Rodrigo Comprido Speaks on Brock Lesnar

by Michael Rome on Jun 25, 2008 2:17 PM EDT in News Comment 22 comments

Gracie Mag has a great interview up with Rodrigo Comprido covering his training with Brock Lesnar:

GRACIEMAG.com: A lot of people think he doesn't know any ground fighting. What's your assessment of his Jiu-Jitsu level and how far do you intend to go with him?
Comprido: The guy's a world class wrestler, US champion. It's impossible that he doesn't know anything about fighting on the ground. He has a really good base, and he positions himself well. The guy is always open to learning new things, or in other words, he's the student every teacher wishes they had. Of course there are things to improve and I hope to help him with the Jiu-Jitsu part. Sooner or later he'll have to face Rodrigo Minotauro, who's the best MMA fighter I've ever seen fight. But he's focused on his next fight and is not thinking about that yet. I'm aware of the fact that he's way above average and that I can help him conquer the UFC belt or that of any other event he wishes to compete in.

GRACIEMAG.com: A lot is said, as well, about his absurd strength and optimal physical conditioning. Is he really that strong, well prepared and so good a wrestler?
Comprido: His strength really is extraordinary, he's by far the strongest guy I've ever coached. But he's so aware of that that during training he uses very little strength (which is more than enough). [laughs] Not just anybody becomes wrestling champion of the United States. I think few in MMA wouldn't get taken down by him in seconds.

It's always worth remembering that a guy's coach is never going to badmouth him, but I think Lesnar has a legitimate chance against Herring. If he is so used to dealing with Comprido's jiu jitsu every day in the gym, Herring's shouldn't be much of a problem, but you never know what will happen in the heat of a fight.

Thanks to Five Ounces of Pain for the picture.

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I don’t think Herring is gonna pose any problems for Brock…unless he purchased some magic takedown defense from BJ Penn or something.

by Tha Realness on Jun 25, 2008 2:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Is there any chance McCarthy will get the unified rules changed to allow knees on the ground before this fight? Because that’s the only way I see Herring winning.

by George Lucas on Jun 25, 2008 2:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I dunno

Brock trained for quite a while before the Mir fight – and you know he trained at staying out of leg locks at some point. Is 6 more months going to get him to a level where he needs to be to fight a guy like Herring? There’s a reason it takes years to become proficient at BJJ. I’m no master, but my friends who train say that the hardest part isn’t pulling off submissions – it’s keeping yourself out of trouble. Learning where to keep your arms and legs is hard enough – but since this is MMA, posture and distance are even more important to avoid strikes. Is Lesnar such a fantastic athlete that he can pick this up faster than anyone else? (I say no: the majority of his “athleticism” is roids.)

I mean, Herring isn’t the world’s greatest submission guy, but unless Lesnar has vastly improved, he’s going to get caught again. All those muscles and all that strength probably haven’t given Brock a whole lot of flexibility, meaning that it’s going to be even easier to submit him than a regular shmoe.

I don’t want to repeat too much of what I said leading up to the Mir fight or even the BJ/Sherk fight, but it all applies here: Brock has a lot of skills that can support a good MMA game, but he doesn’t have any actual offensive skills. I mean, what are his ways to win? Stand-up? Doubtful. Submission? Please. Ground ‘n pound? Wouldn’t he need some kind of submission defense for that? Lots of takedowns and lay ‘n pray? Sure. You got me. He can be another human blanket. If he can avoid being submitted.

All of that being said, I don’t see what Brock has to offer MMA except for access to the pro wrestling fan-base. The guy just doesn’t have any of the tools to win. If he had come in back when wrestlers first started invading the game, he could have used his skills the same way guys like Mark Coleman and Dan Severn did to find success while developing his game. But the sport has advanced so much that you can’t have these giant holes in your game, and being an expert in just one thing isn’t going to cut it anymore. Especially if that one thing isn’t one of the ways to win.

Herring on the other hand? Crafty son-of-a-bitch. He’s won plenty of fights by submission, and has a very well-rounded game. Can he handle Lesnar’s strength and size? He handled Giant Silva, which isn’t a great comparison, I admit, but don’t tell me Lesnar is stronger than a guy who weighs 388 and has to carry all that weight around all day.

I’m picking Herring, by submission, first round. You can say I’m just repeating the same thing that happened against Mir, but I saw that one coming too. :-P

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jun 25, 2008 3:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Also?

Can we get BE a favicon? It just gets lost in the tab bar without one…I’ll do it if nobody else is willing, if there’ s a way for it to work with the SBNation publishing software. The alternative is that I make one and run a greasemonkey script to insert it into the site manually. :-)

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jun 25, 2008 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

if you would be so kind, I'll check with the SBN guys

by Kid Nate on Jun 25, 2008 4:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Okay

I’ll try to work something up – just a white BE on a red background would be better than nothing!

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jun 27, 2008 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

“Is Lesnar such a fantastic athlete that he can pick this up faster than anyone else?”

Maybe not faster than anyone else, but as a national champion wrestler, he is a fantastic athlete. No question. We should see his submission defense improve significantly, as I’m sure this has been his focus since his last fight.

I like Brock’s chances. He took Mir down twice and landed many effective shots to the face. Herring isn’t nearly as skilled as Mir in submissions. I see him trying to stand up and trade strikes with Brock – and he’ll eventually get taken down and pounded.

by steak_knife on Jun 25, 2008 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Given that Mir had a serious advantage on the ground, how hard was he working to avoid the take-down?

And my contention is that while Mir is a slick-ass submission specialist, even somebody with rudimentary skills should be able to beat Brock.

