On the Spot ~ Robert Drysdale

On the Spot ~ Robert Drysdale

There was a time in MMA when an individual with the jiu-jitsu credentials of Robert Drysdale may have been hyped as the next Royce Gracie. Those were the days of lopsided fights, 300-0 bare-knuckle records, and masters of self-created martial arts systems.

Now, Drysdale is just another green fighter, looking to make his way up from the ranks of the minor leagues of MMA. It is still not every day that a grappler with the qualifications of Drysdale enters the sport. A multiple time jiu-jitsu world champion and the 2007 Abu Dhabi Absolute Champion (a title that many consider to be the greatest of all in the world of grappling), Drysdale is not just another highly-hyped stud.

Drysdale is well-known in MMA circles, having trained former world champions like Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, and even being featured on “The Ultimate Fighter” as Forrest Griffin’s jiu-jitsu coach.

The grappling ace was long-rumored to be the next jiu-jitsu crossover into MMA, finally making his debut on the Armageddon Fighting Championships 3 card in Canada this past weekend, submitting Bastien Huveneers with an arm triangle choke at 1:12 of the first round.

David McKinney: Did you expect such a quick victory in your first MMA fight?


Robert Drysdale: I wanted to get a submission as soon as possible, you know. Of course I was ready to fight three five-minute rounds, but I saw the opportunity early in the match and I took it. Actually, the fight did not go as planned; I did not expect it to go that way. I expected him to be a little more cautious and pretty much be ready for the takedown. But he came out swinging at me, so that makes the takedown a lot easier.

McKinney: You mentioned in an interview prior to your fight that you’d like to face Roger Gracie, who is signed with Strikeforce. Why?


Drysdale: I just think that it would be an interesting fight. We were supposed to fight in the Abu Dhabi super fight last year, but he had an injury so we couldn’t do it. It was a fight that we were both looking forward to and the fans especially wanted to see it. It’s unlikely that we’ll fight again in submission grappling, so why not do it in MMA? We have the same background, we’re built in the same way, and we’re both beginners in MMA; we both have horrible hands. So we’ll see what happens.

For the full Interview please visit: On the Spot ~ Robert Drysdale