In the wake of Nate Marquardt’s defeat at the hands of Chael Sonnen on Saturday night, Jon Fitch stated his belief that one of the most commonly seen Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling techniques has now become redundant for all but the elite competitors in the sport.

“I think closed guard is dead in MMA right now,” Fitch told Fox Fight Game’s Mike Straka. “Unless you’re Demian Maia or Shinya Aoki forget about it – you’re either getting up, or getting on top.”

It certainly was a strategy that failed to pay dividends for Marquardt at UFC 109, with the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt struggling throughout the fight to find an opening to exploit against the dominant wrestling of his opponent.

“Forget about pulling off submissions from your back nowadays, strong wrestlers like Chael Sonnen – they’ll just pound you out all day long,” Fitch said.

Fitch, currently 11-1 in the UFC, is himself a black belt in Guerilla Jiu Jitsu, a hybrid of BJJ and Judo specifically geared towards the sport of MMA.

See Jon Fitch’s interview at UFC 109 below:

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