My grappling is limited mostly to Wrestling with some BJJ, what exaclty about the ruleset makes grappling less effective?
Off the top of my head I know positional resets do, sometimes grappling takes time the ref wont give them. But I've never really thought about it before
First, I want to qualify this by saying that I'm not complianing, and understand completely why this exists. But this myth that grappling is somehow favored in MMA is just ludicrous. Grappling is boring for many fans to watch. Dana White gets pissed when there's too much grappling. He hates it, particularly if it's the grinding, take down style grappling favored by wrestlers. Fans often don't understand what they're seeing, and while it's very technical, it doesn't LOOK technical.
Positional resets is a big one, because grappling is often a grind. Lay and pray, while very boring to watch, is a way for a superior grappler to smother and prevent an opponent from mounting any kind of offense whatsoever.
But, fundamentally, the uniform favors strikers over grapplers. It's a contrived situation unique to competition. In self defense, unless you're being attacked in a locker room shower, you are unlikely to be grappling in a situation so ill suited for catching a submission. Many of the chokes and joint locks that are fundamental to sound grappling are functionally impossible to catch due to the slipperiness and lack of grips in MMA.
Rounds themselves favor strikers. A grappler can be working for something and when the round ends, they start standing.
The cage favors strikers in that it is often difficult to work for a submission up against the cage. The cage is used to protect your back and is a huge help for guys working to regain their feet. Often, the grappler has to pick up the guy on the bottom to move him away from the cage.
Any more, the only submission typical in an elite level mma match is the RNC. Otherwise, any submission is just too risky. There's an occasional head/arm choke or even less common now, a triangle from guard. But for the most part, guys are all competent enough grapplers to avoid these, and can muscle out of most anything if they're sweaty enough.
These things are systemic. They exist fundamentally within the ruleset to create a situation that handicaps grappling. While it's true that there are techniques that are illegal, both for grapplers and strikers. But overall, strking is like hitting home runs in baseball. Striking sells tickets, and so over the years, the rules have evolved to ensure that grappling is tightly controlled and heavily restricted.
