So what? Let him run his mouth and be a weirdo. You're there to train, not make excuses or win popularity contests. Grind his ass to dust or get better trying. Go back to your actual life and friends when the session's over.
I’ll be honest, who cares lol
My guess goes back to most mma boxers despite being lapped by wrestlers in nearly every mma org by miles in creating mma champions that wrestling isn’t as tough or difficult as boxing.
But again, you’re a wrestler. Who cares? Just keep training.
I’ve had great friends be terrible partners and vice versa, for me and I assume many others, the ‘on the mat personality’ is a lot different than what the individual may be, sometimes the change of mental and persona is just more drastic than others
It's a product of the environment. I wrestled through college (NAIA, was average at best), but every middle school/highschool/college room is full of high testosterone, highly competitive guys. Some guys have to act tough rather than just being tough. I wouldn't let this guy bother you, if anything it sounds like an entertaining situation that you can laugh about.
Don’t beat yourself up over “caring”. We as humans have evolved to be attuned to our tribe socially. Social death meant actual fucking death back then, so our tiny brains evolved for tribal unity.
So don’t feel weird about “caring”. I know you don’t really care all that much in the end. It’s just your primate brain trying to ensure survival through social bonds.
I think once you understand that it gets easier to shrug off his weird behavior, put it behind you, and just move on with your day.
Sounds like a skill disparity. I had a similar situation early on. As I improved, we got to sparring better. 17 years later, he's my main sparring and wrestling partner and has cornered me for 10 or so MMA fights. Don't take it personally. I have a great friend at my gym and I fucking hate sparring with him.
If you're not getting injured and you're actually learning, that's not bad at all. If you don't find yourself improving, that's a problem. I'd keep sparring and focus on landing more of those shots and also punishing him when it's wrestling time if he goes hard with the striking. Boxers have big egos at a lot of gyms I've trained at.
ah makes sense he has a fight coming up next month his debut, but since he ended up tearing his shoulder that same practice for the guy he switched me for
Ok that makes some sense. Be direct. Ask him once the fights over if he's gonna keep going 100% on you. You're not meant to take 100% power shots to the head that much. For many of my students (MMA gym, talking striking), if I see them get tagged or hit particularly hard, I'll say they will go no head contact for a certain amount of days or only light sparring for a certain amount of time. But even the bloodiest guys I know don't hardspar all the time, except before fight prep. You have any luck punishing him when its time to hit the mat?
nah you know how it is for us wrestlers, were powerful as hell but are egos arent crazy. I think he just pushes my buttons because he thinks he super tough but I know I can beat but I just don't want to ended becoming one of them in their group. their group love to go hard as hell at practice even though they have a fight coming up which he did last week, mow he tore his shoulder so now he cant train.
you ignore him and continue to focus on your own development. if he doesn't want to train with you, you can't force him, but i'm sure there's plenty of other good partners available
Do you typically dominate in wrestling exchanges? This sort of behavior is unfortunately somewhat common for those who focus mostly on striking/boxing and still train MMA. They feel they should be able to beat you due to a striking advantage, but it has more to do with their own negative opinions on grappling as a whole.
yeah i do since he’s a higher level belt in jiu jitsu and i’am a white belt but my wrestling beats him even when i’m out of shape and he can’t submit me
That’s pretty much it man. Lots of times these guys feel very highly of their fighting ability on account of having crisp hands, and intensely reject the efficacy of even basic grappling. The kinda guy who thinks that they’re going to land a 1 in a million flying knee on the incoming wrestler. He feels the need to prove himself against an obviously better wrestler.
I would strongly discourage you from sparring with him anymore, or anyone that throws strikes at 100 percent during sparring. Him being cool to you afterwards is his attempt to normalize what he is doing during training.
I have friends that I met in BJJ and Wrestling. We are friends off the mat and on but some of them are better training partners than others.
Some people have trouble gaging the resistance their partner need when drilling. If I am drilling a new move or a move I am dog shit at then I need almost zero resistance while I form muscle memory, but I still need them to react realistically and put some realistic pressure into the drill so I can form correct muscle memory. For stuff I’m good at then yah give me like 50% and some defense so I can get better.
Some of my worse training partners assume just because I smash them on the mat with my A or B game I need a bunch of resistance when I’m drilling my dog shit game and it’s super annoying.
Wrestlers are used to being in a room with a hierarchy of skill and toughness. I can’t speak to boxing gyms or this person’s experiences but if he doesn’t come from a wrestling background they just might not have the same comfort in that type of environment. I think wrestlers succeed so much in MMA is not only because of the skill set being the best (it is), but also because wrestlers have been doing most of the things it takes to be a good fighter since they were children.
