Competing at the highest levels of any sport is unforgiving. MMA is particularly unforgiving because the skill-set required is so broad that generalists almost always have an advantage over specialists. The best Jiu-jitsu (or Muay thai, boxing, or wrestling) specialist in the world gets creamed in MMA. If you doubt this, watch Marcelo Garcia's single MMA fight. It is not pretty. Further, if you doubt that Marcelo Garcia is one of the best BJJ specialists who has ever lived, watch him toy with Olympic wrestling silver-medalist Ben Askren (it is available on YouTube, and Ben's frustration is visible).

My point will be further proved by the wrestlers out there, who are even now experiencing rising blood pressure. So, to protect them from popping an artery, and/or myself from being called out by some random beast of a guy wearing a collegiate wrestling tee-shirt at the next NAGA event, I will make their argument: Marcelo and Ben were training BJJ and setting up BJJ style. If they had been wrestling (different goals, different rules) Ben would have equally killed Marcelo.

To which I say true, and true, and my point proven.

Moreover, GSP is on record wanting to compete on Canada's Olympic wrestling team. When asked about this on 5K radio, Randy Couture opined that GSP might be able to do it if he dropped everything else and only trained wrestling; in other words, if he abandoned being an MMA generalist and became a wrestling specialist. I would love to know Ben Askren's opinion on this.

So why doesn't GSP finish opponents? Perhaps there is a direct link between his oft quoted "fear of making a mistake," and his inability to finish his opponents. Even GSP's primary coach, Firas Zahabi, echoes this, worrying publically how anyone can make a mistake and lose. Yes, Matt Hughes caught him in an arm-bar. Yes, Matt Serra caught him with a spinning back-fist.* Mistakes! We must be afraid! Very afraid!

Let's talk physics for a minute: Knockouts happen when enough angular moment is transferred to the brain to momentarily compress the blood circulating within it. Think of how spinning a bucket pushes the water to the sides. This loss of circulation causes the fighter to temporarily lose control over his body. So, if you are trying to knock someone out, there is only one way to do it: Hit them hard enough to cause their head to recoil away. The blood will slosh side to side or up and down, interrupting the circulation. So you must have the blow and the recoil to compress/interrupt the circulation. This is why it is almost impossible to knock someone out on the ground, no matter how good your ground and pound is (unless they lift their head for you). You can damage them terribly, cut them terribly, even get an occasional TKO, but they are not "knocked-out." Their head has nowhere to recoil to.

Most knockouts come from a power left hook or right cross, landing flush on the chin. (Think of the chin as a lever that increases the transfer of energy to the brain.) There are other ways to do it, like flying knees (think Jose Aldo or Anderson Silva), power uppercuts (think Shane Carwin), or kicks to the head (thank you Cro-Cop). However, when you throw that hook or cross, you have to commit to it to really generate power. You cannot worry about staying square, giving up a take-down, or having your opponent slip past your elbow to threaten your...