The biggest in promotion in all of martial arts -UFC started as a way to promote jiu jitsu. Initially jiu jitsu fighters had a lot of success in MMA – but that bar has now shifted to wrestling meta and a combination of skills as opposed to specializing in a particular one.
But proper grappling has a lot of fans – and this is due to the expertise required to spar. Super Fight League 42 main event proved this.
Super Fight League (SFL) 42 took place in Stampede Corral, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It featured the co main event featuring Micah Brakefield and Chase Degenhardt.
Brakefield is no longer active in MMA/. Nowadays he boasts of being a black belt and is a co owner and head coach of 10th planet Etobicoke in Canada. Back in the day he shared some of his motivation to be in the sport saying:
“I wrestled all through high school and then college, then finished doing that and figured I’d move on,” Brakefield said. “There are certain things that you would just learn in real wrestling and it teaches you good fundamentals, things you can fall back on,” Brakefield continued. “Wrestling is just so hard on the body, you go twice a day everyday for eight months and it’s the hardest part of any MMA camp… It takes a special person to go through wrestling.”
“People in pro are a lot calmer, I think in amateur people spaz out and they don’t stay calm,” Brakefield said. “I find it really easy to catch people because I’ve stayed pretty calm. In pro I think guys are a little more relaxed and it’s going to be harder to get them out of their game.”
Brakefield hung up the gloves after going 7-8 in the span of his MMA career. He last fought in 2019. He is 33 years old and was active from 2012 in the professional sport.
Sadly for Brakefield – despite the memorable exchange he ended up losing the bout. Degenhardt won via TO in round 1.