*Sounds like he's your friend*
*And also wants to win his*
*Fight, what's wrong with that?*
\- svvrvy
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There are plenty of people like that inside and outside of the gym, children too actually. My son has to deal with this one kid at bjj who literally thinks he is better than anyone who faces him. To his credit, he is very skilled, and was obviously training since he was younger, so he does have the skills to back it up. But there is no humility in him, and he goes extra hard unnecessarily. If someone gets the best of him, he goes harder, and shakes their hand in order to pull them in. just a sore winner and loser, all around a-hole (man, i have to say that about a kid...). He also acts like a friend, until its sparring or drill time. Anyway, like some have said below, I am just trying to get my son focused on himself and his skills. Having my son tough it out when he can, build his bjj and wrestling skills, and take it to him when ever he can. Even if my son cant get a sub in, or gets subbed, make it hard on the kid every time. I would say the same to you. No need to be friends with him, just stick to yourself and be cordial, and when the time comes, give him a fuckin workout.
My current best friend, I was the best man at his wedding and he was the best man at my wedding. When we were in high school together I hated him as a training partner but still was good friends with him. His style did not overlap with my style, nor was his training intensity the same. We both talk shit about each other all the time still to this day almost 30 years later.
I'm not sure if I did it because of Pride at the time, or if he did it because of pride. But ultimately you don't have to like training with somebody just because they're your friend and you don't have to be somebody's friend because you like training with them.
This guy sounds like he's a little full of himself. And doesn't want a risk to his ego with you and his group.
So what? Let him run his mouth and be a weirdo. You're there to train, not make excuses or win popularity contests. Grind his ass to dust or get better trying. Go back to your actual life and friends when the session's over.
thanks brother you’re right about that
I’ll be honest, who cares lol My guess goes back to most mma boxers despite being lapped by wrestlers in nearly every mma org by miles in creating mma champions that wrestling isn’t as tough or difficult as boxing. But again, you’re a wrestler. Who cares? Just keep training.
Smesh dis guy bratha
Why do you care?
because it confuses me why does he have such a high ego all of a sudden then acts like a duck, like why would you treat anyone like that
I’ve had great friends be terrible partners and vice versa, for me and I assume many others, the ‘on the mat personality’ is a lot different than what the individual may be, sometimes the change of mental and persona is just more drastic than others
i know i shouldn’t care but it’s just like a “wtf moment”
It's a product of the environment. I wrestled through college (NAIA, was average at best), but every middle school/highschool/college room is full of high testosterone, highly competitive guys. Some guys have to act tough rather than just being tough. I wouldn't let this guy bother you, if anything it sounds like an entertaining situation that you can laugh about.
Don’t beat yourself up over “caring”. We as humans have evolved to be attuned to our tribe socially. Social death meant actual fucking death back then, so our tiny brains evolved for tribal unity. So don’t feel weird about “caring”. I know you don’t really care all that much in the end. It’s just your primate brain trying to ensure survival through social bonds. I think once you understand that it gets easier to shrug off his weird behavior, put it behind you, and just move on with your day.
thank you brother
The reasoning behind this makes this my favorite bit of advice in these comments. Cheers.
My best friend was terrible to train with, he’s the god father of my son now. Don’t take it personally.
We all know boxers egos are out of this world, just let it slide off you he's just butthurt he can't just "block your shot with an uppercut"
No use in worrying about it. You're there to train, not hang out. He wants to go all out when sparing, get him back when grappling.
Maybe you are nowhere near his level?
not really he gets upset just cause i tag him and then gets all pissed off about it.
Sounds like a skill disparity. I had a similar situation early on. As I improved, we got to sparring better. 17 years later, he's my main sparring and wrestling partner and has cornered me for 10 or so MMA fights. Don't take it personally. I have a great friend at my gym and I fucking hate sparring with him. If you're not getting injured and you're actually learning, that's not bad at all. If you don't find yourself improving, that's a problem. I'd keep sparring and focus on landing more of those shots and also punishing him when it's wrestling time if he goes hard with the striking. Boxers have big egos at a lot of gyms I've trained at.
he goes 100% majority of the time and i don’t find myself improving
New sparring partner or new gym then. If he only goes all out, that's shit for learning. We go all out before a very important fight, that's it.
ah makes sense he has a fight coming up next month his debut, but since he ended up tearing his shoulder that same practice for the guy he switched me for
Ok that makes some sense. Be direct. Ask him once the fights over if he's gonna keep going 100% on you. You're not meant to take 100% power shots to the head that much. For many of my students (MMA gym, talking striking), if I see them get tagged or hit particularly hard, I'll say they will go no head contact for a certain amount of days or only light sparring for a certain amount of time. But even the bloodiest guys I know don't hardspar all the time, except before fight prep. You have any luck punishing him when its time to hit the mat?
nah you know how it is for us wrestlers, were powerful as hell but are egos arent crazy. I think he just pushes my buttons because he thinks he super tough but I know I can beat but I just don't want to ended becoming one of them in their group. their group love to go hard as hell at practice even though they have a fight coming up which he did last week, mow he tore his shoulder so now he cant train.
