First and foremost I'd like to address the issue of engaging in the clinch and specifically single collar because it's a neutral position with many options to quickly escape and transition from; I find that the denial window is a bit generous while it's easy to just sit on pre-deny. You can pre-deny the clinch entry and stuff takedowns simultaneously which in some cases makes it nearly impossible to grapple or attack in a grappling manner even with a great wrestler or Jiu-Jitsu guy.
When your grappling attempts fail you lose stamina, as you should, but high volume striking seems to not come with much of a stamina penalty which skews the balance a bit in favor of that; combine that with the current block breaking strategy and the special combos that people throw and you have even more of a balancing problem.
Another issue I have with stamina is that some guys just want to stall and slowly kill your stamina by laying on top of you in guard throwing body punches; there's really no incentive to throw head punches on top of guard unless you're postured up because body punches seem to do the same damage while they drain stamina. I'll try to mount some kind of an offense or sweep from my guard only to have it denied because my opponent is only focused on denials and spamming body punches to drain stamina and build grappling advantage.
Another issue I have is the massive risk you take when going for submissions; I get powerbombed probably 5 or 6 times on average whenever I play a match in ranked because I attempt armbars and triangles from my guard which failed; this gives them side mount and allows them to just stand right back up while a lot of the other failed submissions, for some bizarre reason, seem to always result in your opponent on top of you in side mount, full mount, kesa, back side mount, or north-south. The triangle to armbar submission chain also doesn't exist anymore even for elite Jiu-Jitsu guys like Maia, Werdum, Gracie, and Souza; I know Nate Diaz and Brian Ortega for example still have it but that's about it.
Submissions can be very, very difficult to pull off and sometimes they seem next to impossible because of the nerfs so the risk I would say far outweighs the reward except with the 1 or 2-gate submissions which have also been greatly nerfed. The Imanari roll heel hook, one of my favorite submissions in mixed martial arts, was made pretty much useless and even if you somehow manage to successfully attempt that heel hook you now have to advance 4 gates instead of 2 while if you fail you're either giving up full mount or you're allowing your opponent right back up. Very high risk, with very little chance of a significant reward. The Imanari roll was also a way to effectively "pull guard" before the range nerf.
And all of this is why, I think, there aren't any Jiu-Jitsu guys or submission specialists listed as anyone's favorite fighter in the top 100 of ranked with maybe one or two exceptions. I remember recently I was the only guy in the top 100 with Ortega as my favorite fighter despite the fact that he's an absolute beast while my other favorite fighters(submission specialists) weren't anyone's favorites either. This indicates, not just personal preference, but a strong balancing issue in competitive play which I think needs to be addressed.
I love the game and all the improvements which have been made but there's still more room for input and updates to enhance the experience and balance out the different playstyles. I understand a lot of people just want to stand and bang with McGregor, and that's fine, but there's should be very balanced and fair ways to counter that with grappling.
When your grappling attempts fail you lose stamina, as you should, but high volume striking seems to not come with much of a stamina penalty which skews the balance a bit in favor of that; combine that with the current block breaking strategy and the special combos that people throw and you have even more of a balancing problem.
Another issue I have with stamina is that some guys just want to stall and slowly kill your stamina by laying on top of you in guard throwing body punches; there's really no incentive to throw head punches on top of guard unless you're postured up because body punches seem to do the same damage while they drain stamina. I'll try to mount some kind of an offense or sweep from my guard only to have it denied because my opponent is only focused on denials and spamming body punches to drain stamina and build grappling advantage.
Another issue I have is the massive risk you take when going for submissions; I get powerbombed probably 5 or 6 times on average whenever I play a match in ranked because I attempt armbars and triangles from my guard which failed; this gives them side mount and allows them to just stand right back up while a lot of the other failed submissions, for some bizarre reason, seem to always result in your opponent on top of you in side mount, full mount, kesa, back side mount, or north-south. The triangle to armbar submission chain also doesn't exist anymore even for elite Jiu-Jitsu guys like Maia, Werdum, Gracie, and Souza; I know Nate Diaz and Brian Ortega for example still have it but that's about it.
Submissions can be very, very difficult to pull off and sometimes they seem next to impossible because of the nerfs so the risk I would say far outweighs the reward except with the 1 or 2-gate submissions which have also been greatly nerfed. The Imanari roll heel hook, one of my favorite submissions in mixed martial arts, was made pretty much useless and even if you somehow manage to successfully attempt that heel hook you now have to advance 4 gates instead of 2 while if you fail you're either giving up full mount or you're allowing your opponent right back up. Very high risk, with very little chance of a significant reward. The Imanari roll was also a way to effectively "pull guard" before the range nerf.
And all of this is why, I think, there aren't any Jiu-Jitsu guys or submission specialists listed as anyone's favorite fighter in the top 100 of ranked with maybe one or two exceptions. I remember recently I was the only guy in the top 100 with Ortega as my favorite fighter despite the fact that he's an absolute beast while my other favorite fighters(submission specialists) weren't anyone's favorites either. This indicates, not just personal preference, but a strong balancing issue in competitive play which I think needs to be addressed.
I love the game and all the improvements which have been made but there's still more room for input and updates to enhance the experience and balance out the different playstyles. I understand a lot of people just want to stand and bang with McGregor, and that's fine, but there's should be very balanced and fair ways to counter that with grappling.
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