UFC 310: Grappling Lessons

Can the Grappling Standouts Teach Rakhmonov & Garry Something?

A Wrestle Heavy Card

Contents:

• The Clinch and Back Body Lock

• Back Control

The UFC’s latest venture into Vegas painted the nerdy fight fan a picture in MMA grappling fundamentals. The starkest of which was provided by Bryce Mitchell (V1), letting everyone know that MMA has evolved in the past 30 years. The Old Gracie way is not sustainable, and pulling guard will leave a fighter comatose on the canvas.

V1

Before Saturday night, many a fan likely expected Shavkat Rakhmonov to show us a new facet to MMA grappling. My friend Ryan Wagner wrote a beautiful article breaking down his stellar offense from the clinch. Be sure to read it as it isn’t invalidated by last nights performance, merely adding more nuance to the discussion.

The Clinch Mauling & Ground Devastation of Shavkat Rakhmonov

He’s looked like a killer here against every opponent until Ian Machado-Garry. Garry’s similar stature, insistence on wrist control, and pushing his hips out and to the side largely neutered the Kazakh’s Clinch (V2, V3). It was also revealed that Rakhmanov suffered a knee injury prior to the fight, which assuredly impacted his performance. Thankfully, Alexandre Pantoja, Aljamain Sterling, Movsar Evloev, and Chase Hooper all provided Rakhmanov a blueprint from which to work for future success.

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 Clinch & Back Body Lock

Rakhmanov is an offensive dynamo in the clinch. He is constantly throwing knees to both enter the clinch and punish while in the over-under (one overhook and one underhook), and they force the opponent to move or knee themselves, paving the way for a myriad of trips and throws. His strength, even in this fight, was evident. Though often considered 50/50 position, Rakhmanov makes it look like he is in complete domination.

Garry threw a wrench into this (V1).

The majority of Rakhmanov’s resume till now has been filled with individuals shorter than him. The few who matched his frame (Wonderboy) had a significant grappling disadvantage. Garry is the first opponent in his prime who has both a similar stature to Rakhmanov as well as his own grappling experience. Since the result of this fight much has been made of Garry being a judo black belt. One does not typically associate judo as having the transferable skills to MMA compared to wrestling or jiu-jitsu, but against a man who’s offense and grappling hinges on his upper body clinch, understanding defense and weight distribution in these positions makes life much more difficult (V3).

As great fighters do, Rakhmanov changed tactics (V3). Surprising many (including Garry in all likelihood), he began shooting on the legs. His finish was stellar, breaking the posture with a clubbing collar tie to slam Garry down. This worked the first time but Garry was more than ready the on Rakhmanov’s second attmempt (V4). He slipped underneath the collar tie and was able to take the back with relative ease, a hook already in place as Rakhmanov refused to let go of the single. Garry’s back control had its own issues (I1), but the focus now is on the winner of this bout.

Rakhmanov’s change in tactics was necessary, but after the initial shock, his entries became predictable. The star of UFC 310, Alexandre Pantoja, was keen to not commit to his wrestling lest he become an easy target for the potent counter punches and knees of Kai Asakura. Rather than sell out in an attempt to enforce his grappling, Pantoja realizes that he can make better use of his transitional offense on an opponent ready to defend(V5). Rakhmanov found some times to enforce his knees, but not nearly as expected. Garry’s defense and his own injuries likely played a role, but when one half of his clinch game suffers, the other does as well. Without an active offensive threat, his attempts to bring Garry to the ground became less effective (V2, V3). Pantoja had established his double-attack, and was thus ready to react to Asakura’s attempts to escape (V6, V7).