The Rise of Pressure Grappling in MMA: Khabib to Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez
Pressure Grappling: How to make grappling exciting
Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the finest mixed martial artists to ever compete in the sport. His plan to take the opponent down and beat them into submission was always known, but hardly avoided. Nurmagomedov would barrel forward like a freight train on the feet swinging until his foe met the cage, where he would drop on the hips and begin to work his A-Game.
I would call this style “Pressure Grappling”.
At the foundation of Pressure Grappling is the weaponization of pace with well-developed muscular and cardiovascular endurance. Built upon this foundation are forward movement on the feet, takedowns along the cage, consistent transitional offense, and mat returns as the opponent stands up. Exhausting to accomplish but capable of drowning the opponent in a never-ending flurry of fight-finishing sequences.
Since The Eagle’s departure from the sport more athletes have begun to incorporate this manic style to great effect. Though none have yet shown to be on the Dagestani champion’s level, Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez is a promising prospect who has found recent success utilizing many of Khabib’s techniques and habits. The wonderfully nicknamed athlete last fought at UFC Fight Nigh: Dern vs. Hill, dominating Edmen Shahbazyan after the first.
Disclaimer: The video clips included in this article are not owned by the author. They are included for educational purposes only to illustrate key moments in the fighter’s career and demonstrate aspects of mixed martial arts techniques and strategies. All rights to the video content belong to their respective owners.
Khabib: The Pioneer
Nurmagomedov is the true pioneer of this style. Some of Khabib’s favorites that Fluffy has adopted include:
1. High-Crotch Single-Leg
2. Dagestani Handcuffs / Wrist Ride
3. Mat Returns
These techniques are essential to a style in which one is trying to force a pace on their opponent with grappling. Less concerned with controlling the opponent when they are down, the Pressure Grappler allows the opponent to move just enough where they can strike, attempt a submission, or return their opponent to the mat. This is MUCH more tiring for the man on bottom than simply trying to escape from bottom position. Simply look at any Khabib or recent Hernandez opponent past the second round for evidence.
High-Crotch Single-Leg
Khabib and Fluffy have been in extended striking contests to varying levels of success, but the crux of their stand-up game is used a means to get to the takedown. Flurries of strikes are paired with forward movements drive their opponents to the cage.
Fluffy begins the round at a torrid pace, moving forward and striking, ducking into the hips as Fremd returns offense
Once the opponent’s back hits the cage, it only takes a well-timed shot under a return strike to pin them against the cage or to the mat. Khabib and Fluffy both use a deadlift style high crotch to lift the opponent up off the cage and slam them down.
While pressuring Poirer against the fence, Khabib switches from a loose double around the hips to a tight single-leg grip under Poirer’s taint. He then steps through Poirer’s stance to gain leverage to lift Poirer, and finish the single.
They usually attempt a low double to drive the opponent into the fence and prevent their movement. As the opponent fights off the double attempt with underhooks, they switch to the high-crotch single. Even if this does not immediately produce the takedown, it will off-balance them enough where their back is exposed or a successive shot can succeed.
Fluffy shoots a double off an attempted snapdown. While building his base he locks the single-leg grip under the taint of Fremd. Though he doesn’t step through like Khabib to finish, he is able to off-balance Fremd and shoot s successful double.
Dagestani Handcuffs / Wrist Ride
Everyone’s favorite term in MMA today (thanks Paul Felder). More commonly known in American wrestling circles as the wrist ride, it is the premier way to prevent an opponent from quad-podding or wall-walking to stand-up.
Khabib puts on a masterclass wrist riding performance against Michael Johnson. Every time Johnson posts on his elbow to begin building up along the cage, Khabib throws on the Dagestani handcuffs and sucks Johnson’s arm into his side. Khabib frees his inside hand to begin pummeling Johnson, and maintaining one wrist tie. As Johnson builds up again, Khabib grabs the wrist ride again and repeats this process ad infinitum.
Much less damaging than Khabib’s use, Fluffy opts to wrist ride Fremd to off-balance him and prevent the quad-pod stand up. Through it, he maintains top control and can even work submissions or back control off of it.
Mat Returns
So they stood up. Now what? Lucky for you, they are still against the cage and can only move laterally. You can still stay locked on their hips, legs, or back and force them back down. The mat return provides an avenue for sustained offense while whittling away their cardio with each stand-up attempt. The opponent is in a catch 22. If they stay down they are constantly in danger of being submitted or beat down. If they stand up they will likely gas out faster in their efforts.
Khabib pressures Poirer into the cage as he stands up. Poirer (intelligently) posts his head on the cage to begin breaking Khabib’s back body lock. Poirer breaks and faces Khabib, but turns into the fence again. With the back body lock re-established, Khabib steps outside Poirer’s weight-bearing foot to trip him and force him back to the ground.
