WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia has never been shy about his appreciation for mixed martial arts, but a recent hands-on experience with Brazilian jiu-jitsu left the boxing superstar with a humbling new perspective on just how difficult the sport truly is.
Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, Garcia opened up about stepping onto the mat with some high-level BJJ practitioners, and the results were not exactly what he had in mind.
“I’ve tried wrestling. Well, wrestling I’m pretty good at, but I tried BJJ,” Garcia told Helwani. “I’m cool. Like, at the end of the day, you guys have that. You guys will always be able to choke me out. I’m cool. I don’t even want to deal with it. I would need five years of training or something to even try.”
Garcia, who is business partners with Conor McGregor through Mac Energy, said he decided to give rolling a chance out of curiosity. The wrestling portion went reasonably well, but things changed quickly the moment it went to the ground.
“Once it went to the ground, it was like a spider monkey was on my back,” he said. “I didn’t know where it was coming from. And then I was just like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then all of a sudden my arm did an arm bar and I had to tap out. And then I was like, ‘All right, let’s keep going again.’ And then it just never got better.”
When asked whether he tapped or went to sleep, Garcia kept it brief.
“I tapped. I’m not trying to go to sleep,” he said.
Garcia laughed off the experience, but the underlying message was one of genuine respect. When Helwani pointed out that Garcia is one of the few boxers who actually follows and enjoys MMA rather than looking down on it, the 147-pound (66.7 kg) champion did not hesitate.
“Yeah, I love MMA, man. I love the UFC. I love everybody a part of it,” Garcia said.
As for any future ambitions in the grappling arts, Garcia was straightforward.
“You guys will always be able to choke me out,” he said with a laugh. “Maybe one day, Ariel. Maybe one day.”
