JRE MMA Show #111 with John Danaher

Danaher argues that athletes will always game whatever rules exist to find the safest path to victory. Only coaches who build a culture that values finishing over eking out points will consistently produce exciting, submission-oriented competitors.

Both Rogan and Danaher stress that jiu-jitsu’s magic lies in making someone physically surrender, a universally understandable outcome. The further competition drifts from “control leading to submission,” the less compelling it becomes for both practitioners and fans.

Danaher says the leg lock gap is largely closed in modern no-gi, but most jiu-jitsu players still lack effective takedowns and, crucially, the ability to keep opponents down who are trained to stand (wrestling-style), which is why BJJ has shrunk from a dominant to a supporting role in MMA.

He focuses on systems per position so athletes aren’t improvising under stress; the system ‘makes the decisions’ via rehearsed decision trees. Teaching students to “wrestle with their legs” (triangles, leg entanglements, leg-dominant control) lets smaller athletes reliably beat larger ones and learn much faster.

Natural strength, speed, and flexibility can actually slow technical growth if athletes rely on them instead of learning. Danaher differentiates physical traits from mental ones like confidence, memory, and problem-solving under pressure, noting that champions like Gordon Ryan excel especially in the mental attribute layer.