Shane Del Rosario threatened with an armbar before landing the fight ending omaplata. Photo by Tom Casino / SHOWTIME

View full size photo »

hose of us who watched Strikeforce Challengers on November 6th, were treated to a very rare treat -- a truly quality heavyweight bout between two undefeated prospects who were both in great shape and both brought serious skill sets to the fight. The cherry on top was the fight became only the 12th in MMA history (thanks Leland Roling for the research on that!) to end with an Omaplata submission.

MMA Junkie reported on the fight:

In the evening's co-feature, heavyweight slugger Brandon Cash (5-1) appeared well on his way to an overwhelming win after a crushing right hand dropped Shane del Rosario (9-0) to his back. Cash continued to slug away with punches from the sky, but del Rosario somehow maintained composure from the bottom.

The courage paid off.

Cash's attacks slowed as the round progressed, and while he maintained top position, it was del Rosario who went on the attack. The three-time M-1 Challenge veteran looked for triangle chokes, arm bars, and anything he could grab from his back. Cash resisted, but it was a rare omo plata that proved the difference maker.

Often utilized as a simple sweep, del Rosario maintained the hold as he rolled up to his knees and on Cash's side. Cash did little to escape, and when the pressure to his shoulder increased, he was forced to issue a meager tap.

From wikipedia:

The omoplata (sometimes referred to as ude-garami or sankaku-garami, 三角緘, "triangular entanglement" or ashi-garami, "leg entanglement" in Judo) is a commonly featured shoulder lock in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The locking mechanism is similar to the kimura lock, but instead of using a figure-four, it is applied using a leg. The omoplata can be applied from the guard, by placing one leg under the opponents armpit and turning 180 degrees in the direction of that leg, so that the leg moves over the back of the opponent and entangles the opponents arm. By controlling the opponent's body and pushing the arm perpendicularly away from the opponents back, pressure can be put on the opponent's shoulder. It is also possible to put pressure on the elbow joint by bending the leg entangling the arm, and twisting it in a specific manner. Though an effective lock, it is more difficult than other armlocks to successfully apply.

Let's look at some gifs in the full entry.

Continue reading this post »

via ADCCbarcelona.com

View full size photo »

At the elite level, anyway. ADCC 65.9 kg bronze medalist Ryan Hall makes the case:

"The way Marcelo Garcia plays guard, is, in my opinion, how it should be done," Hall said. "Your whole job is to pull them off of you and stand up into a single leg. I’m finding more and more that the traditional sweeps don’t really work at the high level, at least not in the way that you normally think of them: you cut me over, and I fall like kaboom right on my back. That doesn’t really happen. It’s like a 20 point touchdown. It just doesn’t usually work like that when both guys are at a truly elite level... I guess I’d say my approach to the guard has changed drastically. It isn’t to pull some whacky sweep or triangle out of my ass anymore. My whole goal is to just make you off balance to the point that you can’t, for a moment, stop me from standing up—and now I finish from a positional advantage. I feel that’s the truly reliable way to do it. You can replicate it against a high-level opponent who knows what you’re doing. That’s when you know you’ve got something.

"People come to me all the time and say, ‘Teach me the inverted guard." I’ll show them if they really want to know, but I generally prefer not to. Instead, I’ll try to sell them on this: learn how to wrestle a little bit, and I’ll show you how to pass. The guard is an important position, but the purpose of the guard is not so that I can triangle you; the purpose of the guard is so that I can get on top. It’s the proper strategic choice, seeking the mechanical advantage."

Maybe the catch wrestlers were onto something.

View full size photo »

Doing pre-event "film study" of Randy Couture's recent fights I started to notice an ugly trend.  Randy has started to throw punches bent over at the waist, especially his right uppercut.  Both Brock Lesnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira were able to exploit this punch with straight right hands.

In addition to being bent at the waist during both of these fights Randy was looking to throw the punch from what I feel is a bit too far outside.  This allows more room and time for the right counter.

Let's take a look at the exchanges.

Continue reading this post »

View full size photo »

Note: I wrote most of this a couple of weeks back but didn't get a chance to finish, thought I'd go ahead and post since I figure alot of our readers are technique nerds too.

DREAM.12 featured Bellator champ (and #3 ranked lightweight in the world on the USAT/SBN Consensus MMA Rankings) Eddie Alvarez, a fighter who epitomizes the combination of boxing and wrestling that has become a mainstay of MMA. His opponent was the fast-rising Katsunori Kikuno whose success with Kyokushin karate, an eccentric Sanchin dachi stance and use of crescent kicks have made him a cult favorite with those of us who are fascinated with the successful use of "traditional martial art" styles that were long believed to be of extremely limited effectiveness in MMA.