Khabib continues his mat return dominance to punish Poirer’s wall-walking. Poirer stands but is met with a BEAUTIFUL outside trip to sit him down. Poirer attempts to to peek out to reverse the takedown, but Khabib jumps to the side in anticipation and maintains top pressure. So much work by Poirer for a net loss on the scorecards and his gas tank.
Fluffy favors the front head-lock to the back body lock as he is a much more opportunistic submission hunter. He keeps heavy pressure on Fremd’s neck as he stands. Once he disengages, Fremd stands tall in opposition to being pressured down, opening a clean double-leg entry for Fluffy to exploit.
Anthony Hernandez: New Wrinkles
Though he has not achieved the level of success or nuance to his game as the undefeated Dagestani, Fluffy Hernandez has certainly made the style his own. His version of Pressure Grappling differs with:
1. Submissions >>> Ground & Pound
2. The Cross-Body Ride
3. Clinch Striking
(Though Fluffy is more apt to attack submissions, one aspect of ground & pound I have seen him use more consistently than Khabib is the knee to the body of a grounded opponent. Such a beautiful technique that perfectly complements a Pressure Grappler as it is more damaging and draining to a grounded opponent than most other strikes.)
Submissions >>> Ground & Pound
The crux of Pressure Grappling while on the ground involves prioritizing offense over position. Where Khabib was more apt to pound his opponents into a pulp and regain position, Fluffy Hernandez is a constant submission threat.
Utilizing a guillotine snapdown, Fluffy presents a genuine submission attempt while maintaining enough control to end up on top.
Fluffy favors his front head-lock series (famously submitting BJJ legend Rodolfo Viera with an arm-in guillotine). When working from the cross-body ride or top turtle, he will lead some light strikes to the head into an arm-in choking position for D’Arce, Anaconda, and Guillotine attempts.
Fluffy explodes into an arm-in guillotine attempt, but maintains a high head and puts his weight on one hip. This is perfect as it allows him to stand-back up and maintain top pressure.
Instead of traditionally rolling through for the anaconda or jumping guard with the guillotine, Fluffy goes onto one hip while attempting the choke. This ensures that he does not end up in bottom position, and if the choke is unsuccessful, he can more readily gain an advantageous position. Instead of selling out on his submissions, he tries to submit with a built-in backdoor.
From the cross-body ride, Fluffy attempts a DEEP anaconda choke, elevating Fremd to put them both on their sides. He grapevines Fremd legs with his own to control his lower half, and is able to come up on top when the submission is unsuccessful.
The Cross-Body Ride
One of Fluffy’s favorite positions is one taken from freestyle wrestling: The Cross-Body ride. As shown, this involves placing one “hook” inside the opponent’s inner leg and draping your body across their back to maintain control. Fluffy uses this position in a variety of ways:
Strikes to the Head
The cross-body ride is a perfect position for landing strikes. More point-scoring than damaging, it allows Fluffy to stay busy with almost no fear of being countered.
Front Headlock Series
(See Above)
Control of Far Foot
Akin to folk-style wrestling, Fluffy maintains control of the far ankle which prevents Fremd from building up. He can strike with his free hand to great effect. A sneaky little move at the end is transitioning from the cross-body hook to digging his thigh under Fremd’s ankle, which he can elevate to off-balance and continue attacking.
These are some of Fluffy’s favorite positions, but the twister, banana split, and transitioning to the back are all viable options from here as well.
Clinch Striking
Khabib would consistently take the back body lock or drop down on the double as soon as the opponent would stand-up along the cage. As of late, Fluffy has decided to begin striking while in close or the clinch. His success has come kneeing the body and head of the opponent as they stand up and throwing short punches and hard elbows as they try to retreat along the cage.
Knees to the body and elbows as Fremd are perfect heavy weapons that punishes Fremd for getting up, something more MMA fighters should do. After throwing a short left hook, Fluffy ducks under the return to complete a double-leg. An sequence that truly encapsulates MMA.
This strategy has the added benefit of the opponent expecting a striking exchange, and being met with yet another takedown when they work up the nerve to counter.
Though he isn’t the most refined striker in the game today, I would love to see him continue to sharpen his clinch striking to become a potent threat on the feet as well. Forcing the clinch would allow for elbows and knees to flourish while maintaining a takedown threat. Clinch striking could truly be the next evolution of Pressure Grappling.
Pressure Grappling is a style that is truly “MMA”. It makes grappling exciting, utilizing a wonderful mixture of submissions and G&P. The pace is unbridled while making it almost impossible for the opponent to counter with any meaningful offense. Sweeps and submissions are still a threat but their severity decreases the longer the fight goes. Pressure Grappling is a daunting style to try and overcome: either clip these monsters early or slowly sink under their offense. As always, Cardio is King in Combat.
Fluffy Beats the Piss out of Shahbazyan
With a top 15 opponent on the horizon, I hope Fluffy Hernandez can continue wilting his opponents under his insurmountable offense. Look forward to his next fight, for it will assuredly be an entertaining one.
