditioning is pretty huge.
So no amount of skill can overcome weight when the heavier guy knows the basics of self-defense, except when it does, then the age old truth that guys need to keep their distance kicks in? :dubious: Not sure what you think Akebono should’ve or could’ve done . . . even if it was a kickboxing match Royce would’ve eventually won (probably by decision.)
Wrestling, while a great cornerstone for any fighter, doesn’t teach one to take a hit, or even, to hit. Wrestlers have years of one type of training and most of them merely throw punches to add to their arsenal for MMA fights.
While I think Brock is highly skilled, it’s mainly in wrestling. There were many opportunities in their where he should’ve went to side guard, guillotine, or just cradle the dude and punch his lights out, but failed to do so. However, we did see the highly amusing “knee crushes spine and kidney technique” not so often employed. Brock’s first solid hit buckled Herring and he should’ve jumped on his chest, punching him to a TKO. Instead, we got some weird, but cool looking tackle that ultimately allowed Herring to turtle up and sacrifice his spine.
Matt Hughes is highly skilled, mainly in wrestling
Frank Trigg is highly skilled, mainly in wrestling
Mark Coleman is high skilled, mainly in wrestling
Mark Kerr was highly skilled, mainly in wrestling
Josh Koscheck is highly skilled, mainly in wrestling
I could go on but you get the point. It’s a base, just like the other major disciplines of MMA. You don’t hear “Jacare Souza is highly skilled, but mainly in jiu-jitsu.” Yes, most wrestlers start out not knowing how to finish, but they sure as hell know how to win, and the W from a decision looks the same as the W from a knockout or a submission.
. . . and maybe Brock knew enough to know that side control could get him omoplata’d or leglocked, mount could get him swept and mounted, Heath’s guard could get him armbarred, triangled, or swept, etc, etc, but a big aggressive Donkey Kong style smothering would confuse both of them. I mean, he is very green at jiu-jitsu, but maybe he’s at that important turning-point where he knows what he doesn’t know. The guy fought a brilliant fight. And I say that as a big fan of Heath and not so much of a Brock fan.
Is this your version of being a gentleman? Or just giving the brute “quarter”?
Or, I guess, getting yourself one. 
The mention of your dad’s attorney is what made this post for me.
Sorry, should have been ‘big’ guys. WIth that sort of weight discrepancy, I don’t think Royce could have won without the submission tactics that grappling presents. The amount of increased power you can put behind a blow when you outweigh a guy by 10 or 20 pounds (much less 120 pounds) means that the smaller fighter has to deliver a significantly greater number of blows, and take significantly fewer. Weight classes are as small (5-10 pound differentials) as they are because of the huge effect size has in a fight.
Using the Japanese belt grading system for an example, would a judan be guaranteed to beat a shodan in a competition ? Or is it possible for a significantly lesser dan to beat his/her opponent “on their day”? What differentiates the ability level of a belt holder?
I’m not sure what Akebono should’ve or could’ve done, but I can’t help thinking that option #1 for a quarter-ton man with his opponent underneath him should have been “squash the shit out of him”. :dubious:
Isn’t that about the extent of what Akebono tried to do, albeit very ineffectively? RG certainly didn’t seem the least perturbed about going to ground with his opponent.
No, he tried to pin him - I was thinking more in terms of not attempting anything much with Gracie’s arms or legs, but just keeping his weight on top of the smaller man for as long as possible. All he actually achieved was to bring his arms helpfully within reach of Gracie. I’ve just had another look at the clip and certainly in the first ground sequence, Ake’s got his weight on his knees f’criminy’s sake, when it ought to be on Roy.
I wouldn’t say “brilliant” without throwing some sort of “improvised” in there. Brilliance is when someone comes in with a plan and executes accordingly, like exploiting a weakness or turning an opponent’s advantage against him. Brock fought well, but he still shows inexperience (or maybe he didn’t want a repeat of what Mir did). I agree that it was a perfect match-up as Herring couldn’t do what he was best at to beat Brock, because Brock was just better all around.