Bloody Elbow Judo Chop: Nate Marquardt's Crazy Karate/Muay Thai Combination

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 11:16 AM EST in Technique Comment 39 comments

Marquardt_27s_20spectactular_20finish_medium

For those of you who are wondering where Nate Marquardt came up with the unconventional combination that ended his fight with Wilson Gouveia, he explained a little at the post-fight press conference (via MMA Weekly):

“Even when I'm tired in the third round, or whenever, I still feel explosive. I still feel I can move quickly and I have the knockout power in the hands.”

Of course, it was more than just his hands that sealed Gouveia’s fate. After landing the knee flush, Marquardt knocked the American Top Team product across the cage with a trio of high kicks, the last followed by a 45-degree spinning backfist. Gouveia sat in concession when another knee met his head.

The sequence was not unlike something the champ would cook up.

“The funny thing is I started in Karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – full contact Karate – so I have a lot of stuff in my background where I'm able to pull from, like the spinning back fist," said Marquardt at UFC 95’s post-fight presser. “And I've been working a lot of Muay Thai with a British guy, James McSweeney, and it's helping me out a lot. I felt very good on my feet."

Note that the key to throwing this kind of wild combination so late in the fight is conditioning. If Nate wasn't in incredible shape he wouldn't have the gas in the tank to risk spending the energy trying to finish the fight rather than holding back and going for the decision.

The second point to make about this combination is that its a mastery of the "traditional" holy trinity of MMA -- wrestling, jiu jitsu and muy thai -- that allows Marquardt to make effective use of a flashy karate combination like a left body kick-left high kick-right high kick-spinning backfist.

If Nate didn't have the wrestling skills to keep the fight standing or get back to his feet he wouldn't risk throwing the high kicks. If Nate didn't have the jiu jitsu skills to handle himself on the ground, he wouldn't wouldn't risk throwing the high kicks. If Nate didn't have the muy thai skills to land effective combinations he wouldn't be able to work in the high kicks.

I really wish I had a gif that showed the straight right jab that stunned Wilson and allowed Nate to land the flying knee. It reminded me very much of the jab/flying knee combination that B.J. Penn used to finish Sean Sherk in their title fight way back when.

Unlike Sherk, Wilson wasn't quite finished by the knee and had enough wherewithal to backpedal across the octagon. This is where Nate saw his chance to unleash the TMA (traditional martial arts) attack. The series of kicks allowed him to keep landing shots on Gouveia even as he backpedaled across the cage. The head kick/spinning back fist/~~left~~ right hook was an excellent way to capitalize once Wilson was back against the cage and unable to retreat anymore. And of course, the final knee to the face was the coup de grace.

This combination is a perfect example of modern mma fulfilling its potential to be a truly beautiful "ballet of violence".

Gif via Brawl Sports

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Man, i always like Marquardt, but he has evolved into a freaking animal in there.

I’m not saying he would beat Anderson, but that is definitely a fight I want to see again!

If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.

by BJJDenver on Feb 24, 2009 11:20 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I had some casual

MMA fans at my house for this and they were already impressed by Nates crazy physique. When he did that they went nuts! Marquardt got a shit ton of new fans that night.

Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."

by xFenixKnightx on Feb 24, 2009 11:25 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

This seems like as good a place as any to ask...

if anyone has suggestions for software to make GIFs with?
I had an awesome, really simple program called “MovToGif” but I lost everything in a hard drive crash last week and can’t find it again.

Good choice as always, Nate. Ballet of violence indeed.

Contributor Emeritus - BloodyElbow.com

by Chris Nelson on Feb 24, 2009 11:33 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Aside from anything Smoogy, the guardian of gif wisdom, says, If you’re willing to brave Sherdog’s forums, this is a thread started by the top poster in the P&M thread about animating gifs:
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f7/how-make-gifs-ulead-gif-animator-777728/

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Feb 24, 2009 1:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks homie. Got the software, now I just need to polish my skillz…

Contributor Emeritus - BloodyElbow.com

by Chris Nelson on Feb 24, 2009 3:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The head kick/spinning back fist/left hook was an excellent way to capitalize once Wilson was back against the cage and unable to retreat anymore.

It was actually a head kick/spinning back fist/right hook.

by drightler on Feb 24, 2009 11:55 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

d'oh!

fixed thanks!

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 12:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Question for Kid Nate:

Is it also possible for you to do a similar article on GSP’s switch jab and switch jab/low kick combo (or opposite combo with superman punch/left low kick combo)? Examples of those can be seen in his UFC 94, 87, 83, and 74 fights.

