Sperry holds a number of grappling titles but has failed to capture the same amount of success in MMA. His grappling partners seem to have much more heart than Sperry and fight at a notch above him.
What is Sperry missing that Busta and Nog have when it comes to MMA?
This thread will be huge.
WTF ?! How is Sperry lacking heart ? Did you see the fight w/ Ninja ? He's all heart. He's older than the other guys on his team, but he still choked out Igor Vovchanchin when nobody gave him a chance.
Lol, this thread will explode in 5....4....3....2....1....
ttt for the militant BJJ cult
Personally I'd say finishing ability. In all of the fights I've seen him in he plays a very conservative game of very textbook BJJ. He comes forward with a high clinch trip, does a standard underneath pass, takes the side, passes to mount, and then throws 1-2's until someone gives their back...which they may or may not do. From there he likes to ride the clock and make opponents make the rest of the moves. He doesn't have Arona's ability to stabilize opponents or Busta/Nog's aggression to go for a sub. As time wears on and his opponents get more explosive, he's reduced to playing for a decision and risking blowing his 'lead' when his opponent goes for broke.
Against Bencic and Igor he came out with a lot more aggression, but usually he always seems like he's waiting for a round to end every time he does anything.
I've always looked at Sperry as being Arona, but without the ability to overpower people when necessary.
Its hard to both teach and train at the same time. Both are full time jobs. Alot of fighters who also teach have realised this. Eventually most opt to focus on teaching.
Word on the street is that now Sperry will focus solely on teaching and organizing fights for his students. This will be a good time for BTT.
The person who put out that inflated record was Carlson Gracie, Sperry's manager and coach at the time. Sperry wasnt responsible for it.
Sperry is a true warrior.
The excitment factor is just not there. Other guys on his team have that sudden explosion of a surprise technique or flurry that Sperry doesn't seem to have. He's just very consistant. Which is good but not exciting.
Domingo hit it on the head.
Sperry's sport BJJ game is great becasue he can dictate top position. He's a great guard passer and has good takedowns for sport BJJ so he can force guys to give himt he top position and win. In ADCC he's had better takedowns than most of the guys he's faced and in ADCC it's all about being on top sicne you lose a point every time you go to the guard position. So you don't even have to do anything to win. Sperry ahs never been a great sub guy.I cna't htink of more than a couple guys he's sub'd in the more than 300 matches he's had. He's a great position guy. That's great for sport BJJ or sub wrestling but not for MMA.
While watching Day of the Zen, I noticed the respect he gets from his teamates, but he does not put out the same MMA performance. He is a great communicator but lacks the ability to use his BJJ to finish fights. While Busta and Nog seem at home with their BJJ when they are fighting MMA. Sperry often times seems lethargic when he fights.
I thought Sperry had the highest sub% in BJJ when he was fighting? I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere and the fights I've seen of him show that he is a good finisher - he just prefers to finish from on top.
"The person who put out that inflated record was Carlson Gracie, Sperry's manager and coach at the time. Sperry wasnt responsible for it. "
Where does your info come from?
Sperry and Busta are the same age and they both teach at BTT, yet Busta is recognized as a better fighter than Sperry. Why is that?
Sperry only has like what, 3 losses? is that a big
deal? Plus the Igor loss was kind of a fluke, not
taking anything away from Igor but it was kind of a
lucky knee
Out of Sperry's 10 wins, only Igor was a topflight fighter imop.
he took out igor more easily than anyone up to that point
I think Sperry has accomplished a lot in MMA as well as sport BJJ....and he has trained tons of great fighters and grapplers
His wife takes most of his aggression...hehehe...
No but seriously...he reminds me of a lot of the pure old school BJJ guys...they like to RIDE their opponents out. Not sacrificing position for submission. BUSTA strong boxing base I think gives him the edge over Sperry way of fighting. BUSTA getting mount would over whelm his opponents with strikes. Sperry simply likes to ride them and go for a kimura or a rear naked or a side choke. Every1 is different. And I think it's too late for Sperry( old dawg ) to change his formula.
Lucky has a good point. When you watch Sperry, he does not seem to have a "killer instinct". It almost feels like he does not put it all out there when he fights.
Whitewhale, I'm talking about Sperry's MMA success, not his grappling success.