Archive for July, 2017

On December 1^st 2014 it was announced that Reebok has a 6 year deal to outfit all UFC fighters with pre fight, fight and post fight gear. This makes all the UFC fighters wear Reebok gear and does not allow fighters to differentiate themselves. Is this a reason why people are leaving the UFC for Bellator.

Going back to the good old days where fighters could wear gear with the sponsors slapped all over them like a NASCAR, or even better the fully personalised fighter T-shirt. For those that remember Affliction, which had some of the best t-shirts in MMA, you could get the T-shirt that your favourite fighter wears out to the cage. This was great as you could get the same T-shirt as your favourite fighter wears which means the fighter makes money from their T-shirt sponsor and that company makes money from the people like me who would purchase the T-shirt. This would good for all involved as the fan got to connect with their favourite fighters, the sponsors got bang for their buck and the fighter got some extra money in their pocket as well. There was a time when Affliction started up their own rival fight league so the UFC banned Affliction gear form the UFC, that was until the UFC brought out Affliction then the gear was welcomed back. That small incident aside, the time the main brands were TapOut, Affliction, Deathclutch, Venom and Dethrone and it seemed each top fighter was with a different brand. Then the UFC signed a deal with Reebok and made all the fighters wear the same gear and if you speak out against it you get fired.

To me one of the big casualties from the Reebok deal is TapOut. To put this in perspective I outlawed TapOut gear from Lockdown due to the amount of ‘wannabes’ who wore it. I was not a big fan of the gear and I would never own any myself. That aside TapOut was there from the beginning of UFC they helped fighters when no one else would go near the sport. They sold the gear out of the boot of their car. All they asked from the sponsored fighters was that they showed heart, not just the winning fights. These guys were there from the begining and grew with the sport and were there for the love of the sport and then made a very successful business out of it. If anyone was to get an exclusive deal Tap Out should be at the top of the list. They have now made a big money deal with WWE, so at least they are doing well.

Fast forward to the UFC with the Reebok deal, two fighters facing each other one wearing black shorts with white stripe and the other white shorts with a black stripe. Then after a few years they let some other colours in, Gold and Green for the Brazilian fighters for example. Not long after the announcement of the Reebok contract the first big name of the UFC left, this was not a fighter but a cut man. Stitch who is one of the best cut men in the business and was very well known, respected and liked. He would wear a vest out to the cage with sponsors on it and he made a good living from their support, until the Reebok deal that is. Since Stitch could not get the sponsorship money so he could not afford to stay and he left. Then over time some other big name fighters left as well, and they have all gone to Bellator, Big Country, Gegard Mousasi, Rory McDonald, Rampage and Ryan Bader. Seeing what these fighters have had to say after leaving the UFC has been very interesting. They were not allowed to say anything against the Reebok deal while with the UFC, that all changed once they left. In a nutshell they all mention they got more money as they can now have their sponsors and that the Reebok tier system of payment was not great (to say the least). The tier system pays fighters a set amount per fight depending on how many fights they have had 0-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 and title fights.

Scott Coker the Bellator CEO said:

“Listen, they’re independent contractors. How they’re forced to wear a uniform, to this day, still baffles me,” Coker said. “It should be against the labour laws or something, because you have to wear this sponsor thing? You have to wear this certain uniform when you fight? To me, they’re independent contractors. They should go out and get whatever sponsors they want, and if Ryan Bader or whoever went out and made a million dollars in sponsorship, good for you. We don’t touch any of that.”

One fighter mentioned that the UFC got the Reebok deal so the fighters looked like a team, as in a baseball or basketball team, so they could sell the company for $4 billion. This view obviously means that the UFC did not take the fighters interest to heart rather they made a decision on what was best for their own pockets. What is not good for the fighters is not good for the sport.

