What got me onto writing this article is that there are some (finer?) points about (freestyle) wrestling takedowns in MMA context about which I’ve not seen anyone write just yet. What even kind of rubs me in a wrong way is that in MMA media (which starts from the broadcast booth) is emphasizing „otherwordly“ athleticism and timing as some kind of inherent traits which are only applicable to the selected few. And these ideas then go and then circle in the MMA forums and social media echochamber reinforcing the myth.
While in some cases it might be more true e.g. I personally think Jon Jones is a really unique athlete from whom there is a little less to study and copy from for your „average“ MMA-practicioner or aspiring fighter in most cases I think it diverges attention away from the technical aspects of what these athletes are actually doing in the specific MMA context and therefore it’s holding back the development of technical knowledge which can be passed on to most of the people practicing MMA .
More specifically in this short written piece I will analyze the takedowns of Demetrious „Mighty Mouse“ Johnson which he nailed in his last title defence against John Moraga on UFC on Fox 8 last Saturday 27th of July 2013. In my opinion the same elements can be seen in the takedown game of Georges St. Pierre so I will complement my examples with pieces from his matches.
It’s no doubt that Johnson and St. Pierre are excellent athletes. They are explosive. They are fast and strong. However that are not the sole reasons why they are able to land takedowns with such great efficiency. They do have excellent timing which is honed with hours and hours of MMA practice. They do have great setups with strikes (especially in the case of GSP). One cannot teach explosive, fast and strong via a blogpost. One cannot teach timing like that even though ideas about setups and timing can be spoken about in written word (that might be a thing for the future to come if this blogpost is well recieved 🙂
However, I think there are some ideas and nuances about the technical execution of these takedowns which can systematically be taught. (Of course it needs hours of experimenting and practice afterwards).
So… here it goes (currently the post lacks a bit of .gif material look to the end if you are willing to help out):
First of all – I personally think the takedowns from the legs executed in MMA are still „freestyle wrestling takedowns“. Meaning they are best first learned in freestyle wrestling enviroment. Freestyle wrestling teaches proper fundamental body positions and angles. These positions and angles are well-complemented by Greco-Roman wrestling.
However – MMA context is a little bit different and that’s why …
1) … the takedowns look a little bit different and have different technical nuances.
2) … we see „lesser wrestlers“ be successful against „better wrestlers“ sometimes even when there is no big discrepancy in striking at least „on paper“ (e.g. Johnson vs Moraga or GSP against well… wrestlers)
I’ll elaborate. First some general differences between wrestling in freestyle wrestling and wrestling in MMA:
1) In freestyle wrestling the stance is much more bent and lower. In MMA the stance is more vertical.
2) In freestyle the distance is shorter and most takedowns come from setups in the tie-ups (clinch). In MMA lots of takedowns happen from the clinch as well but of those a high percentage happen on the cage wall. Most takedowns off the wall happen from the strikes, especially freestyle takedowns using arms on the legs which are the ones I’m looking into today.
3) Also a point not to be overlooked is that in freestyle you get far lesser points if you hit a takedown outside the bounds. In MMA the fighting area is usually bigger and even if you go to the boundaries – it’s a good thing. You can follow up with your game on the cage wall.
Therefore as opposed to freestyles double leg shoot some key points which for example could be described as:
- Level change low
- Penetrate deep with the knee
- Cut the corner
- Drive!
In the MMA context these do not apply directly. As the stance is higher you …
- level change just as much as you need to to drive your upper body
- bend more at the waist
- this allows to SPRINT FORWARD
- once you get your grips you JUMP FORWARD at a slight angle while pressuring with your upper body
- if that fails you use your SPRINT + ANGLE CHANGE
- if that also fails you change direction to reverse and finish in a single leg (running the pipe) style takedown (while using the double leg grip)
- all this happens while you try to suck / scoop up your opponents legs (especially on the side with the deeper grip)
Very nice example of this is the recent Demetrious „Mighty Mouse“ Johnson vs John Moraga fight which I am describing below and also Georges St. Pierre’s takedown game is based on these types of takedowns. Watch any of his fights and you’ll see 🙂 Of course GSP does possess good strength and often is able to complete “more traditional” lifting double leg takedowns as well but even then his shot is still more “shallow” (I’ll try to get some gifs). Hope you got to see the nice fight from last Saturday ‘cause that’s where from the following examples come:
Johnson vs Moraga, 10 takedowns one by one. (if you have a chance to pause and rewind the actual fight it helps:)
Round 1:
From the beginning we see Johnson switching stances often (a topic worthy of a full article on it’s own) and using his trademark fast clinchwork with underhooks and especially collarties which he uses more efficiently and often than your „average“ „wrestler in MMA“. The first takedown comes in 3:01 into the first round. Johnson hits it off the cage wall which is a bit different than my focus here but we already see that once he gets his grips into position, the initial movement (pull) is immediately followed by a circular angle change via moving his body to the left and continued pull. Working offensively and defensively on the wall is for the past 2 years my favourite topic in MMA to study and teach but that is to be written about some other time.
Round 2:
0:25 into the round we first see the second takedown by Johnson. This is the style I’m talking here. On the first glance it’d be a takedown easily attributed to „excellent timing“ as Johnson goes under Moraga’s attack. However the nuances are clearly present here. Johnson hits the double while Moraga is standing southpaw which makes it even more impressive as doubles are harder to hit against opposite stance. If you pause at the frame at 0:23 (4:37 to go) you see the following: Johnsons hips are way higher and legs more straight than in case of a „freestyle shoot“ and he is more bent at the waist which even results in a slightly less than ideal straightness of the back at the point of impact. However Johnson immediately starts to straighten the back and attempting to lift / push with the shoulder and also immediately starts taking an angle circularily to the left. The head moves from the outside to the center and deep arm grips scoop Moraga’s legs in while Johnson’s upper body drives up & forward and it’s done!
