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- UFC 293's Three Rear Naked Chokes And What They Will Teach You
UFC 293's Three Rear Naked Chokes And What They Will Teach You
And where you should try to take the fight
William
September 12th, 2023
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Hope you like it!
500 Fighting Words is an ongoing series where we discuss one technique, fighter, or theme in 500 words, or less.
Now let’s get to today’s work.
Three Rear Naked Chokes Before One Major Upset
Sean Strickland turned the MMA world upside down. The man who many called pillow fisted dropped and dominated one of the best strikers to ever fight in MMA, Israel Adesanya. Shocking doesn't do the fight justice.
Before Strickland and Adesanya squared off in the main event there were three rear naked chokes. At first glance they seem unrelated, but their similarities provide us with an awesome learning experience.
Let's look at these three rear naked chokes more carefully.
No-Risk Rear Naked Chokes
The best fighters build skills and game plans that mitigate risk. Good strikers have footwork and head movement to keep them out of harm's way. Good grapplers find ways to progress through positions that allow them to hurt their opponent while avoiding damage. Back mount perfectly exemplifies this idea.
Being in back mount with your opponent face down is the best place you can be in MMA. You can unload on them, and all they can do is turn to face you or put their hands down to try to build a base. All the while you can unload on them.
Ulberg is hitting Da Un from back mount. Ulberg briefly puts in a half nelson to hold the position. Ulberg starts punching again and Da Un puts his hands down to build a base for an escape. Da Un can't hand fight and Ulberg has a simple look at a rear naked choke. | Carlos Ulberg vs Jung Da Un  |
We saw this exact dynamic play out in the first fight of UFC 293 without the hitting.
Crosbie tries to throw Jousset. Jousset’s hips are too close so he lifts Crosbie for the mat return. Crosbie doesn't want to land on his face, so his hands stop the fall. Hands down means no hand fighting and Jousset can jump on the rear naked choke. | Kevin Jousset vs Kiefer Crosbie  |
Midway through this card we saw one fighter creatively use a rear body lock to set up their finish.
Mirana runs in while Young is on one leg to grab double unders and get to the back. Young tries to shake Miranda off, but the rear body lock keeps him attached. Miranda gets his feet under him, holds the body lock, and runs Young into the floor. Young blocks his fall, allowing Miranda to get hooks in and start attacking the rear naked choke. | Gabriel Miranda vs Shane Young  |
A lot of grapplers with a Brazilian jiu-jitsu base will go to the seat belt too quickly and get shaken off back mount. This happens a lot from standing when the back attacker has no hooks. Good wrestlers will destroy you there. If you want to cook someone while wrestling from behind them, you should develop your rear body lock and double under hook game.
If you want to read more about attacking back mount, check out the archive. For now we have to sign off. We're just at 500 words today.
