Agreed, also why MOST contact sport fighters will do better than most casual strip mall martial artists. The highlighted part is what is important I think. With more and more "MMA gyms" popping up we are starting to see the empty shell of MMA taught without the harder training aspects. Just like the spread of BJJ, we are seeing some schools that only teach sparring from the knees and what works in the sport arena and don't concentrate on the self-defense portions that were originally taught in GJJ. That doesn't mean that those arts aren't good or effective, but when the training paradigm shifts for ANY martial art the end result will also shift.
It doesn't take much to "tweak" your MMA program and understand the "hows" and "whys" that a good self-defense program teaches. An MMAist is VERY aware of distancing and environment, it's part of their sport. They also learn how to use the environment to work their techniques. I also get frustrated when people talk about a BJJer or MMAist and think the ONLY thing that they do is close the distance and then take it to the ground, as if that is their only option. It's not. In fact, I would say knowing how to avoid the takedown and having the ground skills to avoid and nullify the ground attack and get back up on your feet is a skill that ALL people should learn how to do. It should also be learned what to do IF you are both on the ground and can't disengage immediately what to do. There are many RSBD schools that do instruct what could be looked at as an MMA approach with all the dirty tactics included that is trained for self-defense.
