Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra has never been one to mince words and his recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience was no exception. During a wide-ranging conversation that touched on everything from pizza to politics Serra dropped a particularly candid observation about the current state of jiu-jitsu competition that’s sure to ruffle some feathers in the grappling community.
“I can’t even watch some jiu-jitsu matches. I watch it’s just f***ing a lot of scissoring.”
It’s a blunt assessment from someone who’s been deeply embedded in the martial arts world for decades both as a competitor and coach at his Ground Control academy on Long Island.
Serra’s frustration with modern jiu-jitsu seems to stem from what many longtime practitioners have observed: the sport’s evolution toward increasingly technical often stagnant positions that prioritize point-scoring over dynamic action. The “scissoring” he refers to likely points to the prevalence of guard work and leg entanglements that can create lengthy stalemates particularly at the highest levels of competition.
His students Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili are both (former and current) UFC champions who compete in bro-style BJJ but they’re vocal about the prevalence of guard pulling in competitive jiu-jitsu. Sterling criticized the tactic after a loss in grappling competition:
“I didn’t even know how they score that! Another man can’t drag his a** cheeks from the mat and that’s a win, doing absolutely nothing. Yeah, the sport is Jiu-jitsu guys. But I guarantee you if that was a street match my man wouldn’t do that sh**. So why are we turning the sport into some type of weird spectacle where you can win a match off of your back doing absolutely nothing?”
Craig Jones also weighed in on the issue during an interview on MMA Hour:
“I tell you what, I totally agree with him. Like I mean we like we look very gay in what we do, you know. But at the same time if I look at another man across especially as an Australian we didn’t grow up with any wrestling if I look at another man and I go ‘that guy can wrestle’ well god damn it. I’m gonna sit down before he takes me down.”
Even Ben Kovacs boss of FloGrappling has questioned why the UFC BJJ signed Mikey Musumeci who used single-leg baits to avoid guard pulling. Kovacs remarked:
“Mikey is almost like the opposite of an MMA fans dream right? He comes out he scoots on his butt across the mat he sticks one leg up in the air. It’s certainly the opposite sort from an MMA stylistic standpoint of what you would expect if you’re trying to convert that traditional UFC base over.”
On the other hand Tiger Muay Thai head coach Henle defended guard pulling noting the frustration it can cause but emphasizing its legitimacy:
“Does it suck when little guys are going for your legs? Absolutely. I hate it. It’s like forgetting to put your mosquito spray on and then going on at dusk in Thailand. It’s annoying. If you want to wrestle there’s a freestyle wrestling tournament. We can ship you to Russia. Somebody will kick your a*s and throw you over the top. I get that you want to do wrestling. I get it. I do. But I like doing jujitsu.”
Serra’s blunt take echoed by his students and fellow grapplers reflects a growing debate in the jiu-jitsu world: should competition evolve for entertainment and MMA utility or remain true to the intricate often slow technical grappling that defines the sport?
