“It's like my first lesson” – Striker Danial Williams ‘blown away’ by how little he knows about grappling at a high level

In a recent interview with Southern Cross Combat, MMA striker Danial Williams admitted knowing very little about grappling.

Every combat sports fan in the world knows that wrestling is an integral part of mixed martial arts. Luckily for Danial Williams, this hasn’t stopped him from winning six of his first eight MMA matches. The Perth native usually relies on his Muay Thai and kickboxing acumen to create openings and outstrike opponents.

The fact that he knows very little about high-level grappling has caused Williams to take it more seriously.

Speaking to Southern Cross Combat, ‘Mini-T’ talked about perfecting this timeless skill before his next MMA outing on February 16:

“I found it quite difficult because you know I was really specific about doing the grappling training but then transferring it to MMA, there are a lot of bits missing. So the main thing is the wrestling - that's something that I haven't put a lot of effort into at all.”

He added:

“The last couple of months just jumping in the Scrappy MMA wrestling class and being blown away by it because it's like kind of just shake my head and smack it against the wall. I've had like eight pro MMA fights and I haven't had any sort of wrestling focus in my training or just doing the classes where it's like my first lesson.”

Watch the full interview below:

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Danial Williams says he’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t find the finish against Lito Adiwang

Danial Williams is in much need of a win if he intends to get back into the running for a strawweight MMA world title shot.

All three of his last matches have resulted in defeats against top-level strikers - two in kickboxing and one in MMA. Even though it remains quite clear that Williams is an elite performer, he’ll grow the more confident with an uncompromising win against fast-rising star Lito ‘Thunder Kid’ Adiwang at ONE Fight Night 19.

“I’ll be disappointed if I don’t get the finish,” he told ONE. “So, round one, round two, round three, it doesn’t matter. But I always fight for the finish, and I’ll make sure I fight the best fight I can.”

Watch ‘Mini-T’ Danial Williams return to action on February 16 at ONE Fight Night 19, which will air live on US Primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America