This sequence by Nate was amazing. Such a diversity of strikes, one flowing to the next. Very creative, as well as effective. Interesting that he gives credit to his S&C coach, Jonathan Chaimberg. IMO, since JC has become the S&C coach for Nate, GSP, and Rashad, we’ve seen the explosiveness and cardio for all 3 of these guys go off the charts.

by Hardcharger on Feb 24, 2009 11:56 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

that’s a great suggestion.
The limiting factors are my time to go back and rewatch the fights and then getting someone to make the right gifs (or finding them online).
Can you flag the times during those fights GSP pulled the moves?
It might be fun to discuss the evolution and application of the technique over time.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 12:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I’ll find the times during the fights to find the combos.

One gif I found already, from UFC 83 (switch jab/right low kick combo)

[img]http://i28.tinypic.com/sy7au0.gif[/img]

by Hardcharger on Feb 24, 2009 1:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That’s quite the reaction by GSP. He ducked right under Serra’s counter. You could tell GSP saw it coming from a mile away cause he ducked in mid superman punch. Crazy.

by pud333 on Feb 24, 2009 2:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

http://www.ufc-gifs.com/ufc94/gsp_superman.gif

UFC 94 gif

by Hardcharger on Feb 24, 2009 1:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

sweet thanks!

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 1:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I’ll find the instances from the Fitch fight and the Kos fight ASAP. There aren’t existing gifs that I know of for these combos, but maybe it will be of help.

by Hardcharger on Feb 24, 2009 2:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that will be huge

thanks!

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 3:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

OK, combos from the GSP-Koscheck fight at UFC 74 that would be useful:

Rd 3: 4:14
Rd 3: 2:43
Rd 3: 2:23

by Hardcharger on Feb 25, 2009 9:38 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

2 more combos from the GSP-Fitch fight at UFC 87:

Rd 2: 4:21
Rd 2: 0:51

Nate, hope this is of some help.

by Hardcharger on Feb 26, 2009 9:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

for sure man

not sure when I’ll be able to get around to writing on this stuff but I promise I’ll give it a look and if I have something to say, do a post.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Mar 1, 2009 4:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good enough Nate. I really enjoy these technique articles you do, so if I could be of some help for a future article, I’m more than happy to do so.

by Hardcharger on Mar 2, 2009 4:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

When I saw Nate pull that out, I said, “WTF was that?” It was pretty awesome. It reminded me of street fighter. The only thing missing was a Shoryuken at the end. I think that display just showed that not only was the holy trinity in full force, but how valuable traditional martial arts like Karate can be. TMA may not be front and center when it comes to most MMA, but the fact that the background is there to draw from as a compliment to the holity trinity is pretty important. Having a strong background in various TMA can provide a fighter with yet another set of weapons, not to mention the type of dicipline and mind set something like Karate can provide.

Take Machida for example. I think in the future, we’ll be seeing certain aspects of TMA being utilized more and more to help bring about a different kind of fighter.

by pud333 on Feb 24, 2009 12:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I agree about the TMA

and its been one of the most fun developments of recent years. Its no accident that some of my favorite fighters are Cung Le, Karo, Lyoto Machida, GSP, and Jon Jones. I love seeing flashy applications of “pure” techniques that we don’t usually see.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 12:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

For sure. So long as it’s not something like Uno’s jump kick against Penn back in the day, haha. Although if Uno had landed that, it would have been awesome. :)

by pud333 on Feb 24, 2009 12:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It seems like TMAas are useless without the Holy Trinity, but once muay thai, jiu jitsu and wrestling have been mastered, the TMAs come in handy.

by klown on Feb 24, 2009 11:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know

I wasn’t overly impressed with the series of attacks. They were pretty sloppy and he was only able to put that together because his conditioning was better and his opponent had basically stopped fighting back and was looking for a way out.

Not that it should take away from Nate’s victory, he controlled the entire fight and deserved a decisive finish, not a decision…but I think there is too much thought being put into that series of strikes.

Now the knee that set it all off was a thing of beauty.

by Razreshat on Feb 24, 2009 12:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I kind of agree with you on that point but it was just too flashy a sequence to pass up. What I think is the key thing about the combination is it allowed him to chase Gouveia across the octagon while landing strikes, thereby preventing Wilson from recovering from the knee.
And the straight punch that preceded the knee was the real thing of beauty IMO.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 2:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What made that flurry to end the fight so meaningful to me was that Nate was able to execute those moves in the 3rd round. Big props to Nate for his cardio. Very few fights end in third round stoppages because most guys just don’t have the energy to put someone away that late in a fight, but Nate does.

Nate’s hard work in the gym allowed him to put together a very exciting finish.

by polevaultking on Feb 24, 2009 12:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

The second point to make about this combination is that its a mastery of the “traditional” holy trinity of MMA — wrestling, jiu jitsu and muy thai — that allows Marquardt to make effective use of a flashy karate combination like a left body kick-left high kick-right high kick-spinning backfist.