3:03 into the round (1:57 to go) we see the third takedown by Johnson but that’s a suplex throw. Not the subject of this post:)
3:54 (1:06 to go) we see the fourth takedown in the fight. This one could be easily attributed to Johnson’s speed or athleticism. What makes it work is actually a faint on the higher level which is not very well seen due to the camera angle switching. It is followed by level change and penetration step which in no doubt are very fast but they are so fast because the level change is only as deep as it needs to be. Again the hips stay a bit higher, bend at the waist is a bit sharper and that allows Johnson to „sprint“ to Moraga’s hips. Now it’s followed by some more magic: Johnson’s right arm is in deeper (as it should be against opponent in same stance), he steps his right leg to the outside as going for the lift. However because of …
a) the more shallow level change and less straight back
b) the immense forward speed you get by this „sprinting“ entry
…it’s harder to lift as opposed to keep sprinting forward while scooping up the leg(s). In this case Moraga’s left leg with his right arm. This is helped by Johnson’s minor but still present immediate circular direction change to his left. Key points still: arm scooping up the leg, upper body driving forward at the necessary angle towards opponent’s leg which is better controlled (in this case Moraga’s left leg).
Round 3:
Fifth takedown comes at 1:25 into the round 3 (3:35 to go). Generally more of the same as the fourth one. However now we more clearly see why Johnson really shines – he goes in the same way but this time Moraga has a weak underhook with his right arm on Johnson’s left side. Johnson immediately feels that, changes his angle and runs to his right to complete the takedown via smothering Moraga’s underhook. Johnson then manages to change angles again when Moraga is already going down and jumps into full guard which negates potential escapes using (even a weak) underhook.
Johnson’s sixth takedown is a beautiful reversal with 1:55 to go in the third which succeeds because of excellent pivot with the underhook. However not the topic of this post.
Round 4:
Seventh takedown by Johnson starts 0:23 into the round and it’s quite a carbon copy of the fourth. His right arm becomes the scooping pivot point around which he runs to his left while pressuring with his shoulder and manages to land in half guard on that side. Mind you that GSP while using the same pressure prefers to change to his right and land in half guard on that side.
Eighth takedown by Johnson comes at 2:28 (2:32 to go) and is similar to the fifth. However some interesting details: the straighter legs and more bent waist are especially evident here. Johnson still fakes high, goes for the legs but Moraga gets a far stronger underhook this time on Johnson’s left side. Johnson feels that after a split second, stops going forward and circles back similar to „single leg running the pipe“ motion. Because of created downward and backward spirale pressure, Moraga never gets his underhook going. Also Johnson again negates the use of underhook on the ground as well going the other way after the takedown has been completed and landing in full guard.
4:35 (0:25 to go) we see the nineth takedown by Johnson. Deep arm grips and not much angle change + sprinting is not needed as he gets hold of Moragas legs while Moraga is coming forward a bit too recklessly wanting to do more damage. Johnson is bent at the waist, legs bent slightly and therefore manages to do a forward hop while pressuring with his upper body. This is the „MMA double leg“ which happens if you get in deep against an opponent who is heavily pressuring forward with strikes. If that first motion fails or even fails to start you continue with the sprinting + angle changes seen in the previous takedowns by Johnson.
Round 5:
Tenth and final takedown by Johnson comes 42 seconds into the final round (4:18 to go) and this is the first time during the fight we see Johnson stepping really low with his knee on the penetration step. However he still finishes by turning to his left and scooping up Moraga’s left leg. A finish which is quite rare in wrestling context as the shoulder impact on the penetration step does rarely fold the opponent from the waist as much as it does against a more upright striking opponent.
In conclusion
There is quite a bit technical nuances to takedowns and clinchwork in MMA context. Even to as something „simple“ as a double leg shot. Those differences (less level change, level change more from the waist, more sprinting forward, more circular angle changes) can be described, be taught and be learned for those who want to implement these techniques in MMA.
I hope you liked the post, feel free to comment and I hope I managed to describe something which you might’ve been thinking yourself but maybe were a bit distracted by big adjectives like „lightning fast“ „ultra explosive“ „so athletic“ etc.
(Un)fortunately I am on vacation right now in remote countryside with only 3G connection and a laptop. So it was not in my technical proficiency to create gif’s of most of the takedowns. It’s easy to you? Cool mate! Please create them, I have pointed out the rounds and seconds, upload them somewhere and leave the link in the comments.
P.S. The pioneer of these types of entries and finishes in my opinion is actually Ricardo Arona. Higher stance is present, driving through in a different way than in freestyle is also present. However Arona …
1) mostly used his outside (left) hand/arm higher than the hip which allowed his opponents to defend via hopping if the initial lift semi high crotch style didn’t succeed e.g. Arona vs. Sokudjou. PILT
2) lacked the change of directions so present in Mighty Mouse’s and GSP’s game and possessed only one angle + lift
Couldn’t find .gif-s of any his takedowns 😦
P.P.S.
I think if Jordan Burroughs (watch his highlight here) at some point enters MMA and is able to implement the angles and at least develop rudimentary feel of timing off opponents and one’s own strikes he could be really really successful with his takedowns. However if he directly wants to implement his bulldozing entries he might encounter some difficulties.