But instead of the clash of contrasting striking styles fans had expected, the fight was decided in the grappling phase of the game. Sure Alvarez scored repeatedly with hard hooks, but he won the fight with an arm triangle and nearly lost it in the first round when he was caught in a rare standing crucifix.

I've done a judo chop on the crucifix neck crank before (not to be confused with the various crucifix positions of jiu jitsu or the position in which Matt Hughes finished B.J. Penn at UFC 63) but that was an instance when it was used on the ground, rather than standing as in Kikuno vs Alvarez.

Many fans watching assumed that Alvarez was in no danger as Kikuno held him in the hold. Alvarez, too, underestimated the danger of the hold, until it was released. Ray Hui scooped me with a write-up he did of the move last week and he wrote up Alvarez' comments at the post fight press conference:

"I originally thought that they were just going to break it, so I kind of just relaxed in there, but the ref just let it go and he kept cranking my neck," Alvarez told the press after the fight. "It didn't feel like it was a move that you would give up to. I just felt uncomfortable. That's all."

However upon release, Alvarez was in obvious discomfort and outright ran away from Kikuno for a momentary breather.

"And I didn't realize until I got out of it that it was stopping my blood flow to my brain I guess and it messed up my footing."

Let's look at some animated gifs in the full entry.

Continue reading this post »

Photo via Sherdog

View full size photo »

Saturday evening's Strikeforce main event went as expected for many fans as former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko threw a devastating overhand right that knocked Brett Rogers out at the 1:48 mark of the second round. The post-fight reaction wasn't very forgiving as some fans felt that a second round TKO and the performance of Fedor during the first round of action was a sure sign that Fedor has been "exposed". 

The most disturbing negative analysis following Fedor's win focuses solely on the fact that Rogers was able to momentarily maul Fedor against the fence and actually last until the second round. While I would definitely say that Rogers proved he could hang with some of the best heavyweights in the world with his performance, this is a sport in which "punching" and "ground and pound" are always evident in battles. To say that Fedor has been suddenly exposed due to a cut/broken nose and an effective barrage of punches on the floor would be a bit premature at this point.

Rogers did show the world that he can use his size and power to make his showdown with Fedor a very competitive battle. He was able to put Fedor down, land some powerful ground and pound, and press Fedor into the cage and control him at times. His weaknesses on the ground were displayed in the fight, however, and it ultimately led to Fedor being able to escape those bad positions in which he was in some brief danger from Rogers.

Lots of animated gifs and technical fight breakdowns in the full entry.

Continue reading this post »

View full size photo »

I've written a fair bit about Lyoto Machida's technique, and I've also grappled a fair bit with the question of whether or not Shogun Rua can beat the champ. So I thought I'd do a bit more of a technical breakdown about Shogun's chances. First off, let's talk about the standing range of the game because that's where most of the fight is likely to happen.

Reminder, I am anything but an expert on this kind of stuff. I've never trained seriously or competed. I'm simply a fan trying to understand what I'm seeing. Corrections and clarifications from readers who are better informed than I are not only welcome, they're encouraged!

For roughly two years from the time Mauricio "Shogun" Rua won the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix in 2005, many considered him to be the best 205lb fighter in the sport. A BJJ blackbelt, he could fight at a distance, he could wrestle, he was devastating in the clinch and for God's sake never let him get on top of you.

Shogun began training Muay Thai in his teens, trained at the legendary Chute Boxe camp and somewhere along the way he picked up a little bit of capoeira to sprinkle on top as well. He's racked up 15 of his 18 wins by KO or TKO.

He's incredibly athletic and proficient at most aspects of MMA and this gave him two big advantages over most of his opponents. If he got into trouble in one phase of a fight he could force the fight to another phase of the game and get out of trouble.

But he has rarely faced opponents who had truly technical approaches to the stand up game. Especially not someone as precise and opportunistic as Machida.

In the full entry we'll get down to specific examples from Shogun's PRIDE career and look at the strengths and weaknesses of his standing game.

Continue reading this post »

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua thrived in Japan under rules that allowed him to soccer kick and stomp downed opponents.

View full size photo »

Michael David Smith asks the question:

Look at the career record of Shogun Rua, and you'll notice something unusual: Of his 18 victories, two are listed as TKO-stomps, and three are listed as TKO-soccer kicks. That's unusual, of course, because stomps and soccer kicks are illegal in the UFC and other American promotions. Shogun became one of the best and most exciting fighters in the world in Pride, where stomps and soccer kicks were allowed, but as he prepares to fight UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 104, I've had a few fans ask me: Can Shogun become a champion under American rules?

