How Marcelo beat Imanari: A comprehensive analysis

Hey everyone!  I’ve done some detailed analysis on the recent Marcelo Garcia vs Masakazu Imanari match on ONE and I’d like to share my findings.  Hopefully, the explanation below helps you better understand exactly why Marcelo won this match.

Ultimately between these two legends, the deciding factor that led to Marcelo’s victory was foot quality.

Longtime students of the game know that in addition to being a Jiu-Jitsu GOAT, Marcelo Garcia also has legendary feet.  There is no ELO ranking for who has the best feet in BJJ, so the closest we have is probably wikiFeet rankings, and on that site Marcelo is sitting at an unbelievable 5.17 out of 5.

Marcelo’s Jiu-Jitsu is amazing, but having a wikiFeet score above 100% is unheard of, perhaps even more impressive than his accomplishments in our sport.  This is even more unusual given how women tend to dominate the wikiFeet rankings; seeing a male athlete achieve this level of foot success is unheard of.

All of this is clearly kryptonite for a veteran leglocker like Masakazu Imanari.

I don’t want to psychoanalyze a grappler as we can never truly know what they were thinking, but I can only imagine that Imanari really struggled to attack feet as beautiful as Marcelo’s.  I mean, imagine having these babies in your face - could you bring yourself to destroy these works of art?  Probably not, and I doubt Imanari could either.  When you’re famous for leglocks, being unable to use that weapon dramatically reduces your chances of victory.

Don’t get me wrong, Imanari’s feet are no joke: he himself holds an excellent 4.83 out of 5 ranking on wikiFeet, which is an outstanding ranking for male Jiu-Jitsu feet.  But at the highest levels and against an all-timer like Marcelo, merely being excellent is not enough.

Let’s talk about actionable lessons we can learn and apply from this match.  Unfortunately for us, much of this is genetic - We’ve always said that Marcelo was blessed with a body type uniquely suited for his style of Jiu-Jitsu, and his feet are a part of that.  But knowing what we now know about the importance of foot quality in Jiu-Jitsu, there are some small actionable steps we can take.

First, proper nail grooming is key.  Don’t be afraid to consult the experts here; much like a high-level Jiu-Jitsu athlete would utilize S&C or nutrition specialists, you may want to consider adding a pedicurist to your fight camp.  Additionally, using a foot rasp after a shower or bath will give you the smoothness and suppleness you need to discourage leg lockers.

Stay tuned for more quality Jiu-Jitsu analysis.