On the Simple Man Podcast, hosted by B Team’s Ethan Crelinsten and Damien Anderson, legendary MMA coach Firas Zahabi shared his bold prediction that jiu-jitsu is poised for a dramatic comeback in mixed martial arts.
Zahabi, known for coaching UFC champions including Georges St-Pierre, joined Muay Thai and MMA coach Elton Wells of Austin, Texas, for an in-depth conversation about the evolution of combat sports.
“I think it’s going to go full circle,” Zahabi stated during the podcast. “I think the jiu-jitsu guys are going to come back and dominate one day, completely.”
The respected coach pointed to the relative youth of jiu-jitsu compared to other martial arts disciplines as a key factor in its future dominance.
“Jiu-jitsu is so young compared to wrestling, boxing. It’s so young compared to Muay Thai in terms of mainstream, being mainstream,” he explained.
Zahabi noted the sport’s explosive growth rate, mentioning,
“I think from what I saw last, it was the second fastest growing sport in the world. Like, jiu-jitsu is coming up quick.”
What makes Zahabi’s prediction particularly interesting is his theory about how jiu-jitsu practitioners will evolve their approach to takedowns. Rather than relying solely on traditional wrestling techniques, he believes future competitors will develop innovative methods to bring opponents to the ground.
“They’re going to perfect how they get the fight to the ground in jiu-jitsu ways. They’re not going to use direct wrestling,” Zahabi explained.
While acknowledging that conventional takedowns like double legs, single legs, and body lock throws will remain part of the arsenal, he foresees techniques that will catch wrestlers off guard.
“They’re going to find a way to get wrestlers to the ground in ways that wrestlers are not familiar. Like rolling for knee bars, jumping into a leg entanglement of some sort,” he continued.
The ultimate evolution, according to Zahabi, will be a seamless integration of wrestling and jiu-jitsu techniques.
“There’s going to be a time where they’re going to marry wrestling and jiu-jitsu so well that you cannot avoid the ground,” he concluded.
This perspective from one of MMA’s most respected coaches suggests that while striking has dominated the sport in recent years, practitioners should prepare for a potential shift back toward ground-based techniques as jiu-jitsu continues to evolve and innovate.
