MMA: High Percentage Techniques

This is to all Mixed Martial Artists out there. What are the most highly successfull techniques that have worked in your favor to win a match. Techniques ranging from strikes and takedowns from standing to submissions on the ground.

RNC :slight_smile: (rear naked choke)

also tell us experiences in competitions that have personally helped you.

It depends on your size.

I am a really big guy and one of my favorites is to use the bottom of my fist, kind of like a hammer fist and just push it into the other guys jaw when in top gaurd or mount. It scares the hell out of them because you can continue to put more and more weight on and it feel almost like their jaw is bending to them.

I am also a big fan of the key lock.

Chokes are hard to get with gloves on. Kimura and americanas are good. Bodylocks takedowns and trips are fairly high percentage takedowns as well as high dives and run the pipe singles. Basic boxing with some knees, elbows and low kicks are high percentage as far as striking goes.

In the guard, I use triangles more than anything. Armbars work well too, but for some reason triangles just seem real easy to pull off successfully.

Standing up, I have trouble getting in range since I’m kind of short. Every once in awhile I’ll throw a jab and then a lead hook immediately after (same hand) while shuffling forward, and for some reason it throws most people off and makes them forget to use their jab to keep me away, and then I can just follow through from there.

No disrespect, but this type of question is much better answered on MMA boards.

Submissions: I’m a fan of the arm triangle.

Standing: Hooks! Hooks to the body, hooks to the head, mix in the occasional cross to either target :slight_smile:

Also, i’m tall and fairly flexable so i like to throw downward angled tai kicks to the head.

Clinch, again tall so knees to the face are there. Upper cut, overhand, knee or kick depending on distance.

[quote]Sonny S wrote:
No disrespect, but this type of question is much better answered on MMA boards.

[/quote]

and actually no, most of the mma boards are over run by rambling morons. Every conversation ends up with one idiot challenging another to a fight which never happens. I can?t even stand to read them any more let alone participate.

Right hand counters over people who leave their jabs out. There is always somebody who leaves their left hand sticking out.

[quote]ScrambyEggs wrote:
Submissions: I’m a fan of the arm triangle.

Standing: Hooks! Hooks to the body, hooks to the head, mix in the occasional cross to either target :slight_smile:

Also, i’m tall and fairly flexable so i like to throw downward angled tai kicks to the head.

Clinch, again tall so knees to the face are there. Upper cut, overhand, knee or kick depending on distance.[/quote]

heres a little edge to finishing with the triangle. when you have it sunked in and the opponent is trying to slam you, use the finger of your knuckles and jam it in his throat and at the same time pull the arm trapped in the submission. its called the matt hume’s tiger claw:http://www.lockflow.com/article_view.php?id=113

another is when you have the triangle sunked, wrap both of your arms around the outside of your knees and lock your hands behind the guys head. once you have your arms locked squeeze both your arms and legs together.

[quote]wolf54 wrote:
ScrambyEggs wrote:
Submissions: I’m a fan of the arm triangle.

Standing: Hooks! Hooks to the body, hooks to the head, mix in the occasional cross to either target :slight_smile:

Also, i’m tall and fairly flexable so i like to throw downward angled tai kicks to the head.

Clinch, again tall so knees to the face are there. Upper cut, overhand, knee or kick depending on distance.

heres a little edge to finishing with the triangle. when you have it sunked in and the opponent is trying to slam you, use the finger of your knuckles and jam it in his throat and at the same time pull the arm trapped in the submission. its called the matt hume’s tiger claw:http://www.lockflow.com/article_view.php?id=113

another is when you have the triangle sunked, wrap both of your arms around the outside of your knees and lock your hands behind the guys head. once you have your arms locked squeeze both your arms and legs together.
[/quote]

Hi Wolf54,

My favorite flow from a triangle (when the guy tries to slam me) is to change up to an arm bar (with legs crossed over the opponent’s head), and roll them to a stomach lying arm bar. Very difficult to get out of that type of arm bar once it’s in good. I actually feel that this is the most secure type of arm bar (at least for me) because I can really stabilize his upper arm by squeezing my legs together.

As far as your second paragraph. I’m not sure what you were taught, but from what I’ve been taught, in a correctly applied triangle the hands are supposed to be pulling down on the opponent’s head, while squeezing the legs. If you don’t do this, it’s pretty tough to tap someone who is any good. Another little trick to prevent the opponent from defending the position (and possibly offering added incentive for them to tap) is to trap the arm that is across their neck under your upper arm. If done correctly you can even use this to apply an arm bar.