Overall the UFC has got too many fighters on their roster, which leads to fighter inactivity and fighters without a pay check. Without sponsors paying the bills life as a professional athlete is very difficult, that is why Bellator is attracting more fighters as they allow fighters to have individual sponsors. To make big money in sport you need to be able to individualise yourself and stand out from the crowd. With the Reebok deal it makes it harder to stand out from the crowd, then once you do standout it is harder to make the money you deserve, as it is based on the amount of fights you have had, not the amount of fans you have. Tito Oritiz used his clothes as a way to stand out, when he won his post fight T-shirts always got a reaction as it had statement about their opponent, either you laughed or you hated him. Then a few years ago Dan Cormier wore a T-shirt when he fought Jon Jones that said ‘Break Bones’. All this added to the show and the fighters could express themselves which was entertaining. Just imagine how many Conor McGregor t-shirts you would see if Dethrone was actually allowed to make McGreggor T-shirts, both Dethrone and Conor would be very happy.

Outside of UFC and Crossfit I can’t think of one Reebok Athlete. Where as Nike, Under Armour and Addidas each of who have a lot of big individuals as well as teams on their books. The sooner the Reebok contract is over the better, get the different brands back in the sport so the companies and the fighters can make good money and we, the fans, can get the fighters branded gear.

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor

http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

When using ground and pound there are many ways of landing effective strikes on your opponent however there are only a few methods that are both efficient and effective ways of producing some devastating ground and pound. There are two methods we are going to look at the traditional style and what I like to call the donkey kong.

In this video you have a demonstration of traditional ground and pound from inside someone’s guard. The main points are having your arms on the inside of theirs, good posture with your hands on the person not the mat. Then when delivering the strikes it is getting as much in to the punch as you can by getting your elbow up as high as you can, think starting a lawn mower, then using gravity and your body weight to put as much in to that punch as you can. There are plenty of other little things that can be done, like tying up their arms short punches before the big heavy long punches and so on. For me to make this type of ground and pound effective you need good posture and distance between their chest and yours, which usually happens when you opponent is trying to keep you at a distance or using an open guard

This is using hammer fists for ground and pound. With a hammer fist you are hitting with the little finger side of the glove. If you have ever worn an MMA glove then you will know that there is no padding on the side of the glove and with most brands there is stitching and other things that keep the glove together which make it quite a solid surface. One thing that is consistent across all brands is that the side of MMA gloves do not feel good when bouncing off you skull. If you really want to see how powerful the hammer fist strike can be check out a gorilla hitting the ground in a display of dominance. That is all very interesting I know but was has a gorilla have to do with MMA? When you are inside someone’s guard and they have broken your posture down so you can’t deliver any powerful strikes, short sharp hammer fists to the face is a perfect way to get a reaction so you can make space. Once you have space you can really open up with hammer fists. The most effective way I find too use hammer fists is to do a couple of powerful strikes with one hand, to get their defence up, then swap to the other hand. While you are striking with one you are trying to set up a max power shot with the other hand, the when ready alternate hands almost like a windmill. Once you have the heavy shots raining down then you can throw a double handed strike. The two handed strike really creates confusion with defence and makes it a nightmare for your opponent Donkey kong doesn’t have to be from inside guard it works just as well from half guard and mount, just like any effective ground and pound. However it is not the most effective from back control.

The benefit of the donkey kong ground and pound is that it is faster and uses less energy than traditional ground and pound. With a traditional ground and pound the lift of the elbow and the rotation of the forearm, on the striking arm, takes more energy than you would think. The other interesting thing that I have noticed is that with traditional ground and pound people can defend it more effectively and their movement causes more of a problem as they seem to be under less stress. Then with donkey kong I find that people cover up more and seem to be easier targets as they are under more stress. In fact there has been numerous times with a person in half guard that they go in to the foetal position and they just stay there as they have no idea where to go. Don’t get me wrong I still use traditional ground and pound and I really like it, especially when against an open guard, but when I see the opportunity to unleash some donkey kong I am always surprised with the effectiveness of it.

Here is some of the best ground and pound that I have seen in MMA

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor

http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

When new people start MMA they usually ask what You Tube videos they should watch to get better. In general, training with people beats watching You Tube, but You Tube can be good to get an idea of what can be done with technique, along with some other good little tips. When asked, the BJJ video I tell people to watch is ‘Genki Sudo Westside Tournament’, as to me this is a great display of BJJ.

To put it in perspective, I have trained BJJ for years and it is the only sport I have competed in that I find boring as hell to watch. The top level matches, where they are fighting for every inch and their skill level is even can be 10mins of rather boring man-cuddle fighting. I have a lot of respect for their skill and understand what is going on, however it is just not that interesting to watch. A lot of matches have only 3 pivotal points, the takedown, the pass/sweep and the finish. For those reasons I send people to the Westside Tournament to get a view of what is possible in BJJ. Genki Sudo’s movement and transitions are so smooth and effective it can open the mind of a person new to BJJ.

Here are some of the highlights that make this a great watch for me. In his first match they are standing in a lose grapple and out of nowhere Genki throws up a jumping triangle. In the second match there is a great display of an open guard sweep to top control, then a far side armbar. Next match sees some good wrestling defence which transitions to a triangle while defending a single leg. The next two matches are my favourites as they start with a beautiful double leg, with a trip, followed by a lovely transition, then a great demonstration of top control. Genki’s opponent goes from all fours to his side and repeats the sequence while Genki just sticks to him like a limpet. Then the opponent can’t keep up with the movement anymore and stops as Genki has his back. , There is a short pause in the action, then out of nowhere Genki catches him with a rear naked choke. Against the next guy there is great wrestling defence, then his hip movement, when passing guard and avoiding hooks, is just top shelf. There is also a pause after a lot of movement, with Genki standing and the opponent seated. Genki then jumps at him with a triangle and catches him. Following this is an arm drag that doesn’t get a great result, so Genki just drops to a forward roll and locks up a calf crank. To finish there’s some good wrestling defence top control and shoulder lock.

Overall watching Genki’s movement and anticipation always surprises me. With his guard pass, where he just keeps moving his hips and feet until the other guy can’t keep up,   Genki really makes them pay. When his opponent changes position he doesn’t try and stop them, he just uses it as an opportunity to move to a better position. His top control is what I call a hangman style – gives you enough rope to hang yourself. His control is tight, but at a distance, so the opponent can move. This allows Genki to take advantage with that movement. His knee ride transitions are a thing of beauty. He does all this against some decent grapplers. I have watched this many times and the opponents don’t really do anything wrong. There are a couple of guys who look very solid grapplers who get made to look very average.

For someone new to BJJ there are things that will be above their head, but that is true of any BJJ video. I expect the movement on display to really open the eyes and the minds of the people watching . If a new person thinks about their movement and transitions they will improve faster than someone who focuses on submissions. To get submissions you need to have good position with good control. The more a person can think about and work different and better ways to keep control, as well as come out on the good end of transitions, then the sky is the limit.

Gareth Lewis

Head MMA Instructor

http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/

I was a kickboxing in the early 2000’s and therefore watched a lot of K1, this was in the days of Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, Ray Sefo, Stefan Leko, Mark Hunt, Jerome Lebaner. At the time these were the best heavy weights on the planet and they could all kick like a wounded mule. Ernesto Hoost used leg kicks to break down his opponents, he would destroy their front leg until they could no longer stand. For me, watching a fighter get their front leg kicked so hard and so often that they can’t stand is the most painful way to lose a fight.

The leg kick is underutilised in MMA, there are some very good exponents of it – Jose Eldo – but in general it is a technique that is not used that often considering how simple and effective it is. So let’s have a look at why and when people use it and why people avoid using leg kicks.

So why use leg kicks, in a basic way they are very effective and easy to do. When I say easy I am saying in relation to landing a clean punch to the head, kick to the head or a clean body shot. Outside of a clean head shot and a liver shot this is a sure fire way that you can get a TKO. To get an idea on what it feels like to kicked in the thigh, imagine someone swinging a baseball bat, at 50% power just to be nice, in to your thigh 5 or 6 times in 3minutes, then see how well you are walking. When someone gets kicked in the thigh often enough and the leg shuts down, it is purely a pain response not a sign of toughness that stops your leg from working. Everyone that I have seen loose via kick kicks has always tried to keep fighting even though they can hardly stand to the point that their leg would give out from a light breeze. This all makes leg kicks are very efficient technique, and I can confirm that after 3 good kicks land on your thigh you have a hitch in you giddy up for a few days.

So when do you use leg kicks, there are some general ways in which leg kicks are used. The first is a distance keeper that is as soon as someone sets foot in to the ‘striking zone’ you kick their leg. This is usually used as distraction, they start thinking about their leg being kicked which takes their attention away so they are tentative when stepping forward and are concerned about getting kicked. This helps as your opponent is not that keen on moving forward, which makes your life easier, they also become easier to hit as they are thinking leg checks (lifting your leg to block the leg kicks) rather than blocking head punches and other strikes or even striking themselves. The other common use is the counter leg kick. This is usually used by a shorter person against a taller opponent. As the taller opponent has the reach, the shorter person waits for the jab, rolls their shoulder (which happens when you kick correctly) to avoid the punch then land their shin on the opponents front thigh. They can also wait for the opponent to throw a combo then follow up with a leg kick as a counter at the end as a response to the unanswered strikes.

So why do people avoid throwing leg kicks, the big reason is the thought of your shin smashing in to someone else’s shin bone. This happens as the defence to a leg kick (called a check) is to lift your leg and turn your foot out so their shin hits your shin instead of your thigh. This shin on shin contact takes some getting used to, thinking of walking in to the tow bar on your car, thanks to adrenaline during the fight you don’t feel it. Then a few days after the fight you throw a kick at a bag and it hurts like hell as your shin is very tender. Everyone has taken some good knocks on the shin and it can make you a little gun shy when throwing a leg kick. The extreme version of this is when the person who throws the kick snaps their shin bone on the shin of their opponent’s leg – the most hideous injury to see. The other big reason in MMA is the fear of the take down. On a very basic level it is very hard to defend a takedown when you are standing on one leg trying to throw a kick. Your opponent can also catch your leg kick and use it to take you down, if you are up against a good wrestler / grappler this can be a concern. The ironic thing here is that when someone is in the wrestling stance it becomes very easy to kick the front leg as their feet are too far apart to be able to leg check effectively.

Therefore the leg is a great weapon the kick is a destructive force that can be used to destroy a leg of an opponent. Getting your leg kicked so hard that you can no longer stand has to be the most painful way to lose a fight. You are unable to stand due to the pain in your leg you just can’t put weight on it, think the worst dead leg you have ever had and that does not come close. To put that in perspective, remember that you can’t feel smashing shins with someone due to adrenalin but you are unable to put weight on your leg due to the damage / pain in your leg. Compare that to a kick or punch in the head where you just wake up confused but it doesn’t really hurt. The dreaded body shot hurts for about 10 seconds then you are absolutely fine and can walk out the ring with no apparent damage. When someone losses by leg kicks they are walking with a limp for at least a week, they need to get ice on their leg straight after the fight to help with swelling (ice bath is the best). Some fighters are on crutches for a few days due to the pain and damage. Even if you win and have taken a few kicks in the thigh then your knee doesn’t bend without pain for a few days which makes sitting down difficult. So as you can tell getting kicked in the thigh hurts and outside of a freak accident, (broken bone) or not tapping and something going pop, it is the most painful way to lose a fight.

Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
http://www.Lockdown.co.nz/