Firas Zahabi is a renowned mixed martial arts coach who has trained many top UFC stars including Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald. In a recent clip, Zahabi provided insightful commentary on how the use of PEDs impacts the teaching and practice of jiu-jitsu.
According to Zahabi, PED use allows some coaches and competitors to rely too heavily on brute force rather than proper technique. He stated, “They’re just thinking about, like, I gotta get stronger. How how could I apply force on this man’s body? But they have a limited level of, like, thinking about it.”
Zahabi explained that instructors on PEDs may be able to overwhelm students with raw strength rather than teaching the principles of leverage, angles, and efficiency that are core to jiu-jitsu. “The stuff he does won’t work for you. It just won’t work,” he said of roid-using coaches.
While admitting PED use can make coaches and athletes effective at a competitive level in the short-term, Zahabi argued it comes at the cost of true mastery. “They’re not that technical…because they’re on ster*ids, they can surpass the more technical guys. Yes. Absolutely.”
He also claimed very few elite jiu-jitsu competitors are natural athletes since the sport does not properly test for PEDs. “There are very few natural guys…even the guys with the best technique” are likely using PEDs according to Zahabi.
The respected coach’s candid comments highlight how PED use undermines the coreValues of jiu-jitsu as a technique-based martial art. His insights serve as a cautionary tale about the risks of the win-at-all-costs mentality overtaking the sport’s more philosophical foundations.