I’d actually also have to say that if you can jam your knuckle (finger) into the opponent’s throat while you are trying to triangle them, you are doing something wrong. There is no way that there should be that much space. Now, using both thumbs into the opponent’s eyes works great, but it’s not legal in MMA, so it’s not really a relevant tactic for this discussion.

As far as high percentage MMA techniques, I’d say:

Striking: Boxing punches (jab, straight right, hook, uppercut, overhand right), Elbows, Forearm smashes, Knees, Thai kicks, and Push Kicks.

Takedowns: Double leg, Single leg, Clinch takedowns (inside hook, outside hook, inside sweep, outside sweep, and leg brace takedown [although not often used in MMA]).

Submissions: Chokes (rear naked, arm across neck, triangle, guilotine), Arm bars (common lying, upward, stomach lying), Shoulder cranks (“kimura”, DWG [not sure what the UFC lingo is for that one]), Knee bars, and Heel hooks.

Good training,

Sentoguy

[quote]ScrambyEggs wrote:
Sonny S wrote:
No disrespect, but this type of question is much better answered on MMA boards.

and actually no, most of the mma boards are over run by rambling morons. Every conversation ends up with one idiot challenging another to a fight which never happens. I can?t even stand to read them any more let alone participate. [/quote]

Apparently Scramby Eggs and I hang out on a lot of the same message boards.

I’m a very long, skinny, gangly, weird guy so what’s high percentage for me and what’s high percentage for the average person aren’t often the same thing. For example, last night I caught a guy with a gogoplata because I couldn’t get the armbar to work. WTF?

I’m glad to see people stressing fundamental basic boxing. I’ve always thought that if a guy had rock solid fundamentals and didn’t make stupid/lazy mistakes, he could be very successful without an abundance of fancy techniques.

[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
I’m glad to see people stressing fundamental basic boxing. I’ve always thought that if a guy had rock solid fundamentals and didn’t make stupid/lazy mistakes, he could be very successful without an abundance of fancy techniques.
[/quote]

I agree with you guys 100%. Fundamentals are 95% of the game. Without basics, there are no intermediate techniques, then no advanced. In my fighting days, I stuck with basics. (I fought karate, so not exactly the same as MMA style) I stuck with my front kick, roundhouse, jab and cross, hook kick, and back sweep. I would win fights, tournaments and titles with just these movements.

Pick what works for you, and perfect it. For me, I can hit a kimura from basically any position, and I will pull guard if I think I am in good position for an armbar.

i am definitely a stand up fighter. not to say i can’t hang on the ground, but my bread and butter is my striking. to answer your question, alternating straight punches followed by the sprawl and brawl usually finishes it for me.

I like rib shots, since I seem to end up in position for them alot. Most guys do them wrong, they punch too high up their opponents side; I usually get hit in the lats when another fighter tries to hit the body. The lower on the side you hit(just above the hip bone), the more the other guy will feel it.

watch every mma fight you can, check out sherdogs fight finder & see how the fights ended. most subs are all fundamentals (i still cant beleive Chonans leg-lock - does my head in every time), generally its the simple stuff that works & the guy has the best fundamentals will be the 1st to get the sub.

its usually gullotines, triangles, straight armbars, RNCs… basic stuff you learn early but takes years to setup properly.

As for the triangle, before my oppenent stands up & tries to slam me, i underhook his nearest leg. also heaps get the cut too…

Good stuff. I like what has been said about the triangle/armbar combo. I do mainly grappling, not MMA. I like trying to go the belly down armbar from guard, as has been mentioned before. If you armbar his right arm, and he goes to stand and try to stack, what you can do is reach for his right leg with your right arm and try to spin yourself underneath him, while staying capturing his arm.

If done correctly he will lose his balance and you have the belly down arm bar. Easier explained in person. Its a nasty armbar, so be careful with your training partners.

A move i learned this weekend that is applicable from alot of positions is the Darce choke. Think it might also be called the Brabo choke. Its featured in the latest issue of TapOut magazine. Very similar to a head and arm choke.

You can get it from side mount, mount, standing from an arm drag. It seems like it would work well no-gi when both opponents are sweating alot. I know at that point i have a hard time with armbars cause people can slick out of them.

anton

Personal favorites-

Ground: (in this order)
Mount & Strikes
the twister
RNC
armbar from guard
flying triangle

In grappling, with no striking, I really like the flying heel hook (looks like a scissor kick takedown but you do a sort of inverted heel hook instead)

standing: (no particular order)
LIVER SHOT! (hook to liver)
Overhand right
Clinch and knees (ala Wanderlei silva)