Shogun's reliance upon stomps and soccer kicks was actually greater than you might think from hearing that he used them to finish five of his 18 victories: In other fights, such as his 2005 victory over Alistair Overeem, stomps and soccer kicks were an integral part of how he took control of the bout, even if they weren't the way he finished it. Stomps and soccer kicks were, quite simply, Shogun's best weapons, and he's now fighting under rules that take his best weapons from him.

I've been meaning to do a Judo Chop on exactly this topic, and if time allows, I still may.

Regardless, I'm glad MDS is raising the question. It's the obvious question about Shogun's adaptation to UFC rules. I've never thought steroids were that big a factor in his difficulties adapting. Other than blanket assertions that since PRIDE didn't drug test Shogun must have been roiding (as if drug tests really prevent PDE abuse), there's no evidence.

There is massive evidence that Shogun's two devastating knee injuries and the following major surgeries happened and that had to impact his performance. He's suffered the kind of injuries that ended a career less than fifteen years ago. The jury is still out on whether he'll ever be the same athlete.

But I'd argue that the different rule set and fighting area (cage vs ring) has had the biggest impact on Shogun's game. Chute Boxe, the legendary camp where Shogun learned his trade, thrived in the ring from the beginning. Whether it was Jose "Pele" Landi's legendary feud with BJJ ace Jorge "Macaco" Patino or Wanderlei Silva's legendary bouts, the Chute Boxe fighters positively fed off the chaos they could create in the ropes at the edge of the ring.

Tying up an opponent in the ropes while firing a barrage of knees, sprawling way past the ropes to stuff a shot, stomping a opponent tangled in the bottom rope were all hallmarks of the Chute Boxe style. Shogun was the ultimate product of the camp, the purest exponent of their style.

He used the ring to fullest advantage so it should be no shocker that he's had trouble adapting to the cage. His mentor Wanderlei Silva struggled in the UFC cage back in the 1990s (long before there was drug testing FWIW) and still has never matched his triumphs in the ring. It remains to be seen if Shogun will.

It's also an interesting commentary on different cultural mores of what constitutes socially acceptable sporting violence in Japan and the U.S. In Japan, soccer kicks are fine, but elbows are not because the Japanese don't want to see blood in their contests . In America we are apparently revolted by the unfairness and obvious dangerousness of kicking a downed man in the head, but we don't mind rivers of blood.

Some doctoral student should do a PhD on this and throw in the different rules of censorship in place for pornography in the two countries as well. In Japan they allow all kinds of acts Americans consider obscene but they pixel out the performers' genitals out of a similar squeamishness with bodily functions.

One last thing I want to say is this: I think it's not only valid, but important, that major league MMA fights be contested in at least two types of venues, if not more.

Dealing with logistics and adapting to differing environments are essential elements of combat strategy in all forms. In warfare it's always been a given that some armies thrive only in their home terrain (mountain, jungle, steppe, etc) while others learn to adapt and conquer many kinds of territory. The fact that from its modern inception MMA fights have been contested in two main environments (the cage, the ring) has given the sport a true frission of unpredictable reality. I hope we can continue to see this in the future.

Tennis wouldn't be the same without its alternating surfaces -- grass, clay, hardcourt. MMA needs both rings and cages to truly remain a test of martial arts. The more fighters adapt to a single surface and lose their ability to adapt, the more we're playing a game rather than testing skills and strategies in a realistic simulation of fighting.

As I noted in our previous Lyoto Machida Judo Chop, if you take a brief survey of the Bloody Elbow Technique section, you'll see we've spent a lot of time discussing Machida. We've talked about his elusiveness, his karate wizardry, and the difficulty of mastering Shotokan Karate. We've reviewed his DVD set. And we've even discussed the more standard (Muay Thai and jiu jitsu) aspects of his MMA game.

But never fear fight geeks, we're just getting started. I've never discussed one of the aspects of Machida's game that has probably gotten the most attention: his foot sweeps. Even back in the days when most fans considered him boring people were sitting up and noticing his use of this standard karate technique in MMA. 

As Cage Potato wrote:

Double-leg takedowns are for the commoners - when a true martial artist wants to get you to the mat, he simply hooks his foot out and delicately pushes you over it. Yes, it's a little strange to see a technique from the karate classes of our youth being used to punk some of the world's top fighters. But Lyoto isn't concerned with inflicting more damage than anybody else, or finishing fights as quickly as possible. His only goal is to showcase the superiority of his style. He'd rather break an opponent down mentally than physically. Hence, the foot-sweep, which comes out of nowhere, turns your momentum against you, and frustrates you out of your gameplan. When performed by the Dragon, it's poetry.

It will be very interesting to see if Machida will be able to pull off his signature move against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 104.

In the full entry we'll talk about some specific instances where Lyoto has used this family of moves to put opponents on the ground.

Continue reading this post »