Diego Ferreira worked on trapped-arm submission with border patrol agents in Texas

While Diego Ferreira is from Brazil, he has lived in South Texas for many years now. In a place called Pharr, which is right on the Mexico border. The UFC lightweight runs a BJJ academy in the town called Team Ferreira Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, in which he is a third-degree black belt.

When Ferreira was seen using a unique hold to set up a finish to his UFC Austin win over Jared Gordon over the weekend, it certainly looked like something that a member of law enforcement might use in the line of duty. And that turned out to be correct - many of his students just happen to be border patrol agents.

After hurting Gordon with a punch and dropping him, Ferreira stepped over and secured Gordon’s left arm behind his back, leaving him basically defenseless to punches. Those punches led to the fight being stopped. It was a very slick and unique move, one which Ferrreira credits to his agent students in an interview with MMA Junkie:

“I started doing it a lot with them, and I said, ‘This is going to work.’”

Ferreira (13-2, 4-2 UFC) had been suspended from the USADA for 17 months due to a USADA violation, so he was competing in a lot of grappling contests in the meantime. And to his surprise, the move worked really well in that environment as well:

“From one day to the next, I started catching (in) every competition that kind of submission.” ... “I put a lot of work into (the hold) when I’m training at the gym.”

Ferreira is looking to return again as soon as possible, and has a fight with Abel Trujillo on his mind next.