A Breif Study of MMA Fighting Techniques
Original Poster: The BadBoy
Forum: Mixed Martial Arts Forums
Posted On: 05-04-2004, 00:26
Orginal Post: The BadBoy: Posted originally on SFUK Forum by Sankakudude
"Hiya everyone. You know there are millions of techniques and moves shown on instructional tapes, in books and so on but quite often when we try them on the mat they just don?t work?or was that just me
Anyway, I?ve been slowly going through all my NHB fight videos library, I got loads now, all UFC?s, Full Contact fights, Gladiator Challenge, Pride and so on. Must have gone through a couple of hundred fights in the past few weeks. As I watched them I?ve been taking careful notes of the actual techniques used. Often an instructional video will say this or that is a high percentage technique when in fact it?s just the instructor?s opinion rather than an actual fact. So I decided the only way to know if a technique was reliable in a MMA fight was to actually see it work on a NHB video and make note of how often those techniques were used. That way I?d know it was reliable.
So for weeks now I?ve been taking notes on the moves and techniques used in loads of MMA matches. Its been quite fun, I got pages of the stuff now, it?s a big mess, but I?m starting to make sense of it all and thought I?d share my observations. I can only describe how I perceive a fight so maybe the tactics I see are not 100% applicable so please feel free to comment and criticize. Here we go then:
First things first! Here is a rough guide to the main submissions I observed:
Top 10 Most Common Fight Submissions:
40% Strikes (from inside guard or mount)
15% Cross Armbar Juji-gatame (from mount, side control or guard)
15% Rear Naked Chokes (from facing up or facing down)
8% Triangle Choke (from mount or guard)
6% Guillotine Choke (from standing or guard)
5% Kimura (from side control or guard)
4% Key Locks (from side control or mount)
3% Heel Hooks
2% Kata Gatame Choke (from mount or side control)
1% Knee Bar
1% other mixed submissions
Note: the percentages are only rough guides giving you an idea of the quantities used. It?s not accurate statistics. I just wrote down as many attempts at submissions and as many wins by submissions as I could then tried to make a list. GI chokes are not included because no one wears a GI in competitions anymore.
Although these ten or so moves represent a small fraction of many instructors knowledge of submissions, from watching the fights I am confident that these are all the submissions you will ever need in a MMA match. There may be other moves which are illegal in many matches (i.e. neck cranks, suplexes, wrist locks, ripping and so on) that may well be just as useful in street fights or certain vale tudo matches. But I?d say for the majority of MMA events the ten techniques above are more than we will ever need to know. Of course its fun learning new techniques but as Bruce Lee even said, being a good fighter it?s not about adding more techniques but about stripping away the inessentials.
It is very possible that fighting a person of a significantly lower skill level than ourselves would completely change the techniques that would be most effective against them. But at the highest level of competition there are only selections of techniques that consistently work against an equal partner. My study focuses only on what worked in real MMA fights and nothing more.
Now let?s go into the actual fights. What happens most often and why:
Point 1: Ground fighting wins MMA competitions!
Most MMA fights end up on the ground within the first 30 seconds or less! This is of course no surprise but I might as well say it. Of those fights that don?t go to the ground we can say this:
A. The reason it didn?t go to the ground was almost always due to a KO or TKO in the first 30 seconds. And this KO is usually due to a superior boxer getting a lucky shot. Sometimes two strikers stay on their feet for quite a time but it still ends on the ground eventually.
B. The four most common stand up striking techniques used in MMA seem to be, in order of most used:
1. Straight Jab
2. Straight Right (or Hook variation including against the wall hooks).
3. Mauy Thai round kick to side of leg.
4. Kneeing from a double neck tie (plum position)
C. Only four striking defenses appear to be used effectively:
1. Boxing two arm high cover
2. Single side (wrist to ear) elbow block
3. Mauy Thai knee lift kick block.
4. Using forearm or knee blocks against knee strikes.
Point 2: The fighter best at takedowns usually wins the fight!
Watch almost any fight and you will see one of the fighters consistently taking down the other fighter. Although not always the case this fighter usually wins the fight! Why? Well it could be one of two possibilities really. Either the fighter that takes the other down is just the better fighter and hence just takes them down and wins. Or perhaps this fighter is just a little better than the other at taking people down. And, even though this fighter may be less skilled in ground techniques, he might still win due to the fact his takedown put him in a better position to win the fight from.
Certain qualities of a good takedown artist can be seen in closely watching them fight. Most specific is that they have a strong determination. They use constant forward pressure at all times forcing the double leg while still on their knees or pummeling their opponent against the wall. Very rarely will you see arm or hip throws in a MMA fight. The most common takedown techniques are, in order:
1. Double leg against the wall
2. Double leg (including lifting them up and slamming them down)
3. Trips from against the wall (including bearhug spin around trips)
4. Single leg
5. Judo style Uchimata and Harai-goshi from high tie up positions
Arm drags and being able to get someone?s back for a takedown is quite rare in MMA events. And, since the most common takedowns happen against the wall, pummeling and moving your opponent to the wall seems like an important skill. It seems to me the reason most takedowns happen at the wall is because we defend takedowns by either:
1. Moving our hips back in a crouching position (to avoid hip throws & sweeps etc)
2. Throwing our feet back to sprawl (to avoid leg attacks).
3. Jumping or circling around twisting arm throws.
Against the wall it is impossible to sprawl effectively or put our hips back very far and it?s hard to jump and circle very well to avoid other takedowns.
