In a move that is becoming more and more popular we will see a couple more of our top wrestlers venture into mixed martial arts. It appears that both Shawn Bunch and Steve Mocco will be moving into mma which is something that we have seen guys do after the Olympic cycle runs out.
If we look back to 2008 we can see a few examples of this. Mo Lawal narrowly lost to Andy Hrovat in the Olympic Trials finals and has gone on to have success in Strikeforce. Ben Askren stopped wrestling after he competed in to 2008 Beijing Games and he is now the Bellator welterweight champion. Daniel Cormier qualified for the 2004 and 2008 and is now one of the hottest fighters around.
For this reason it does not come as a big surprise that these two elite level wrestlers (Bunch and Mocco) will be moving from the mat to the cage. Shawn Bunch is headed out to San Jose, CA to train at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) where Cormier, Lawal and other wrestlers have gone to and had success. Shawn Bunch is also slated to fight in Bellator. While Bunch is headed to the west coast, Steve Mocco will going east coast as he will be training with American Top Team in south Florida where 2011 NCAA champion Bubba Jenkins recently moved to when he started up his mma career. It is likely that we will see Mocco fight under the Zuffa banner, meaning Strikeforce and then possibly the UFC.
I wish both of these guys, and any wrestler who gets into mixed martial arts, the best of luck and am confident they will continue to represent the sport of wrestling in a dominant fashion.
If we look back to 2008 we can see a few examples of this. Mo Lawal narrowly lost to Andy Hrovat in the Olympic Trials finals and has gone on to have success in Strikeforce. Ben Askren stopped wrestling after he competed in to 2008 Beijing Games and he is now the Bellator welterweight champion. Daniel Cormier qualified for the 2004 and 2008 and is now one of the hottest fighters around.
For this reason it does not come as a big surprise that these two elite level wrestlers (Bunch and Mocco) will be moving from the mat to the cage. Shawn Bunch is headed out to San Jose, CA to train at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) where Cormier, Lawal and other wrestlers have gone to and had success. Shawn Bunch is also slated to fight in Bellator. While Bunch is headed to the west coast, Steve Mocco will going east coast as he will be training with American Top Team in south Florida where 2011 NCAA champion Bubba Jenkins recently moved to when he started up his mma career. It is likely that we will see Mocco fight under the Zuffa banner, meaning Strikeforce and then possibly the UFC.
I wish both of these guys, and any wrestler who gets into mixed martial arts, the best of luck and am confident they will continue to represent the sport of wrestling in a dominant fashion.
