Do you follow the games of any lower belts?

[Digitsu]

Which ones?

There's a lot of high level talent in the lower belts, and a lot of guys training and competing professionally. Do you take any interest in the lower belts?

 

[ThatBJJGuy]

edwin najmi purple belt under Romulo Barral

 

[Uchi Mata]

Not really. I watched some of Keenan's matches when he was a lower belt, and a few of the Miyao's at brown, but while I can mention a few up and comers I don't really seek out their matches. I did watch the brown belt division at the Copa Podio last year.

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

Laimon is really big on finding a blackbelt you like, then watching their videos from white to black so you can see how they developed their game. It's sort of a reverse engineer, but it involves watching lower belts.

I personally enjoy watching brown belt matches way more than black at tournaments.

 

[mattemate]

Jon Jones and Aoki are good white belts.

 

[Einarr]

Jon Jones and Aoki are good white belts.

Shinya Aoki is a black belt under Yuki Nakai.

 

[Thai Otoshi]

Did Condit get his black belt yet? If not, then he's my guy.

He has some of the best BJJ in MMA, IMO. His guard gives everyone fits. Most guys, sans GSP, are left stymied.

I personally enjoy watching brown belt matches way more than black at tournaments.

Why is that?

 

[AKjitsu]

I do. I'm a blue myself and I enjoy watching blue/purple belt matches so I can compare myself with them as far as talent goes. I also ask myself what I'd do in certain situations throughout the match.

 

[TonyRo]

I do - I like watching guys like Andris Brunovskis, Isaac Doederlein, Michael Liera Jr., Jonathan Thomas, etc...

If you like a school's style, (I think) a lot of times the best way to learn is to check out their shining purple and brown belts. These are guys who have "figured it out" to some degree, but there's just way more action and finishes at the lower belts.

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

Why is that?

The matches are competitive with way more movement. Blackbelt matches tend to be a game of inches, won by advantages generally whereas I feel Browns have more overall movement

 

[outonbail]

I do
here is my list

purple

-Nicholas Meregalli ( #1 to watch in all of BJJ under black )
-Edwin Najmi
-Gabriel Arges
-Horlando Monteiro
-Devon Delbrugge
-Joseph Ruggiero
-Rolando Samson
-max lindblad
-dante leon
-ramon duz

brown

-isaac doederlein
-jacob sandoval
-ram ananda
-marcio andre
-michael liera jr
-dillon danis
-jon satava
-wellington luis
-yago de souza
-felipe silva

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

^Add Henry Iribe to that list and I full heartedly agree