UFC on Versus Preview: Bloody Elbow Judo Chop: Brandon Vera Uses the Thai Plum to Crush Frank Mir at UFC 65

In Sherdog's Pro's Pick feature about the upcoming Jon Jones vs Brandon Vera bout, Robin Black had this to say:

That Jones fella really is unpredictable and athletic and crazy, but, theoretically, the way to counter that is with strong basics and sharp fundamentals. So many guys at this weight are dangerous for an up-and-coming super talent like Jones to face at this point in his development, but I believe Vera is a particularly tough matchup for him. Vera is fundamentally strong enough to make the right decisions when Jones brings some of his crazy heat, and talented enough to capitalize when he gets the chance. Vera has so many weapons: technical striking, high enough level wrestling to counter Jones, crazy leg kicks, dangerous clinch. And Jones is not gonna shake Vera. Vera is tough. I say Vera by decision.

Mike Chiappetta also discussed Brandon Vera's skills at MMA Fighting's preview of the UFC on Versus:

Vera's striking is good enough, technical enough, that he feels comfortable standing up with anybody. His wrestling is good enough that he can take anyone down, and his jiu-jitsu is competent enough to threaten anyone. His skill-set is not the issue; the issue has been putting all the pieces together, mixing in some killer instinct and bring it all to a boil. Sometimes, you have the right ingredients, but the recipe doesn't come together.

So I thought it would be fun to go back and take a detailed look at the last fight where Vera really put it all together, against Frank Mir at UFC 65.

Vera utterly devastated Mir in every aspect of the fight, but the key technique was his use of the Thai Plum or the double collar tie to control Mir standing and fire repeated knees to Mir's face. Here's what wikipedia has to say about the position:

Also known as the "Muay Thai clinch","thai-clinch", neck tie or plum position, the double collar tie is a stand-up grappling position often featured in Muay Thai and in mixed martial arts competitions. The double collar tie can be used to effectively control the opponent, even allowing for throws to be executed from the position. The most typical strikes from the double collar tie are knee strikes, either to the head or to the body. The combatant executing the double collar tie tend to keep the elbows tucked in to prevent the opponent from countering with a double collar tie of his own, or with uppercuts.

Now let's look at some Gifs.

GIFs by Chris Nelson. 

On the right we see an early exchange between Vera and Mir. Notice the complicated feint Vera shows before he fires a left hook. He steps forward and cocks his right hand as if he's coming with a right straight. Mir takes the bait and drops his right hand. When Mir attempts to counter with a left straight, Vera side steps away and scores with the left hook. 

The important things to watch are Vera's feints, footwork and how quickly he sneaks in the left when Mir's guard drops. Note also his response to Mir's feinted right hook -- Vera puts his left hand up to protect his face then quickly reloads it and tags Mir.

On the left we see Vera score with a hard right straight that staggers Mir. After threatening the straight right only seconds before, Vera has now trained Mir to look for other punches when he sees Vera showing the right straight. So this time Mir raises his right hand to protect against another left hook and instead of feinting, Vera comes right down the pip with a hard shot.

Mir quickly attempts to regain his composure, but Vera immediately moves in to establish a collar tie by putting his left hand on the back of Mir's neck while firing a second right straight. Mir is able to cover with his left forearm and the punch doesn't score, but it allows Vera to get the dominant position he wants: the dreaded Thai Plum. 

At this point, everyone knows what is coming, but Mir's not in any position to do anything about it. Vera now has both hands wrapped around the back of Mir's neck and he fires off a hard right knee while pulling Mir's face down into the blow. He immediately pistons with a left knee to the face and then readjusts his grip on the neck and scores with another right knee as well.

Mir is falling to the ground from the devastating impact of the blows and tries to go for a single leg  take down, but Vera easily sprawls out of it and quickly finishes Mir on the ground. 

In other early fights, Vera won with devastating high kicks to the head (Justin Eilers) and quickly applied guillotine chokes (Assuerio Silva). There is no doubt the man has the physical tools and technical knowledge of all aspects of MMA to contend at the highest levels. 

The question that will be answered Sunday is whether or not he can recapture the killer instinct to make it all work together.