Archive for October, 2017
Going Down.
In a MMA fight or in training your mind is doing constant calculations on what to do and what to avoid. With takedowns it is a hard decision as they can take a lot of energy to complete but can be even worse if you miss the take down and end up in a bad position.
In training the most efficient takedowns come from the clinch or up against the cage. When sparring someone who is heavier it makes sense to avoid going for double legs unless it is wide open. The double leg take down uses a lot of energy and the risk of missing the takedown is big as you can be stuck underneath your opponent, especially if they are heavier. Of course you can get a reasonably easy double leg by reading an attack and shooting in when they go to punch or kick or setting them up with movement so their weight is on their front leg. The single leg can be safe as well, you can set it up with a jab cross then level change to grab that front leg and get the single leg. Both these set ups usually happen against people who are either below your level in terms of wrestling or MMA knowledge. Therefore if all things are equal then the double leg is really quite hard to get. Closing the distance and getting to the clinch where the takedowns are using your bodyweight to unbalance your opponent take less energy and you can move your opponent around the cage to your advantage. If you get their back up against the cage then you can work your offence and really push for the takedown as they can’t get their hips away.
When you are working against the cage the high percentage, low energy takedown is the single leg. With the single leg you more or less pull their leg out from underneath them and they have no choice but to fall over. This puts you in a great position to work top position. To make the takedown easier you can work your striking or ‘dirty boxing’ to set up the takedown. There are many options for takedowns when working against the cage, you can even work a low energy double leg take down. Once you drop levels the opponent can’t get their hips back so once you lock your hands together behind their legs you can get them down by pulling their legs out – much like the single leg. There are momentum takedowns using the cage where you can drive people in to the fence then use the ‘bounce’ off the fence to use momentum against them to control their weight for a double or single leg takedown or a clinch take down.
Being a heavyweight the low energy takedowns are what I go for as if I miss them I haven’t used a massive amount of energy and if I end up on the bottom I can start the scramble while still having energy. There are people I have trained with who are stronger / more power full and they go for the big take downs where they actually lift opponents of their feet and slam them to the mat. They set up the double leg with their striking and bulldoze their opponent across the mat and end up on top or sprawled. They also go for the single leg in the open mat but usually transition it to the double leg then bulldoze them in to the ground. Up against the cage the first instinct is to lift, they grab a leg for the single and transition the hands to high on the thigh to get a lift using the high crotch takedown. Then with the double leg they lock the hands up behind the legs and go for the lift rather than pulling the legs out. These takedowns are very effective and look great but come at a risk, if you miss them the energy expenditure is massive. Then if the opponent scrambles out and gets back up it becomes rather demoralizing.
Overall for me in competition or in training I will always go for the high percentage lower energy takedown over the big pick up and slam. I do this as a safety thing, I don’t want to get caught underneath someone big or be on my back. However the people that go for and get the big slams, even though they might risk big energy loss if they fail, get a massive boost if they get the takedown and their opponent gets demoralised and becomes very weary of the big take down, as it just plain sucks to get picked up and slammed, which opens up other opportunities. Therefore if it is your style the big takedowns can be worth it.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
Well That Opened My Eyes
In the recent UFC (216), the flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson (DJ) pulled off one of the most impressive moves I have ever seen in MMA.
I have been training MMA for over a decade and have gone to countless seminars and have seen numerous fights live as well as televised TV. In all these fights there have only been a few moves that stick in my mind, Anthony Pettis – Showtime Kick, Anderson Silva’s – Shin Break and Khabib Nurgamedov – Massive Suplexs. All these are one of moves in a fight not a result that just sit in my mind. None of these moves are even close to what DJ pulled off recently.
