I was hoping sub only rules would see a seismic shift towards MMA-compatible BJJ, but now I worry we are simply going to see competitors gaming the (lack of) rules in a similar fashion to what's happened in top level points based competitions. How do we get the ship back on course and produce the calibre and quantity of UFC athlete who'll genuinely challenge for the title? Or has that time passed? 
As long as there's no punches thrown in Subonly or point BJJ, leg locks will be huge, there's no way around that. And according to Hayastan, leglocks should not be your A game in MMA, Karo and Manny have both told me this. They say going for leglocks in Mma is very dangerous.
That aside, to be successful in the Subonly game your submissions have to be on point. To be successful in point BJJ your submissions don't need to be on point.
IMO when it's all said and done, subonly champions will be more successful in getting submissions in MMA than point BJJ champions.
But the best grappling competition format for MMA is without a doubt Combat Jiu Jitsu. Unfortunately, I was only able to put 2 cjj matches together, couldn't find any competitors to go against my guys. I have around 20 students ready for cjj but I've searched high and low for competition but only 2 people stepped up. So that's why I shifted my focus to EBI and Subonly. Ultimately my goal is to have a 16 man cjj EBI tournament, but it could take forever to find competitors other than 10p guys. 
Eddie-Would you ever compromise with Royce and do a cjj match instead of an MMA match?
I don't think Royce would take it and it would make all his talking go away. On top of that, you could get some good publicity for cjj. I don't think that many people know about it.
The best format for Bjj is to practice with punches.
checkuroil - The best format for Bjj is to practice with punches.
Yup.
Both Sub-only rules and IBJJF rules allow and reward techniques that would not be good for MMA.
Foos -checkuroil - The best format for Bjj is to practice with punches.
Yup.
Both Sub-only rules and IBJJF rules allow and reward techniques that would not be good for MMA.
Agreed. I've done both sub only and points but to best prepare someone for MMA you have to roll with strikes. Eddie's combat jiu jitsu is a good idea if he can get enough interest.
IBJJF fournaments now seem so focused on getting advantages over getting concrete positions to submit. Also especially with gi, takedowns are not very important, at least in the nogi tournaments there is a bit more emphasis on wrestling.
The problem with sub-only is often passing the guard is not worth the effort, which is why so often you see people going for leg locks. Many open guard variations it is easier to just attack the feet than pass.
When I do mma training my passing changes completely, I like standing passes now and in modern jiu jitsu often people make no effort to stand back up, but with MMA I have to also keep them down while passing and have to use more low smash passes.
When I roll I'm a bit reckless with submission attempts but in MMA top control generally means I can hit people better than they can do to me so I can't be as reckless.
I did a regional ADCC tournament which I felt was probably the best format for MMA because you have to be able to get takedowns (-1 for pulling guard when points kick in) and with no points for the first half you can attempt to get the takedown without worry.
Not all leglocks are dangerous for mma. The calf crank from the truck and the vaporizor are super safe for Mma, that's why 10p has been heavy on those particular leglocks from day 1. It's impossible to get punched in these positions.
Geo is the EBI featherweight and bantamweight champ and he's hit the calf crank 4 times in my tournament including one in the finals of EBI 2 against Cobrina black belt Fabio Passos.
That siad, CJJ is still without a doubt the best grappling tournament format to prepare grapplers for a career in MMA
You have to allow slams as well. Well placed takedowns with striking changes bjj so much.
Getting rid of spats and rash guards is also key. Unified rules dont allow either making sub percentages change drastically.
Sub only forces people to drill subs.
Points BJJ you are probably going to spend most of your time drilling sweeps and passes.
Curious to hear what the rules are for combat jiu jitsu.
CJJ is wrestling standing and as soon as one person is grounded it's MMA
Eddie I'm curious how often do your guys train with strikes to prep them for combat jiu jitsu?
EddieBravo - CJJ is wrestling standing and as soon as one person is grounded it's MMA
That sounds awesome!
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