Wrestling is the only completely indispensable skill set in MMA. You can get away without much of a striking game or slick skills as a grappler, but show some cracks in your takedown defense and everything else comes crashing down. Even the most talented guard players can be held down and controlled by a talented wrestler, and the most devastating range striker has little to offer when pinned against the fence in the clinch. Wrestling dictates where the fight takes place, and as hackneyed as that phrase might be, it is essential to remember it.
With Georges St.