Jose Mariscal recently shared some details about his deadly judo bouts.
A lifelong mixed martial artist, Mariscal’s breathtaking blend of judo and jiu-jitsu is a blend he earned as a black belt in what he calls “hood judo” from Chicago under the tutelage of Bob Schirmer. Mariscal says his judo skills have allowed him to escape most physical altercations unscathed.
“I call it ‘Hood Judo’ because it originated in Chicago,” Mariscal recently told MMAjunkie.com. “Nobody knows where I got my black belt… I got it with the Combat Do team under Bob Schirmer. I’ve never been involved in a street fight because I used to throw guys before they could hit me or do anything. So when you throw someone, the air comes out of their stomach. Some people get a concussion. I’m glad I didn’t get involved in that.”
Mariscal was impressed watching fighters like Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones apply judo to mixed martial arts, but “Machine Gun” always considered himself superior in the sport.
“I loved judo when GSP was around, when Jon Jones was doing some of the throwing stuff,” Mariscal says. “There are a lot of guys who have that, but to be honest, when I saw their judo I always thought, ‘Oh, my judo is better,’ because when I was 6 years old, it was all throwing.”
Mariscal still claims to have toyed with the likes of Cory Sandhagen, Justin Gaethje and TJ Dillashaw during sparring, and he says he was even told not to use judo to help other fighters at certain camps.
“Justin Gaethje and I were literally throwing hooks at each other. I’d underhook and he’d hit it hard. I’d just throw them down. And not just once. I threw them down like two times,” Mariscal said. “I don’t want to brag, but my judo is there. I’ve got all the footage. I’ve got a lot of stuff I can be famous for. For example, I threw TJ Dillashaw. I threw Cory Sandhagen. I’ve thrown so many people. They were obviously upset. If I had a list, it’d be great. I’ve helped other fighters in fight camps and I’ve never used judo.”
Unbeaten in three UFC appearances, Mariscal is coming off a “Fight of the Night” split decision win over Morgan Charriere in April of this year. He was scheduled to face Dan Ige at UFC Fight Night in July, but Ige accepted a bout against Diego Lopez at UFC 303 with just four hours’ notice. “Chepe” is next in a hard-fought battle against veteran Damon Jackson at UFC on ESPN 61 on Saturday at the promotion’s Apex in Las Vegas.
