In the interest of full disclosure, this article is originally a reply to a comment on my previous article UFC Fight Night 24: Resolved, St-Pierre’s Nonsubmission of Hardy Mystery, March 24, 2011–but now with revisions–—where I opined that Georges St-Pierre mercifully let go of Dan Hardy’s arm rather than break it.
One big difference between striking and grappling is the fighter’s control of power over his offensive movements.
In striking you really have to hit with maximum power to make it most effective, to come closest to knocking out your opponent, to beating an eye shut.
In grappling, it’s more deliberate: if all arm bar attempts are executed properly and explosively to the full range of motion, believe me, they will all result into broken arms.
That’s why we have the protocol of the tap.
And there have been instances when the attacking fighter catches an arm, and, sensing he’s on the brink of hyper-extending it without the defensive fighter tapping out, instinctively looks up at the referee in anticipation of a stoppage.
But more often than not, a referee will stop it only if there’s a tap out or broken arm.
The attacker, denied of the expected tap out of his opponent and the resultant referee stoppage, is faced with a dilemma: either go break the arm or let it go.
And Dan Hardy would’ve been deemed equally responsible, if not more responsible, if Georges St-Pierre broke his arm for not tapping out. (After all, MMA, though bound by rules as a legitimate sport, is as close to a street fight as you can get.)
Breaking an arm is still too much for any fighter’s sensibility, with an ounce or two of mercy.
And so is the gruesome sight of it for the fans. (I’ve seen one live, and needless to say, it wasn’t a pretty sight.)
There are parallels in striking as there have been instances when a fighter’s dazed, defenseless and a punch away from dreamland, the offensive fighter voluntarily ceases his attack instead of completely knocking out the other, instinctively certain that the referee will quickly halt the action subsequently.
An example is Nate Marquardt’s split-second switch to restraint after his KO punch on Demian Maia; The Great didn’t have to land one more to totally put his opponent to sleep.
Indeed, more often than not, the referee steps in immediately—or risk a suspension of his license for exposing a “fighter who can no longer intelligently defend himself” (worse if he’s already unconscious!) against further danger and damage.
Knocking out, closing an eye (Josh Koscheck’s) from repeated punches, choking out to sleep your opponent, I’m sure, are more “palatable” to fans and fighters alike than a deliberately broken arm.
“Aaaaaargh! Look at that! Broken, dangling and limp…”
The writer is an experienced grappler and former Philippine professional MMA fighter who has won in national and Asian-level grappling competitions. In the 2010 Philippine International No Gi Open he had the privilege of facing John Tuck, who later became Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup 2010 gold medalist and Best Submission Award winner. John Tuck won their match in the Advanced-Pesado division and eventually bagged the gold medal in the Philippine international grappling tournament; the writer settled for bronze.
In the 2011 Philippine Brazilian Jiu-jitsu No Gi International Open, which was participated in by grapplers from all over Asia and some from the USA, the writer won one gold and one silver.
He is also the reigning Philippine Greco-Roman wrestling champion in the 84 kg weight class.
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