What opened my eyes about the move was how it was done from standing, doing an armbar from someone’s back is a relatively basic move in BJJ and it happens a lot. However I have never considered setting this move up from a standing position, which may be honesty to the point of stupidity. This is has opened my eyes to other moves that are considered ground moves that you can set up from standing. If you can set things up from different places then there is more of chance you can make them work. When you practice BJJ a lot you get used to where moves are coming from and you start you defence early on in the piece. This means that all things being equal it is very hard to get a submission, unless you are Damian Maia. But if you get a head start with the move then you are more likely to get the submission. If someone takes your back from standing you are thinking about pushing their hands low so you can avoid being lifted then working an escape. If you can’t control the hands then you are trying to make the most out the takedown / scramble but for me I would not be thinking I had better keep my arms close so he doesn’t get the under hook then slap on an armbar. When DJ put this on you can see that Ray Borg is in shock ‘what is going on’ then when he clicked to what is happening it was too late. DJ’s arm bar is not that great, he has his feet crossed and knees apart and took a while to get the tap. If it wasn’t on before Ray Borg had clicked to what was happening I don’t think he would’ve got the tap as he still survived for a while.
In MMA where you train the sports (kickboxing, wresting and BJJ) individually it is your job to put them together and make it flow. We are always connecting striking to wrestling and wrestling to BJJ and BJJ with striking. However it is hard not to get stuck with the rules in each individual sport and miss options. One of the most obvious rules to break is in BJJ when you have top position and you do not like what your opponent is up to then you can just stand up to avoid a possible sweep where you end up in a bad position. If you did this while rolling, even though it is not against the rules, it would not be a good look on the mat. Then in MMA if you are against someone more skilled on the ground and you have them on their back, you make some space with your hips and start punching which is a very good idea then to be really safe stand up while punching and move away.
What this really means is that there is still lots to learn in MMA as there are all sorts of moves in the transitions that will come about as MMA keeps evolving. For me I am going to invert BJJ and wrestling positions to get a different perspective. Looking at BJJ and wrestling positions from standing up rather than being on the ground and see what other moves are hiding – from me anyway.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
Joseph Parker
Joseph Parker is New Zealand’s only heavyweight champ however he does not seem to be impressing these days and seems to be missing the spark that the he needs to create interest from overseas viewers.
In NZ it is hard to build up a strong amateur career as there is such a small population and it is a long way from other countries. There is not much money in amateur boxing so flying overseas for boxing comps is expensive which makes it hard for fighters to get the experience. If you compare this to European fighters where the population is bigger and they can jump in a car and get to a number of countries for a relatively low cost. When Joseph Parker tried to qualify for the 2012 Olympics he came up short as he was lacking the international competition that others had, even though Parker has fought overseas it just wasn’t enough. Then if you look at Anthony Joshua, who won the gold at the 2012 Olympics he had fought in many overseas comps against many different people.
In terms of pure talent Joseph Parker has got a lot of skill and is very fast but seems to lacking in power. In his last 4 fights he has landed some clean shots and none of which have done any damage on his opponents. He has not even got close to knocking any of them down. If you look at the best heavyweights in history all of them had a punch that if it landed then you are going down. Then if you look at Anthony Joshua (19-0-19ko’s) who has knock out power in both hands and if he lands that clean shot you are in for a tough time to stay vertical. The same with Deontay Wilder who has an anvil for a right hand. If you put Parker in the ring with either of these two, Joshua and Wilder, Parker is getting KO’d. The other concerning part with Parker is that when he gets tired he puts his weight on his heels, hands drop and chin lifts. Some people say that his fitness looked better in his last fight against Hughie Furry but he was chasing Furry the whole fight and threw his punches when he wanted, he had no real pressure put on him. From what I saw Parker did not look like a Heavyweight champ in his last fight, he was throwing haymakers and lacked the ability to cut off the ring.
Not only do I think that Parker is not the best heavyweight in the world I don’t even think he is the best heavyweight that NZ has produced. If Parker fought David Tua in his prime I believe that Parker would get knocked out. Tua had devastating power and is considered one of the hardest punches in heavy weight history, Tua’s left hook created havoc in the heavyweight division for years. Tua never won the title and got beaten in a one sided fight title fight against Lennox Lewis. The advantage that Tua has over Parker is that devastating power, Parker could not hurt Tua but one punch at any time from Tua could end the fight.
Parker seems to be taking fights that are safe and no one really wants to watch them. He had two razor close decisions against Takam and Ruiz then two disappointing decisions after that. They are now talking about fighting an Australian, who has the WBO title but no name of international interest. When Parker fought Takam the winner was meant to be the mandatory challenger to Joshua’s title however that was a long time ago and the Parker v Joshua fight doesn’t seem any closer. From my perspective the only reason that Parker is on the radar for Joshua or Wilder is that they want his title so then they can fight each other for a unification bout.
Parker has a lot of talent and has done very well, it seems that he has hit his talent wall. There are guys out there that would create massive problems, Dillian White, Dominic Breazeale, Tony Bellew. Then there is a young heavy weight with 5 knock outs from 5 fights and I think he would beat Parker. This young guy Daniel Dubois has freak ability to knock down people with the first punch he throws in the fight, Tyson is the only other heavyweight I have seen do this, it leaves the opponent looking up with surprised look on their face as they try and get to their feet. But this young guy has the x factor and will create massive talk in the heavyweight ranks. In 12 months he will have a bigger profile that Parker mainly because he is more exciting and that destructive power. At the end of the day Parker needs that big fight, the problem is that he will most likely loose and he just doesn’t have to tools to challenge the top level guys. For Parker to really progress it seems he should leave Kevin Barry, his trainer, and Duco, his promotion company. If he was with one of the top trainers he would have better people around him and have more of chance of getting the big name fights.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor
Comebacks Don’t Work
In my opinion GSP (Georges St-Pierre) is the best fighter in UFC history and it is a toss between GSP and Fedor as the greatest of all time. After a 4 year layoff he is making a comeback – these just don’t work.
GSP was the most technical fighter I have seen in the UFC, he was also the most disciplined. He would use his skills to put his opponent in their weakest position and he would dominate his fights. Towards the end of his career people said he was boring as he didn’t finish his opponents, however what he was doing was controlling the fight and not doing anything that would risk a loss. GSP would control almost every minute of the fight. Usually he would use his wrestling to keep the fight where he wanted and more importantly where his opponent didn’t want to the fight to be.
GSP had two losses in his Hall of Fame career; his first was against Matt Hughes which was GSP’s first title shot. GSP could not even look Hughes in the eye before the fight. He gave Hughes too much respect and lost via arm bar. GSP then went on to dismantle Hughes in the rematches, they were not even close. His other loss was against Matt Sera, the Ultimate Fighter winner who created the upset of the year by beating GSP via TKO in round 1 of their fight, this was Sera’s only win inside the distance in his career. After his loss to Sera GSP came back more technical and disciplined that ever, he dominated his fights (including a brutal rematch with Sera) and did not let his opponent even have a chance.
GSP’s last fight was 16/11/13 and he is booked to fight Michael Bisping 4/11/17. This never goes well, even though Bisping is not the strongest in the division he is still an extremely tough and skilled fighter. The sport has moved on and I don’t think that this fight will go well for GSP. The big concern for GSP is ring rust and durability, Bisping has cardio for days and is very durable. Even though GSP is a great athlete and leaves no stone unturned 4 years away from the cage and 4 years older are going to have a big impact. GSP is also fighting heavier than he ever has in his career and it takes a lot of energy to move extra weight around. Then to make it worse if he does win he could be up against Robert Whitaker which will end with GSP being KO’d – which hurts me to say.
History is littered with great fighters that went to long or made failed comebacks attempts. Here are some fighters that went too long: Matt Hughes, Big Nog, Chick Liddell, Andrei Arlovski, BJ Penn to name a few. Usually the comebacks are a former champ that needs some money so they fight the young hungry up and comer – Holmes v Tyson, Ali v Holmes and so on, which also don’t usually go well. The one person that did well on a comeback was George Foreman but he is an exception.
Watching GSP take a beating is not going to fun, he is the best welterweight that sport has seen and has nothing left to prove. He is a great fighter and obviously will come in prepared but history dictates that it will not go well for him. Bisping will be bigger stronger these are factors that you want on your side going in to a big fight. The odds of a fighter winning after a long layoff fight are quite long. GSP is a legend and if anyone can do it’s him, so please prove me wrong GSP and get the victory.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor