SLC MMAExploring MMA and Jujitsu in Salt Lake City Utah

Happy HalloweenFiled Under: Local, Rantings

Don’t Eat too much candy.

Tags: holidays

Cody McKenzine’s Guillotine choke, the “McKenzietine”Filed Under: Instruction

I’ve been watching The Ultimate Fighter on Spike and Cody McKenzine’s guillotine choke has been on my brain.  Cody hits the choke with a different grip and elbow position; it’s made me curious to know more.  Since Cody’s explanation of how he does the choke was two-seconds long, I’ve had to look elsewhere. Below, a video from Precision Martial Arts down in Texas, showing the basics of this variation.

The cool thing about this choke is that it just *hits* differently than a normal guillotine.  The top pressure a guy uses to try to escape interacts differently with your grip, you can finish the choke from unusual angles, etc.  One thing I like about it is that you don’t have to have the same hip control to tighten it.

As you can see on the left, Marc Stevens has passed Cody’s guard – and Cody has only partially kept Steven’s hips from swinging around by getting a hook on the outer leg (I think this is what’s called empty half guard). I’ve even seen guys tapped from clean side control, no hooks attached – although that’s uncommon.  On the right, you can see how a lot of guillotine’s from the guard get finished; by compressing the choke-arm’s elbow towards your own hip.

Another detail – the position of the supporting arm in the choke is varied.  On the right, you see how the elbow flares up and comes off the body while on the left (it’s sort of hidden) the supporting elbow can stay down and still provide leverage for the choke, as well as keeping the head caged up. From my experience, if the guy on the right sucked in his elbow towards his hips, it’d be easier to wriggle the head free.

I’ve heard some guys call this the prayer choke, palm to palm guillotine, or now – in Cody’s honor – some suggest we call it “the fisherman”.   McKenzine has a nice body for the choke – long, thin arms ; slender core and slightly concaved chest. The Diaz brothers have such frames too.

As I’ve been playing around with it, the grip has intrigued me.  Like Josh Koscheck points out, you’ve got to attack the grip to stop the choke, because hip position won’t necessarily do it.

Anywho, I’d like to know your thoughts and experiences – have you choked or been choked with this? How does it stack up to the regular guillotine? What name would you give this variation?

Tags: guillotine choke, submissions, the ultimate fighter, TUF

UFC 121: BrocktoberfestFiled Under: Rantings

Sweet wisps of winter’s breath are couched behind the trees, their leaves turning red and gold. I watch in silent anticipation as nature blushes, dances, and flirts.   The season’s crescendo is not lost on me; I bring my brothers round. We prepare to eat, laugh, and watch two dudes beat the crap out of each other.  Specifically, I reference this fall’s celebration of Brockober Fest (UFC 121).  

I’m pretty pumped for this card; Brock Lesnar vs Cain Valasquez notwithstanding. I’m looking forward to Utah native, Court Mcgee, Jake Shields vs Kampmann, Diego Sanchez – pretty much every fight has something I’d like about it.  Additionally, Brendan Schaub (vs Gabriel Gonzaga)  is fighting and he’s talked smack about Lesnar, so I’ve got  little drama to enjoy too.

But really, the main point here is that it’s great to be an MMA fan.  We had UFC 120 broadcast for free and a serious night of fights just a week later. 

On Brocktoberfest

Here is my take on the Brock vs Cain fight.  Brock is a clear, heavy favorite. I’m not writing off Cain, but the deck is stacked against him.

What is Cain going to bring to Brock that he’s not well equipped to handle?

Wrestling? I think he can deal with that.  A good double leg to put Brock on his back might be a game-changer, but I don’t really see that happening. It would be a fun scenario because Lesnar’s BJJ coach Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros says Brock’s got a surprisingly aggressive guard game.   I also don’t see Cain slowing Lesnar down with any Greco/dirty box on the cage.  Randy Couture roughed up Brock a bit with it, but it’s not a hole in the armor of this beast.

The striking game isn’t Brocks strong suit (as Brendan Schaub had remarked about) and  If the match were to be a pure stand up bout, I’d give the edge to Valasquez.  That being said, I don’t see it being a stand up war.  Cain can probably sneak in some hard shots, but that won’t stop Brock. I think of it in comparative terms. Cain doesn’t hit as hard as Shane Carwin. Cain pounded on Ben Rothwell’s face, but didn’t knock him out cold; Carwin, from a similar position, sent Frank Mir into la-la land.

Submissions? Once bitten, twice shy. 

As for speed and cardio – both guys are pretty freakish in this department.  In the third, fourth and fifth rounds, if Cain hasn’t suffered too much damage I think we’d see an advantage in performance on his side. 

Anyway, I’d love to hear your two cents.

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.
- Albert Camus

Tags: brock lesnar, cain valasquez, court mcgee, MMA, ufc 121

Tips From the Ultimate Fighter, Season 12 Episode 3Filed Under: Instruction, Rantings

I love MMA enough that can’t help but watch The Ultimate Fighter. I love to see how different guys train and try to pick up their methods.  I’m sure that lots of good instruction is hidden away from us viewers, but I still see little gems come out.

In TUF S13 E3,  one theme came to mind:  Takedowns from the cage.

In the fight between Michael Johnson vs Aaron Wilkinson,  you hear GSP in the background giving some great advice.  When Aaron has pushed Michael to the cage, working for the takedown, George tells him to control the wrist and keep Aaron from locking his hands together.

Additionally, you hear GSP instructing Johnson to spread his legs to widen his base.

Aaron Wilkinson was doing a great job with his single-to-double leg on the cage takedown.  When he could secure his grip, he was able to cinch Michael’s legs together and finish the takedown.

So, a few takeaway tips:

• Bottom line, grips matter when you are taking a guy to the Mat.  Lock your hands up quickly.  (You see Koscheck explain the importance of the gable grip when you are working for the single leg in episode 2)
• When a guy has pushed you up against the cage, working for the takedown, control the wrist and prevent him from sealing up his grip.  If he’s got the hands locked, you need to spread your legs and drop down your base.  In the above pic, you see how the lasso Aaron has created is behind the knee; you need to get this lasso up higher on your hamstrings or your legs will get pulled together.
• When you can, pummel your hands under your opponents arms so you can flip around and push him to the cage.

Tags: takedowns, tips, TUF 12