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jun 27, 2008 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m with you in the sense that I think Herring will probably find a way to catch Lesnar in a submission. The biggest caveat I have is that I think Lesnar might be big enough and strong enough to knock Herring out if he can catch him, either standing, or on the ground, with those giant hams he calls hands.

I think Herring looked so much better the last time out - so much fitter, so much more focused on fighting, etc. - that I think he’ll be very prepared and focused for this fight. I don’t know if he’ll get Lesnar in the first round, but if he can survive the shots Lesnar will try to land, I like Herring’s chances of getting a submission at some point.

by Kierkegaard on Jun 25, 2008 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He still...

looked like a guy who didn’t have the good sense to fight a smart fight though.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work." -- Thomas Edison

by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 26, 2008 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well

Maybe that’s the change he’ll make for this fight. :-)

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jun 27, 2008 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Have you seen many of Herring’s fights? He’s nowhere near the submission threat of Mir. Not even close. And his guard is awrful.

You think Brock has no offensive skills? He put Mir down with a punch on the feet. He hurt Mir bad with GNP in a 90 second fight. Herring is bad at avoiding damage, and we know he can’t stop takedowns. Herring is not catching Lesnar in an armbar or triangle, so Lesnar has free reign to smash Herring.

And Lesnar’s athleticism is not steroids. That’s an incredibly uninformed statement. Lesnar is a freakish athlete, and an NCAA champ wrestler. If you think an athlete with the wrestling background of Lesnar, training at Minnesota Martial Arts academy and bringing in BJJ experts like Cumprido has nothing to offer MMA, I’d suggest that you follow the sport more closely, because Brock has all the attributes of a guy who could be a champion at HW.

by Hardcharger on Jun 25, 2008 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’d also argue that if Lesnar was given a warning on the back-of-the-head strikes (like he should have been) instead of being deducted a point and stood up that he would have finished Mir there. Mir was hurt and Lesnar was still fresh so I expect it wouldn’t have gone the same way.

I expect a repeat of O’brien with maybe a little more stand up but Lesnar actually pounding Herring out.

And this is from a Herring fan.

by pr0cs on Jun 25, 2008 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dunno

I still say, if you watch the replay, that Mir was setting up an armbar when the ref stopped it.

I don’t think he was as hurt as people like to say he was.

by mythbuster on Jun 25, 2008 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree. I think Lesner’s punches didn’t have anything on them. He was throwing hammer fists, but getting no weight behind them. He was punching with all arm. BUT Jake O’Brien is a pure wrestler and Lesner may be able to coast by on wrestling alone if he come in looking for the W and not try to do anything fancy. I gave Lesner ZERO chance to beat Mir, but I think he might beat Herring, but thats a big might. Jorge Gurgel might beat some one if he would stick to a game plan, but I am not willing to stake my rep on Gurgel or Lesner sticking to a game plan.

by szucconi on Jun 25, 2008 10:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’d agree with you, but I though his hammer fists were all shoulder – like he was an action figure with a fixed-bent elbow joint and he was just rotating at the shoulder. No speed on that whatsoever.

Of course, with hands and arms that big, you don’t need that much speed to get a lot of force… Go go gadget HGH! :-)

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jun 27, 2008 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Watch it again

Lesnar was given a warning. Pornstache said he did, and somebody did an audio-enhancement that proved that he was warned. I think if you did a search you could turn it up…

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jun 27, 2008 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, yes I’ve seen Herring’s fights. And to respond to:

“He’s nowhere near the submission threat of Mir.”

I think I wrote: “Herring isn’t the world’s greatest submission guy, but unless Lesnar has vastly improved, he’s going to get caught again.” So yeah, thanks for telling me what I already know. :-)

“He put Mir down with a punch on the feet.”

What I saw was that he put him down with a push on the feet.

“He hurt Mir bad with GNP in a 90 second fight.”

So bad that Mir was working on one sub when they first stopped it, and finished him with a second. Then popped right up and took a victory lap. Lesnar’s striking on the ground looked amateurish: no technique whatsoever.

“training at Minnesota Martial Arts academy “

Yes, that does a lot to make me think he’s not on steroids. Is MMAA the new Hammer House?

“Brock has all the attributes of a guy who could be a champion at HW.”

Except wins over decent competition. And a striking game. And a submission game. And submission defense. Except for those few things, you’re right! we should give him the belt now!

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jun 27, 2008 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow

“The guy just doesn’t have any of the tools to win.”

What a ridiculous statement. You are telling me that a NCAA champion wrestler has no tools?

Also, what facts do you have that he is on roids? Have you done any investigating. Im pretty sure the NCAA tests for that kind of stuff as does the NFL. You shouldnt make those comments without facts, it makes me not want to read the rest of your post.

I understand that the fanposts is for opinions, but I think yours is way off base. In my opinion, he will be a great fighter.

Read My Blog
"Life's tough, tougher if you're stupid."

by Brandon Jones on Jun 25, 2008 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

WOW

You really didn’t bother to read my post, did you? Most people say that, but they go ahead and read what they’re responding to. You know, in order to avoid looking like an ass and all.

My point wasn’t that he has no “tools” – it’s that he has no offense. What sort of striking techniques do NCAA champion wrestlers practice, I wonder? Oh, none? Well then, what about submissions? Yeah, none of that either. Okay! Wrestling gives you “tools” that support an offensive or defensive strategy, but they aren’t an offense on their own.

If you have no reason to think he’s on steroids, then I guess you’ve never bothered to look at him. Oh crap! Are you blind? Cause if you are, I should a) apologize, and b) point out that Brock Lesnar is clearly on steroids. Kthnxbye!

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones

by jemaleddin on Jun 27, 2008 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs