UFC 299: "Anti"-Grappling & Active Counter-Punching

Diamond and Della Show Out

What a tremendous watch this was. UFC 299 was easily the best event the UFC has put on in quite some time. Sean O’Malley had the clear stand out performance of the night but I was interested in the performances of Dustin Poirer and Jack Della Maddalena.

Poirer and Della each had something to prove this night. Poirer, reaching that dreaded age of 35 and coming off of a devastating knock out, had to prove that he could still take on the up and comers at Lightweight. Though the legacy crop of Poirer, Gaethje, Oliveira, and Chandler are aging, its going to take more to usurp them from their thrones

Jack Della Maddalena, storming through the Welterweight division, was coming off 2 close performances against debutante Bassil Hafez and Kevin Holland. Finally breaking through to the top of the division, some weren’t sure that he could handle the grappling of veteran Gilbert Burns.

The game of each man was built upon solid counter-punching and an ability to survive the grappling attacks of their fellow competitors. Here’s how they did it.

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.

The Diamond Shines Brighter

A large portion of Poirer vs. Saint Denis can be encapsulated in the sequence below.

Saint Denis swings, gets countered, and drops on the hips. Poirer responds to the takedown threat by jumping to guard with a guillotine choke.

Benoit Saint Denis would move forward looking to initiate the clinch and drop down for a takedown. His troubles arose in the middle distance where he would get clattered along the temple with a right hook.

Poirer brilliantly navigated the striking portions of the fight, only possible because his grappling defense was cogent enough to survive the back attacks from the Frenchman.

It was not often that Saint Denis was able to get Poirer down. Poirer opted to head to the ground himself with his patented Gumbo Gilly. Though he has never finished a fight by guillotine, I admired the insistence on finishing the fight with his favorite technique, and his candid love for the choke. He attempted the technique around six times and while it has its use, jumping to guard with the guillotine is usually a surefire way to end up underneath the opponent. Poirer certainly did but proved his defense savvy enough succeed where he twice failed.

Poirer jumps the Gumbo Gilly

The Back

Poirer is notorious for losing his two championship opportunities by way of rear naked choke. Saint Denis’ finishing ability and grappling prowess had many doubting Poirer’s chances in this fight given his age and susceptibility to submission threats.

Poirer uncorks the body triangle with one hand, defending the choke with the other. Using your hands to unlock the body triangle is not usually recommended, as it it leaves you with only half of your tools with which to defend the choke. Poirer is confident enough to defend the rushed choke, and keep a post on Saint Denis’ knee to prevent the body triangle. With the lock broken, Poirer drops his upper body, Saint Denis slides off, and Poirer has him agains the cage.

Saint Denis was locked into exposing the back while grappling, aware of this apparent weakness. Poirer has obviously been working on his choke defense, as all of his attempts proved futile. Saint Denis was able to get Poirer belly down with the back mount early in round two, a position oft seen as a death sentence for the man on defense (shown below).

Poirer kept safe by building up to his elbows and knees enough where he could get his knees underneath his torso. Now that Poirer created a base to work from, he turns Saint Denis into the cage. Saint Denis continues his choke attempts and has both hooks in, but he’s immobile. Poirer keeps pressure on Saint Denis to keep his back on the cage, defend the chokes, and quickly remove one of his opponent’s hooks. Though Poirer is vulnerable for another choke attempt, he’s created enough of an opening to turn into Saint Denis, who can’t move off with his back against the cage.

Saint Denis’ focus on the rear naked choke was a salient idea in the face of a heavy fisted counter-puncher who has found difficulty in defending that technique. This early in his career however, Saint Denis does not have the craft of Oliveira or Khabib, and he was not facing the same Diamond who contested for the championship belt.

In Saint Denis’ position, it must have been exhausting to be met with such a stalwart defense while pushing such a high pace to clinch with Poirer when on the feet.

Collar Ties

Saint Denis and his team were keen on Poirer’s weaknesses exploited in previous fights. In the first round of Poirer vs. Oliveira, Oliveira was able to brutalize Poirer’s mid-section with knees which fatigued the challenger in the later portions of the fight. Saint Denis was more focused on the head but had his most offensive success in this phase of the fight.

Saint Denis uses the double collar tie beautifully, smashing knees into the cranium while turning Poirer back into the cage. He punches once separated and drops right back on the hips. The pace Saint Denis was pushing was valiant.

Saint Denis was looking for every opportunity to brutalize Poirer from the clinch and push him to the fence in the process. I particularly enjoyed the folding elbows he used in the sequence below. While damaging, his craft in the clinch certainly needed some work, as he allowed Poirer to push him back and drop down on a takedown himself. If you want to see what a great offensive collar tie looks like, read this.

Another Saint Denis clinch. Poirer tends to straighten up out of the clinch, and throw the occasional uppercut while pushing off their lower body. This leaves him quite susceptible to elbows and knees as he searches for any way just to break their grip.

Saint Denis’ success in the clinch was preceded by his expedition through hell whilst wading into range.

Counters and Craft

Benoit Saint Denis was moving forward for just about every second of this fight. Denis’ incessant pressure forced Poirer to fight off the back foot. Where most MMA fighters struggle going backwards, Poirer’s boxing shines.

Denis chases Poirer laterally along the cage. Denis opting to chase Poirer (rather than cut the cage) means any strike from Poirer’s left side will be that much more impactful. In this way, Poirer is herding Denis into his shots despite being the man with his back against the cage.

Poirer smacks a flush uppercut on Saint Denis while being chased. Poirer threw a number of strikes with his back along the cage that staggered the Frenchman. His counter-striking was effective but his position within the cage often allowed Denis to drop down on a double-leg when hurt without much resistance. Even if Denis could not get the takedown he could push Poirer into the fence long enough to recuperate.

The right hook was key to Poirer’s victory in this fight. Saint Denis, himself a southpaw, was yet to encounter a consistent closed stance matchup in his UFC career. His comfort at being the southpaw in the open stance matchup, the open-side body kick being one of his favorite, was rendered useless against a fellow southpaw.

Saint Denis’ body kick hits Poirer in the back, accomplishing little. Saint Denis’ lack of defense fails him in the follow-up. Jabbing to the body as Poirer jabs him, hands at his chest, leaves him defenseless as Poirer hooks off the jab. Poirer’s integrated head movement allows him to slip the follow-up and drop Denis with a rear straight.

Poirer had already proven his superiority in the closed-stance southpaw matchup when he fought the much craftier Conor Mcgregor. Denis is quite predictable when striking from the outside. Hands at his chest, left swing, right swing (or vice versa). He is always alternating sides with his punches, and his lacking defense and mechanics make his face a canvas for Dustin Poirer to paint his counter punches.

A lovely lead right hook and (mini) shoulder roll to slip the follow-up punch.

Poirer’s defense lays the ground work for his counter-punching game. Denis’ predictable patterns meant Poirer could shell up with each hand to deflect each punch with relative ease. Poirer’s Hillbilly Shell often leaves his body open, but Denis’ had such an exaggerated level change to begin punching the body that Poirer got the read on this too. While body punching Denis’ hands were so low that Poirer easily teed off on his head with hooks until he was forced to clinch up.

If you watch closely, that initial knee hits Poirer square in the back of the head. Impressive that he maintained his defensive ability throughout this sequence. Denis’ lack of defense and mechanics hopefully get shored up after this performance. His grit and strength give him such a solid foundation to build off of.

Denis throws his rear hand straight as a pseudo-hook, stepping deep to try and reach Poirer as he moves backwards. Though this establishes a threat to bring Poirer to the cage, Poirer can easily respond by throwing a tight right hook over the top of Denis’ swing. Unlike other ugly technical fighters with great game plans, Denis’ (lack of) mechanics spell doom. Tight, powerful hooks by Poirer reach Denis’ head before he can regain his stance. The story of the Right hook vs. Left Straight, where the compact right hook won out in every exchange.

Poirer has very little trouble dealing with Denis in the center of the octagon.

Dustin Poirer is a legend for pulling non-stop guillotines. He loves it, he does it, I respect it. Instead of jumping to guard however, the below sequence showcases exactly how Poirer should have been utilizing his guillotine from the beginning of the fight.

Poirer brilliantly uses the guillotine threat to bring Saint Denis out and away from the cage. Though he temporarily tries to finish it standing, using the guillotine as a form of transitional offense has the opportunity to yield more success.

Rather than give his hips to Denis by jumping guard, Poirer could use the threat of the guillotine to turn out and get his hips away. There is not space to sprawl out with your back against the cage, but with a good front headlock you can move the opponent, you control their posture. Bring their head down and out to the side. This way, you can sprawl and sever their connection to your legs.

Poirer knocks Denis’ head with a rear hand. Denis shoots a reactive double that places him further within the sights of the Gumbo Gilly. Poirer keeps the Gilly standing and circles out to bring Denis’ back to the cage. If your back is against the cage against Dustin Poirer, you’re in for a horrible time.

Jump the gilly —> Finish the gilly standing —> Use the threat of the gilly to land transitional offense. Using the guillotine to bring Denis to the cage, Denis had no option (given his style throughout the fight), other than to throw some heat. His over-committed rear hand finally paid its dues. Poirer lands a perfect right hook while slipping outside of Denis’ left hand to flat line him. A perfect shot that Poirer had found throughout the fight, but was a direct result of Poirer using the guillotine in a more intelligent manner.

Jack DestructoNator

Jack Della Maddalena was faced with a similar problem to Dustin Poirer in his fight with the stalwart Welterweight. Gilbert Burns himself is a heavy handed grappler, though one much more nuanced than Saint Denis. Gilbert Burns was able to find a select elbow and overhand right that found the mark, but was much more concerned with controlling Della on the cage and ground throughout the fight.

Burns' grappling, not always a staple of his MMA game, was almost able to took him to a (possible, based on judges) win on the scorecards. Worries about Della’s defensive grappling had cropped up due to strange decisions to jump the Gumbo Gilly in his fight with Bassil Hafez, but he put those concerns to bed. Though a one off instance, his impressive outside hip throw set the stage for the finish later on.

Della hits the Osoto Gari. Rather than follow Burns to the ground he looks for a knee as Gilbert is standing. The more MMA evolves, the more important transitional attacks become. Chaining striking & grappling and attacking the stand up are some of the most effective things to add to your toolset.

When Burns was able to get Della down it was the scrambling ability of the Aussie that gave him the opportunity to get back to his feet. Burns attempts his own throw in order to get Della down. Though he eventually gives up his back due to Burns’ underhook, Della tries as he can to secure Burns’ back before he is forced to the mat. Without missing a beat he immediately snakes under Burns arm to begin working Octopus guard.

Open Note Grappling

has a great breakdown of the benefits of this technique here.

With Della’s defensive grappling, he was able to get back to the feet and bring the fight into his desired geography. Della kept a steady pace on the feet, slowly following Burns around the cage with small steps forward to inch him closer to the fence. Once Burns’ feet got past the black line Della would unload with a combination.

Della keeps his lead hand low but active. Constantly flicking at the wrist to keep Burns aware of the jab. As Della continued to move forward he would use small step in feints to get Burns to move back or return fire. Della picked up on Burns’ more consistent habit to bring his guard up and move back when met with a step in. Once near the cage, Della stuck out his lead hand, raising Burns’ guard, opening the avenue for a beautiful shot to the body.

The contrast in striking styles is evident in the clip below. Della is an active counter/combination puncher. Della maintains a high level of activity to force reactions from his opponent which he can then capitalize on with combination punches. Burns is the opposite to this, opting to wait for his opponent to make a move to land one big shot.

This plays into Della’s style nicely. His first shot is often non-committal in order to see what the opponent will do. Burns takes his big shot, and was met with a barrage of offense from Della.

Della tosses out a jab, and Burns slyly switches stances to throw his own in response. Della comes back with his own pull rear hand, which obviously bothered Burns. Della swarms with a blistering combination until he can get Burns to the fence. Smart of Della not to overcommit to the deluge of punches, as a grappler met with this will often shoot the double out of habit. Instead, he lets Burns circle out, throwing a teep to keep Burns against the cage.

Della’s combination punching is elevated by his use of stance switches to cut off the cage. Della steps through on his rear straight and follows up with a lead hook to the body and head. Stepping through allowed him to get into range to land his hooks and close off a potential exit to Burns’ right, the side in which he had been circling for the majority of the bout. He dips out of Burns’ return and returns to an open stance in the middle of the cage. Just like Sean in his destruction of Chito, Della controlling the stance orientation allowed him to execute offense on his terms in contrast to the reactionary Burns.

Della crowds the inside on the front foot in stepping through to the closed stance, crashing into Burns to prevent an escape. He does the opposite when retreating, stepping out into the open stance while obtaining the outside angle to counter Burns’ return. A truly lovely display of space and cage craft by Della.

Della exhibits these same principles here. Though Burns has more room to escape, switching to the closed stance allows him to be in range to follow him with punches. If Della maintained the open stance matchup, the hand nearest to Burns would have been his rear hand, and likely too far away to land effectively.

Though crude, I was happy to see Burns exhibiting at least some form of defense. Bringing his rear hand up to cover the face is one of the barest forms of defense, but it is defense nevertheless.

The finishing sequence came after a lovely escape from Della. Burns’ desperation to finish the fight on his terms made his takedown entry all too obvious. Just as Della attacked Burns with the knee earlier, he now succeeded in catching Burns on his entry. More than anything specifically technical, this was a wonderful moment of clarity, finishing instinct, and understanding your opponent from Della.

All you need to finish a fight is a moment. Della could have lost on the cards, and instead found the perfect moment to seize a victory.

It paralleled the jaw shattering knee O’Malley found in his fight later that night. Absolutely lovely knees from both men.

I have been a fan of Della since his debut on the Contender Series. I am incredibly happy to see his continued success. His scrambling ability is impressive on the ground, and his active counter punching game is a marvel. Despite how good the heavy handed punchers looked, that doesn’t mean the men at the other end of the cage weren’t meant to be there.

Looks from Losers

Though I love assessing fights on the macro level, I adore finding a niche moment that can yield huge benefits.

Poirer kept his arm tight to his elbow to prevent Saint Denis from inserting his hook. Saint Denis simply grabs Poirer by the wrist to open up the space for his hook. So simple, so EZ, so logical. He didn’t spend an eternity trying to shove his foot in like so many. Simple remove the barrier with your free tools.

Saint Denis uses the kimura trap along the cage to reverse which ends up reversing their positions along the fence. It takes him a while to fully flip Poirer over as Poirer had a head post, but he eventually succeeded. Kimura trap is a lovely move to switch positions when trapped against the fence.

Compared to his other performances, this was one of the finer takedown showing from Gilbert Burns. I remember him chasing Wonderboy to fall onto his legs. Seeing him use the single, and a variety of finishes from it (this trip is particularly nice) is a wonderful addition to his game.

If Burns has a sense for anything, it is timing. Just as he timed a perfect elbow and overhand in this fight, this double was thrown after just enough of a committed strike from Burns to convince Della that they would be dancing on the feet.

UFC 299 was a bombastic event that I had a joy watching. In the coming weeks, I’m looking to write some more niche/technique-driven/other combat sports related articles before gearing up for UFC 300. Let me know what you’d like to see in the comments or let us know on X/Twitter.