Quote:
"Why don't we see more judoka in MMA? We've seen some really good ones. Rousey was a medalist, Makoto Takimoto, Akiyama, Rick Hawn was an Olympian, but there doesn't seem to be the same level of matriculation. Why is that?
I think it's a situation of culture. I've known a lot of wrestlers in my life, especially with MMA fighting. I obviously grew up in the judo scene and judo, it was never about 'fighting'. There's no real culture of fighting. For us, it was the martial arts. When you say martial arts, you wear a gi. You're bowing. You have a sensei. You're part of a lineage. That is a different culture than wrestling in high school and Division I college. It's just different.
They don't bow on the mat, that's one difference. Well, that has an effect psychologically. When I grew up, we didn't get in fights. We all were accountable because our parents understood that it's a martial art. That really helped parents really raise their kids. It's this connection of 'We don't do this, we don't do that'. Now, in wrestling, it's like, definitely good people, but there's not this - whatever it is - boundary that keeps them from wanting to fight. In judo, you see it.
I've seen so many judoka in my career that I thought would do incredible in MMA and they never once thought about it. I would even ask them. 'Oh no, I don't like MMA'. I think it's culturally. You ask a wrestler and they're like 'Yeah, yeah. That's awesome!' There's so many wrestlers coming in, but in the United States there's actually not a lot of judoka. Most of them are in Japan."
