RESOLVED: Wrestling (High School), as a sport, best prepares one for spontaneous combat

http://www.youtube.com... MMA doesn't really comprise of every martial art, being that several martial arts such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and kickboxing are common standards, but this is irrelevant. I thank my opponent for this refreshingly interesting debate :D. I will follow along with my opponent's 3-point guideline for determining which sport best prepares one for spontaneous combat and I assume my opponent will as well. And as a side-note for whoever watches the video, the beginning gets cut off. "Rich Franklin has 4% bodyfat, while the average college male has 18% bodyfat" is what the girl says. 1. Technique My opponent's argument fails in many ways. Fight will not "eventually devolve into a ground fight". Wrestlers are not "undeniably the most well trained fighters on the ground in close quarters". And he fails to realize the significance of a MMA fighter's well-rounded background. First of all, for anyone who has ever gotten into a street fight/school fight, they very well know that when you fight your average joe, punches will be the only thing flying. This is because everyone is familiar with punching, and possibly low kicks, but taking people down and submitting them with an armbar is a much different scenario. Not everyone is a wrestler, or a TKD fighter, so the most familiar "fighting phase" if you will, is standing up. Wrestlers are capable of guarding against take downs, initiate take downs, and grappling; no doubt about it. But what they lack is the ability to defeat an opponent by chokes, submission holds, and strikes on the ground. What can a wrestler do after he has you pinned down? NOTHING, they aren't trained to snap an arm, twist a knee, choke a neck, or pound a face in. A MMA fighter is trained in BJJ, and is able to snap your arm, twist your knee, or check your neck. A MMA fighter is well versed in ground-and-pound, so he can break your face in with hammer fists, straight jabs, or a good elbow. A wrestler can not account for this, nor can he be prepared for this when facing a MMA fighter. Has your coach taught you how to defend from raining elbows on the bottom? I highly doubt so. Establishing that most street and spontaneous combat scenarios involve standing up, a MMA fighter is well-versed in striking and clinch (knees to a standing opponent for example). A wrestler does not excel in this area, and will be like anyone else when trading punches. So not only can a MMA fighter knock you out in the first few seconds of the fight, he wouldn't have to go to the ground. HOWEVER, assuming that most fights will "devolve onto the ground", then the MMA fighter STILL has the advantage. He is well-versed in BJJ, Judo, Sambo, and many other martial arts. He has a vast array of techniques to submit you by, and a wrestler isn't trained for all of them. What makes a MMA fighter better suited to prepare for spontaneous combat is because he is trained in things a wrestler isn't. If you want to trade fists with a MMA fighter, he can. If you want to trade kicks, he can. If you want to go to the ground, he can. A wrestler can only bring you to the ground, and breathe on you. 2. Physical Performance As explained in my previous argument, a MMA fighter being well-versed in other forms of martial arts better prepares him for spontaneous combat. He can stand up with someone (which I have also established being the more common fighting phase), and he can fight on the floor. As I've established, a wrestler is not trained to submit an opponent, and adequately can't defend against an opponent who rains punches down on them, while a MMA fighter is trained for that. Collegiate wrestling matches total only in 7 minutes, while UFC matches, a MMA organization, totals in 15 minutes. [1][2]. This obviously shows MMA matches are much longer than college wrestling, little more than twice the time. A MMA fighter, having to prepare for many forms of fighting, has to have even more endurance and intensity training. Grappling on the floor is less taxing on the body then standing up, throwing punches at each other, throwing kicks, then being slammed on the floor, and having this process go over and over. With more variety in a fight, a MMA fighter has to prepare for more diversity, and with this comes more endurance training to endure all the change. With such physical performance, a MMA fighter is no doubt much more prepared for a spontaneous fight than a wrestler. 3. Determination In the comment section, I specifically asked if it had to be a high school sport, and it was made clear that it did not. This should already tip off that a high school combat sport is inferior to a full-time career combat sport. The crux of my opponent's argument for determination is again starry eyed, and sounds like monologues from a movie. Determination is found in many people, in many sports. Wrestling does not hold a monopoly on "determined athletes", and neither does MMA. However, I will point out a flaw in his argument, the one about MMA and "luck" MMA does NOT demand proficiency in luck, to say that would be totally ignorant of any MMA fights. As I have demonstrated with previous arguments, MMA demands a wide variety of skill and physical performance on the fighter. The fight can be standing up or taken to the ground, and having so many dimensions in a fight means you have to prepare MORE than usual to cover all your techniques. "Once a fighter is in a "cheap" position, the opposing fighter has already been defeated." --> Exactly what is this cheap position my opponent is talking about? "In wrestling, there are many counter moves, while in MMA choking and cheap shotting, among other things, are allowed." --> MMA has tons of counter moves also, in fact many MMA fighters have a wrestling background. Choking is nothing cheap, nor involving luck. There are many ways to effectively choke an opponent, such as the rear naked choke [3] or the leg triangle choke[4]. Executing and defending from this technique is very complicated, and many excellent martial arts involve choking, such as BJJ and even the US Marine Corps Martial Arts Program [5]. My opponent has yet to define "cheap shotting". There are many rules and regultions in MMA fighting, all depending on the organization holding it. Many range from not striking the back of the head, to not striking a downed opponent when you are standing up. ~Conclusion~ I have adequately shown why MMA is a superior combat sport to wrestling. Not only are there many famous MMA fighters who started out as wrestlers, such as Josh Koscheck [6], but that their dynamic fighting skills push their body to physical dominance. Being a MMA fighter bests prepare a person for spontaneous combat, because no matter where the fight goes, a MMA fighter knows how to defend him or herself. ---References--- 1. http://en.wikipedia.org... 2. http://en.wikipedia.org... 3. http://www.woai.com... 4. http://upload.wikimedia.org... 5. http://en.wikipedia.org... 6. http://en.wikipedia.org...