WWE News: Daniel Bryan Impresses UFC Fighter With Great Jiu-Jitsu Ability
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan might be out of action from the company right now, but that has not meant he has stayed at home on the couch pondering the wonders of the universe. Rather, Bryan has been in the gym working out as well as adding to his skill set. Many believe Bryan will wrestle again, whether it is with WWE or not. Due to this, Bryan seems to be working hard on adding to his game and most would assume that he will use his new-found skills in the ring, eventually.
What has Bryan been working on since being out of action? It looks like he has picked up learning Jiu-Jitsu and seemed to impress current UFC Fighter Ben Henderson. Henderson recently did an interview with The Sporting News and brought up how Daniel Bryan was seeing his Jiu-Jitsu coach, John Crouch. He was quite high on Bryan and what he saw from him.
“He [Bryan] was out with some injuries in WWE. He came to our gym and moved up to blue belt in jiu-jitsu under my coach John Crouch. Every time I go in there, he’s working his butt off. I heard he was pretty strong and actually surprised me with how technical he is. A lot of guys have a hard time learning all those techniques. I heard he was really great at being able to use his technique and not relying on his strength. He’s smooth and does jiu-jitsu really well.”
This is obviously high praise from a trained fighter. Henderson has won several big fights in the octagon as well as gold in the UFC. Henderson is by no means a slouch when it comes to the martial art of jiu-jitsu, either. He has won a number of competitions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to add on to his impressive MMA career. The fact that he was impressed by Bryan is saying a lot.
On top of this, earning a blue belt in any martial art is by no means an easy thing to accomplish. It is uncertain how long Daniel Bryan has been training in the art, but if he has been working his way up to such a belt within a year or two, that is still an impressive thing.
Many believe Bryan’s chain-wrestling ability in the ring has always been a great part of his style. Adding great mat style wrestling with jiu-jitsu is pretty cool, and it would be very different from what others do in the ring. Few people know a martial art when they come into WWE, fewer train in those styles when they have time off from WWE. This goes to show that Bryan can work, but WWE seems to be holding him back.
Bryan could get hurt just as easily in the ring as he can on the mat. The fact that a doctor allows him to do this means they do not fear him getting hurt from a hold or throw he might go through on the mat. That said, what is the hold up on his in-ring return to WWE?
While it is unknown whether or not Bryan was cleared then, we have not heard any comments from either side about Bryan wanting to return to the ring since this meeting was believed to have taken place. That means that WWE is either keeping Bryan’s return under wraps to be a huge surprise or the bad news came about that he had to stay out of the ring. Most believe that some sort of announcement would have come down from WWE or Daniel Bryan himself would have made an announcement about how he could not return to a WWE ring.
WWE has taken a chance on some athletes and has allowed them to work after questionable injuries. Jessie Sorenson is an example of this. TNA feared having him back in the ring; yet, WWE has allowed him to perform on the NXT brand a few times. That said, the Daniel Bryan situation does seem to be interesting. Most believe Bryan will return to the WWE. It is just a waiting game. In the meantime, he’ll just impress UFC fighters with his fancy jiu-jitsu abilities.
[Image via WWE]