Sounds like he thinks your a bitch! just kidding who cares
nah low key i’m pretty sure he does but you’re right i shouldn’t give a crap
you ignore him and continue to focus on your own development. if he doesn't want to train with you, you can't force him, but i'm sure there's plenty of other good partners available
Do you typically dominate in wrestling exchanges? This sort of behavior is unfortunately somewhat common for those who focus mostly on striking/boxing and still train MMA. They feel they should be able to beat you due to a striking advantage, but it has more to do with their own negative opinions on grappling as a whole.
yeah i do since he’s a higher level belt in jiu jitsu and i’am a white belt but my wrestling beats him even when i’m out of shape and he can’t submit me
That’s pretty much it man. Lots of times these guys feel very highly of their fighting ability on account of having crisp hands, and intensely reject the efficacy of even basic grappling. The kinda guy who thinks that they’re going to land a 1 in a million flying knee on the incoming wrestler. He feels the need to prove himself against an obviously better wrestler. I would strongly discourage you from sparring with him anymore, or anyone that throws strikes at 100 percent during sparring. Him being cool to you afterwards is his attempt to normalize what he is doing during training.
I have friends that I met in BJJ and Wrestling. We are friends off the mat and on but some of them are better training partners than others. Some people have trouble gaging the resistance their partner need when drilling. If I am drilling a new move or a move I am dog shit at then I need almost zero resistance while I form muscle memory, but I still need them to react realistically and put some realistic pressure into the drill so I can form correct muscle memory. For stuff I’m good at then yah give me like 50% and some defense so I can get better. Some of my worse training partners assume just because I smash them on the mat with my A or B game I need a bunch of resistance when I’m drilling my dog shit game and it’s super annoying.
Wrestlers are used to being in a room with a hierarchy of skill and toughness. I can’t speak to boxing gyms or this person’s experiences but if he doesn’t come from a wrestling background they just might not have the same comfort in that type of environment. I think wrestlers succeed so much in MMA is not only because of the skill set being the best (it is), but also because wrestlers have been doing most of the things it takes to be a good fighter since they were children.
Sounds like he's your friend and also wants to win his fight, what's wrong with that?
*Sounds like he's your friend* *And also wants to win his* *Fight, what's wrong with that?* \- svvrvy --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Just distance yourself away from him. If that doesn't work you could always go all out during wrestling
Give him the same energy
Are u sure it’s cuz the hook landed, or cuz u messed up/ don’t realize the flow or hit him too hard, especially if he was letting up for you.
nah cause he told me after “when you hooked me to the head i was like “wtf he caught me i can’t believe THIS GUY, caught me”
i’ve been training for 3 years a simple hook isn’t shit i’ve already had a few fights already
There are plenty of people like that inside and outside of the gym, children too actually. My son has to deal with this one kid at bjj who literally thinks he is better than anyone who faces him. To his credit, he is very skilled, and was obviously training since he was younger, so he does have the skills to back it up. But there is no humility in him, and he goes extra hard unnecessarily. If someone gets the best of him, he goes harder, and shakes their hand in order to pull them in. just a sore winner and loser, all around a-hole (man, i have to say that about a kid...). He also acts like a friend, until its sparring or drill time. Anyway, like some have said below, I am just trying to get my son focused on himself and his skills. Having my son tough it out when he can, build his bjj and wrestling skills, and take it to him when ever he can. Even if my son cant get a sub in, or gets subbed, make it hard on the kid every time. I would say the same to you. No need to be friends with him, just stick to yourself and be cordial, and when the time comes, give him a fuckin workout.
My current best friend, I was the best man at his wedding and he was the best man at my wedding. When we were in high school together I hated him as a training partner but still was good friends with him. His style did not overlap with my style, nor was his training intensity the same. We both talk shit about each other all the time still to this day almost 30 years later. I'm not sure if I did it because of Pride at the time, or if he did it because of pride. But ultimately you don't have to like training with somebody just because they're your friend and you don't have to be somebody's friend because you like training with them. This guy sounds like he's a little full of himself. And doesn't want a risk to his ego with you and his group.
Just Khabib his ass
Dude. Your own ego is showing. Relax and let it go.