Note: Although the occasional falling-back throw (such as Judos Tomoe-nage) is sometimes seen this is actually very rarely attempted. When it is it?s usually because one man has already fallen back into guard and wants to sweep the opponent as they are followed down. On other occasions the throw just fails anyway and leaves the thrower stuck on their back trying to use guard to defend themselves.
When a double leg fails one man is usually sprawled out flat. If they are not too close, the man underneath can often push away and get up onto his knees and stand again.
Point 3: Position is everything!
Isn?t that what BJJ enthusiasts have been saying for years?! Well, the video footage seems to prove time and again that the person in the best position will win the fight nine times out of ten. With the exceptions being those who, in the heat of the moment, made silly mistakes and gave out their arm foolishly.
A great deal of modern MMA fights are won by strikes from a top position! The man on top wins nine times out of ten regardless of if he is in someone?s guard or side control. Arm locks and chokes only constitute a small part of fight wins, the majority seem to be from KO?s, TKO?s or point decisions given to the man on top. This is probably partly due to the fact that the fighters get so sweaty, making it harder to get a good grip. Also it?s harder to catch an opponent who is expecting a choke or armlock than someone who is not used to this kind of fighting. The two ways most people win MMA fights are:
1. Strikes from being caught in someone?s Guard (as you wouldn?t expect!)
2. Strikes from the Mounted position (as you would expect)
The Guard
Once the man on top is caught in your guard they will either stand (in a highly sprawled position) or kneel with a wide base and slowly force you back until your head touches the cage (limiting your movements to escape). From there the top man will punch and tire you until you loose the fight. It takes much longer to win a fight from inside someones guard but punching in the guard seems to be one of the most efficient ways to win a MMA fight. Grabbing the back of the head or holding down the head are the common techniques to keep someone in guard position while you pound them.
Sweeps from the guard almost never work in a MMA fight for various reasons. Maybe because the fighter in the top position is just so good at avoiding them. They are not high percentage techniques and tend to waste a lot of energy. Also a guard pass is very often the result of the man on top riding over the sweeping leg. The most successful sweep is the elevator sweep or and unexpected upa (bridge n roll), there are few others ever attempted. In many cases an escape from a grounded position will usually require kicking an opponent back at the hips or pelvis and scrambling to get to their knees.
The Mount
The next most common winning position is the mount as everyone knows. From this position an attacker will raise their knees high into their opponents armpits and ride them striking as the man underneath bucks and twist to escape. They defend their opponents escape the same as with guard by holding them on the back of their heads and pounding them or just holding their faces down with one hand and hitting.
Although juji-gatame is one of the most successful submissions from the mount it is very risky to try. The man attempting the cross arm bar is giving up the mount in the hopes the man underneath will not manage to slip out of the lock. But only something like one in three juji-gatame armbars seem to work first time. It often safer to punch or attempt keylocks or chokes from this position.
Escapes from the mount position are never easy. Those having most success seem to be those who bridge hard and shoot a knee up between the mounted persons legs. From there they can work at kicking their mounted person away. Other escapes involve fooling your opponent into taking an arm bar etc., i.e. straightening their arm to push their opponent away and then capitalizing on the fact a mounted man will try a juji-gatame attempt.
Everyone warns against it but turning over and getting into the turtle position is another escape from mount that often works. Of course if it doesn?t they get choked or pounded from behind but sometimes they manage to wriggle out. The turtle is surprisingly hard to attack and seems like a good last resort move. Also the back of the head can take many more blows than the front.
Side Control
Lots of attempts to strike and submit from the side control and north-south positions are attempted and only a handful of fights seem to end in side control. Usually the man on the bottom will manage to bridge, shrimp etc., and get guard or half guard before the end. Then the man inside the guard will usually then punch the man underneath to a pulp. Lots of key locks are attempted from side control but usually fail. Cross arm bars (Juji-gatame) seem to be the most successful submission from side control. This is usually attempted when the man on the bottom turns towards the opponent to escape or just as a follow up from a keylock. North-south position is often done with the man on top on his knees. Hence many escapes from north-south are done when the man on bottom turns over into the turtle position and grabs the other at the knee of one leg pushing them onto their backs. There are very few legal submissions from the north-south position and maybe that?s partly why it?s so rarely used.
Knee-on-Stomach
Didn?t see very many attempts at a knee on stomach. Mario Sperry uses it sometimes in his fights and describes the wonders of it in his older videos but in his newer videos says it?s the ?old way? of doing things. Usually a knee on stomach is attempted with punches more as a way of mounting.
Back Mount
Rear naked choke is a very common finish and very effective. On Par with the cross arm bar it is one of the most reliable submissions you can learn. People seem to get back or half back after someone has attempted an arm bar from mount or failed in performing a certain technique and are scrambling to get to a good position or sometimes directly after a sprawl the top man will jump to the others back.
Some escapes from rear naked are seen. They are almost always done as the choke is attempted and not once the choke is sunk. Fast bridging and spinning motions are used. No set techniques as such but a wriggling to turn to face their opponent and to wriggle out of the leg hooks. Some bridge back hard to slow the force of the choke but often tap anyway. The trick seems to escape the hooks and spin towards the elbow of the forearm across their neck and they then have a chance to escape. But usually they are finished from this position.
Well that?s everything I could think of. Hope you?ve found it useful.
Nick "
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