What Wrestling Coaches Can Learn About Promotion From MMA

If you’ve ever worked with kids ambitious to compete in MMA…

Or you’ve simply wondered, “How can I make wrestling more marketable to the average teenager?”…

Then you have to listen to today’s talk with Ben Askren. A four-time All-American and two-time NCAA Division I champion, he eventually moved into freestyle, competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Now, as a ONE welterweight champion, he joins us for Episode 12 of Attack Style Wrestling podcast to talk about his Olympic wrestling career and the transition to MMA. By the end of the episode, you’ll understand what the grassroots marketing of MMA gets right, and how we as coaches can borrow those techniques for our local communities.

Here’s what else you’ll discover in today’s episode:

  • The weakness most coaches have when it comes to promotion (and what to do about it)  (3:19)
  • Does your community need a connection to wrestling to get people in the stands? Maybe not (7:00)
  • What it’s like to be a wrestling superstar (10:55)
  • Which style of wrestling translates best to MMA (11:55)
  • Is it better to be well rounded or elite in one area? (15:05)
  • What wrestling coaches can learn from jiu jitsu, karate, and other martial arts (19:12)
  • How do the wrestling skills in professional fighters in Japan compare to your average high school wrestler? (24:28)
  • The three techniques Ben teaches at the Askren academy that make for great wrestlers and fighters (25:39)
  • What really happened in the Rousey vs. Holm fight (26:55)

Stay strong,

Coach Weber

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