Bloody Elbow Judo Chop: Cole Miller's Inverted Triangle + Kimura Beats Dan Lauzon at UFC 108
It shouldn't be any surprise that I'm doing a Judo Chop on Cole Miller's inverted triangle plus kimura submission win over Dan Lauzon at UFC 108. This move is exactly why the Judo Chop was invented!
The fight was a very good one, evenly matched with several back and forth swings of the pendulum for such a short fight. Initially Miller scored with his aggression and reach but then Lauzon's punching power quickly reversed their fortunes. But when Lauzon took Miller down, he found that Miller's jiu jitsu is a force to be reckoned with, even from a very disadvantageous position.
We've talked about the inverted triangle in a previous Judo Chop covering Toby Imada's famous tap out of Jorge Masvidal:
The thing to understand is that the triangle choke is an artery choke. It's not Imada's
shincalf cutting off Masvidal's windpipe that causes Jorge to pass out. Instead its a blood choke that uses Jorge's own left shoulder and Imada's left thigh to each compress a carotid artery which prevents oxygen reaching the brain.There's a whole discussion I could get into about what exactly is an inverted triangle since Renzo Gracie for example uses the term to describe a completely different move in which you switch the choking leg in a regular triangle.
You can also see Ryan Hall landing an inverted triangle in a no-gi grappling competition in a slightly different position here. It's also not to be confused with the triangle from inverted guard which is beautifully explained here.
And we've talked about a kimura being applied while using the legs to control the opponent's head, in Gray Maynard's near tap out of Roger Huerta with a kimura plus head scissors.
What Miller did was basically a combination of Imada and Maynard's moves.
Let's look at how he did it in the full entry.
Gif via Fightlinker.
On the left we see Miller seemingly working for an armbar while Lauzon has him stacked face down. Miller has control of Lauzon's left wrist and uses it to isolate the left arm. But instead of going for an arm bar, Miller wraps his legs around Lauzon's head and right shoulder, establishing a figure four without using his hands at all.
This is why long, lanky opponents are so dangerous! Once Miller has Lauzon's head and right arm trapped between his legs and the figure four cinched pretty tight, he rolls onto his back, dragging Lauzon with him.
Only at this point does he switch his grip on Lauzon's left wrist and move to a kimura. Note how he releases Lauzon's arm and switches the placement of his hands such that his right hand gripped Lauzon's wrist and his left hand gripped his own right wrist after threading through the crook of Lauzon's arm.
The photo on the right illustrates Miller applying the kimura grip and torquing Lauzon's arm back.
At this point all of Lauzon's options were bad ones. His right arm is trapped by Miller's triangle and is cutting off the blood-rich oxygen flowing to his brain. His left arm is being twisted with the possibility of serious injury being sustained to his shoulder.
Lauzon made the wise choice of tapping.
According to Lauzon's twitter feed, it was the choke, not the kimura that forced him out: "nope. It was the choke."
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The inverted guard and inverted triangle are two techniques I’ve been drilling/researching the shit out of recently… I’ll reply with something in depth in a little bit (Actually have to do some work!) Thanks again for a great write up on a dynamic technique!
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
To start:
One of the most basic drills in Jiu-Jitsu is rolling to re-establish guard; typically when you roll to re-establish guard you roll all the way around so you stop again in an orthodox full guard position, the inverted guard is essentially stopping that roll half way through and executing offensive techniques from that upside down position.
Cole Miller executes the triangle by rolling his should and head under and towards the side that he has arm control on, the leg on the outside (not the arm control side) traces up the body and under the armpit (allowing it to force the armpit up and push the shoulder towards the carotid artery, same as a normal triangle but slightly weaker due to a different group of muscles working on clamping the shoulder upwards). The inside leg (arm control side) goes up and around the head (it’s avoid the arm and is above the shoulder of the arm being controlled), this curls over the back and locks under the knee pit of the outside leg creating the figure four lock (pressure from control side directly on the neck, pressure from non control side on the shoulder pushing into the neck).
The ideal inverted triangle uses arm control on the figure four locked side (the arm being pushed up) because you can grab that wrist (or the gi cuff, tricep, whatever) and pull it across, making the lock easier to achieve and pulling the arm further across the throat, making it far worse (imagine the arm triangle for a moment, it’s far worse when the person getting triangled has their arm folded across their chest, rather than having their palm braced against their head, this is because when the arm goes across the shoulder pulls into the neck (try a standing tricep stretch, you’ll see what I mean). Cole can’t get the ideal arm because Dan is hiding it against his leg and not putting it under Cole’s core, so he takes what he can get an controls the other arm so Dan can’t lock his hands and just shoulder out of the triangle or stack Cole on his neck.
Now, understand that even though Cole doesn’t have the ideal arm, his legs are locked correctly and the choke is being executed properly, just without the little touches that make tapping much faster, Dan still isn’t getting all of the blood he needs to go to his brain and the choke eventually will finish him off regardless (this is why it looks like it was the arm that caused the tap, because Dan looked like he was surviving the choke (which was not the case).
Now, onto Cole’s figure four lock, he corrects it twice to get the ideal position, you can see the final position because his foot clears the knee pit (his shin is then under the knee pit) and the toes/foot that clear that knee are pointed straight and flexing (this makes the pressure much more effective than just lazily having your foot at any angle, when you point your toes up and hook your foot up it flexes the calf/hamstring tighter). This is the best way to lock the figure four.
Dan’s mistake was that he was so worried about losing the arm that he wasn’t paying attention to the possibility of the triangle, or he just wasn’t worried about the inverted triangle because they are notoriously hard to finish if you don’t get the steps or locks correct. Once he recognizes the triangle is going up he postures up so he can create space between his neck and shoulder and have the possibility of stacking/surviving for long than if he was postured wrong (in the gif, you can clearly see his recognition “oh f*ck”).
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 10:52 AM EST up reply actions 6 recs
Now, onto some explanation via pictures/links:
Credit to Mikey Triangles on Sherdog’s grappling forum for the following breakdown in pictures of the types of triangles etc:
Reverse Triangle:

Inverted triangle (from the top):

Reverse Inverted Triangle (sub of the year!):

Inverted Guard:

The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 10:54 AM EST up reply actions 4 recs
Inverted Triangle from Braulio Estima (winner of ADCC2009 Absolute), in this picture triangling Andre Galvao:

Link to Braulio Estima instructing one setup of a no-gi inverted triangle (one of my favorite setups for sure!):
http://www.cagefilm.com/video/1520/Braulio-Estima—ADCC2009-Winning-Techniques-1
Link to a youtube video of Braulio executing the triangle at ADCC2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8zYMk8oVFc
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 10:57 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Also, for good measure here’s a non-inverted triangle technique explanation that I’ve been working on recently (the guy in the video is my Jiu Jitsu idol, and some of you might just like the tech he’s showing, it’s not related to this at all, it’s just cool as hell and Nino is the man!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqo2LGTZPoY
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 11:00 AM EST up reply actions 3 recs
WOW
Insightful to say the least. Now that I have more time and money on my hands I can actually start looking for a good BJJ School.
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
Jiu-Jitsu will change your life if you stick with it, it’s amazing.
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 11:19 AM EST up reply actions
im in my ohone, so i dont know if these comments are green or not..
if it’s not, you should be ashamed of yourselves..
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 8, 2010 2:35 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I love when you comment on technique posts.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito Ortiz on Vitor Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Jan 9, 2010 12:31 AM EST up reply actions
I do jiu jitsu in Northern VA, trust me I’m a Ryan Hall fan!! However, I had quick access to these pictures/videos because I’ve been studying them recently, I didn’t have a good explanation video from Ryan on the technique, just tournament footage.
However, this reminds me, I need to buy Hall’s triangle DVD set… also I need to visit 50/50 BJJ in Arlington.
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 11:18 AM EST up reply actions
This was pretty awesome.
Not as dramatic as the Imada’s choke, but damn when I saw that I felt bad for Lauzon. I guess it was the bad camera angle or something, but I had thought he tapped from the kimura, because I didn’t think the choke was completely there. Very nice by Miller though.
I love me some Sexyama!
Great write up
I love a good judo chop. I like Cole Miller and hope he fights a lot in 2010. Very smart of him to lock in the choke when so many would have just rolled for the Kimura and lost it.
BTW, In case you want to correct it you said “Miller’s triangle and is cutting off the oxygen flowing to his brian”
Also it’s the blood, not the oxygen, common misconception (if the choke was directly over the front of his throat on his windpipe then it would be oxygen, when it’s on the sides of the throat/neck it’s blood (typically, there are exceptions).
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 11:02 AM EST up reply actions
The reason no blood to the brain is bad is because it provides the oxygen… =D . Windpipe chokes cut off air, also bad for similar reasons!
Cuting air off will not really get a tap, its the crushing of the windpipe that hurts. There is no “Hold your breath” defence, dispite what you hear on TV ex. bread cutter (the simplest “wind” choke I know of). You are right about o2 and blood, but this is commonly called a blood choke, not an oxygen choke.
Some people think I am a dumb, ugly human being, but really I am a beautiful ape, with exceptional verbal skills.
Well… if you wanna get all sciency about it FINE! lol, good point =).
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 11:20 AM EST up reply actions
last time i checked arterial blood contains oxygen...
if your brain doesn’t get supplied with O2 is goes blank in few seconds
I’m no doctor sir! I do however acknowledge that I had a brain fart and forgot that blood pretty much is designed to carry oxygen…
I’ll take my forum whippings :(
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 11:30 AM EST up reply actions
Bazinga!
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 10:14 PM EST up reply actions
This was awesome
I didn’t think the choke was there until after he tapped and sat up, his head was red as a tomato.
'He built his whole reputation as a waffle house chef. They’ve been serving him up ham and eggs with a side of canned tomatoes' - Don Frye on Fedor Emelianenko
by Well Read Idiot on Jan 8, 2010 10:40 AM EST reply actions
I'm hoping to do one up but it'll be late next week
my schedule is busy
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
On top of that… whatever the f*ck Aoki did was extremely complicated in setup and then ended in a weird ass adapted cutting/straight armbar from a crawl over position.
That shit was crazy, I wouldn’t even really know where to start on it! Good luck!
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 8, 2010 1:14 PM EST up reply actions
Got it covered for you Nate

You’ll see that Aoki begins by bringing his hand at knee level and toward his opponent’s face. Notice that he’s bending over, as the angle is absolutely critical. If he didn’t, Hirota could easily move his head and look away. But given Aoki’s stupendous positioning work, Hirota is completely unable to avoid the incoming attack.
Next Aoki extends his middle finger while simultaneously flexing all of his other fingers on his right hand. This leaves only his middle finger exposed. This sort of positional multitasking is what really sets Aoki on another level above most grapplers in mma. Finally, he locks it and flees into the night, avoiding any sort of negative repercussions for the maneuver.

That’s some slick grappling.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito Ortiz on Vitor Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Jan 9, 2010 1:07 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
roflcopter, rec’d.
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Jan 9, 2010 1:18 AM EST up reply actions
Great job by Nate and AboveThis Fire with write-up and commentary. Don’t know if I will ever understand all the inverted guard work, but at lest I know that if someone tries to wrap their legs in a figure 4 on me from underneath, DON’T LET THEM
certified warlord
I recently watched a replay of the TUF season with Nate Diaz, Cole miller, gray Maynard, j lauzon and others… what a group of studs. No more heavy weights plz
by ruckus on Jan 8, 2010 11:51 AM EST via mobile reply actions
It's a shame the director cut to the wrong side of Lauzon and Miller when he secured the Kimura
We couldn’t see what was happening live, we just saw Lauzon in the turtle position when he tapped. A shame too because it was one heck of a sub.

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