If Nate didn’t have the wrestling skills to keep the fight standing or get back to his feet he wouldn’t risk throwing the high kicks. If Nate didn’t have the jiu jitsu skills to handle himself on the ground, he wouldn’t wouldn’t risk throwing the high kicks. If Nate didn’t have the muy thai skills to land effective combinations he wouldn’t be able to work in the high kicks.

Are you trying to say one cannot do flashy karate combinations without mastering the traditional holy trinity? Because we’re starting to see more fighters NOT adopt the entire holy trinity and yet execute flashy moves and win fights. Consider the prototypical example, Machida. People like to say that Machida only adds Shotokan techniques, methodologies and principles on top of a core Muay Thai game. That’s just not true. Machida spent only two months in Thailand training MT. The vast majority of this stand-up striking base comes from Shotokan (including knee strikes). And he spends 3/5 of his workweek training karate with his family.

Or perhaps you’re saying that JUST Nate Marquardt is unable to do flashy karate combinations without the holy trinity. But what if Marquardt didn’t have the Muay Thai skills to complete the trinity? What if he only used kickboxing and/or full-contact karate skills? Certainly he could still “land effective combinations” and “work in the high kicks” a la prime Cro Cop, no?

You are correct about the need for clinch work and ground work skills though, but that’s true for any MMA fighter. The trouble is if you imply wrestling = clinch work and jiu-jitsu = ground work. Think skills in each range, not in each style.

by Flying Gogoplata on Feb 24, 2009 1:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

BTW, you can read another post on this subject.

by Flying Gogoplata on Feb 24, 2009 1:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

At first I thought you were referring me to a post I wrote! LOL

A number of posters on MMA forums and blogs seem to cling to the MT/BJJ/Western Wrestling orthodoxy and believe that it’s all a fighter needs to be effective. Undoubtedly detestable sites like Bullshido.net have something to do with it. But as Breen was saying, we’re starting to see fighters integrate techniques and fighting forms from other styles and use them to catch more orthodox fighters off-guard. And in other cases, like Machida’s, non-MT/WW/BJJ arts can become the dominant part of a fighter’s repertoire. But it’s not a case of "replacing" MT with Shotokan or neglecting BJJ in favor of Sambo or Catch. It’s about taking certain elements from various styles and integrating them into your overall game. Sure, MT/WW/BJJ will still have a place in MMA, but they may become more supplementary as opposed to essential.

I agree completely. I think a big part of it is that with so many fighters having MT/BJJ or Boxing/Wrestling foundations that fighters with solid fundamentals in all three ranges — distance, clinching, ground — but who master a different style have the advantage of being unfamiliar. I doubt Stephan Bonner will be so prone to walk into Greco-roman throws now that Jon Jones has put on a demo using him as a tackling dummy.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 2:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that's an excellent point

Your clarification about the ranges is a very good one.
But I think it Nate’s case the muy thai really did provide a context within which he was able to incorporate the karate moves. The straight punch/flying knee combo and the knee at the end — the strikes that really did the damage — were all classic MT.
But for other fighters I think you are correct, it’s possible to use other striking styles as an effective base — even as Machida proves Shotokan.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 2:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe the problem is extrapolation.

What is known for certain is that in that fight, Marquardt’s straight punch set up a flying knee. In turn, that knee allowed a chain of increasingly fancy moves.

That does not mean Muay Thai moves enabled Karate moves, which is saying something else. The more accurate conclusion is that basic but more reliable moves enabled fancier but less reliable moves.

Both types of moves exist in both MT and Karate. In fact, MT has some fairly crazy techniques:

http://www.shaolin.ee/pdf/Ch1.pdf
http://www.shaolin.ee/pdf/Ch2.pdf
http://www.shaolin.ee/pdf/Ch3.pdf
http://www.shaolin.ee/pdf/Ch4.pdf
http://www.shaolin.ee/pdf/Ch5.pdf
http://www.shaolin.ee/pdf/Ch6.pdf
http://www.shaolin.ee/pdf/Ch7.pdf

I can imagine you spending hours over this, hehe.

by Flying Gogoplata on Feb 24, 2009 3:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

oooo!

thank you.
Hours I don’t have, but wtf!

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 3:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Is it just me or did Nate’s spinning backfist land or miss? Looked like a miss to me. Still, awesome combo.

by lhasafi on Feb 24, 2009 1:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Glancing blow – you can see Gouveia’s head bounce a bit upon impact.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Feb 24, 2009 1:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think it clipped the top of his head Cro-Cop style but it might’ve missed. Every strike in a combination doesn’t need to land cleanly for the overall combination to work.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2009 2:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs