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For those training in the sport of MMA here are several technical moves from UFC on Fox 29. Learn from the pros in action.

UFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje (also known as UFC on FOX 29) was held on April 14, 2018, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The event was headlined by a lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje who according to his Wikipedia page is “known for his crazy throw down style and ability to take damage”. Dustin Poirier def. Justin Gaethje via fourth-round TKO

Here are my notes from fight night:

• This was a pretty entertaining event that featured the return of Carlos Condit. I kinda miss the chaos that is caused in all Condit’s fights. They always feel like witnessing a streetfight.
• Justin Gaethje is not a great kickboxer in my book but he can be a great MMA fighter. He needs to take the American Kickboxing Academy’s approach to MMA fighting & use his wrestling. Justin was a NCAA Division I All-American wrestler during his time at the University of Northern Colorado but you really cannot tell by the way he fights. MMA striking is way more effective when you mix in takedowns. Is he exciting? Yes, fans think so. But once you lose two in a row by KO there goes your fan base.
• The narrative pushed by UFC is that Gaethje is the only fighter in history to land 100+ significant strikes in his first 3 UFC fights. Unfortunately, he got rocked in all three fights & was KO’d in two. He landed 341 strikes, aprox. 40% being leg kicks but was on the receiving end of 420 significant strikes, aprox. 80% on the head. These are not great stats.
• In regards to the Adesanya vs Vettori fight, the commentators, especially Dominick Cruz who is the most knowledgeable of the three, kept saying that Vettori needs to fake more. The thing is that is not his style. Feinting is not something that all fighters can do effectively.
• Adesanya is a great prospect but he is not the new Jon Jones yet. He needs to keep his chin down a bit. And he needs to work on wrestling.
• The commentary was very biased against Vettori who had a competitive fight against a more technical fighter in Adesanya. And Herb Dean breaking the clinch like that was not great refereeing. Adesanya clearly won the fight and obviously the UFC tries to push him as the next big thing but it does not hurt to give his opponent some credit!
• I did not agree with Waterson getting the win against Casey. Significant strikes is a misleading term. Casey landed bombs and Waterson was point fighting. But for some bureaucratic reason, Waterson out-struck Casey and got the win.
• As far as this fight was concerned it is unfortunate that fighting from your back and almost getting submissions, thus forcing your opponent to defend and struggle in order to escape, is not considered effective aggression in modern MMA. I strongly believe that a blue belt in BJJ should be a requirement for all judges.

Keep in mind this article is not a fight breakdown of the card, but an analysis of specific techniques. The focus of this series is to discover combat-tested examples of technical display in MMA fights, even in losing efforts so please do not expect spectacular highlights or knockouts. We will examine some interesting moves from the event, in order to expand our understanding of the art as we try to determine a blueprint for success in the most complicated combat sport in the world.

That being said here is a breakdown of memorable techniques from UFC pros in action:

Fight: Lauren Mueller vs Shana Dobson

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Description: Shana Dobson throws a right roundhouse kick and Lauren Mueller steps back and makes her miss. Dobson lands the foot on the ground momentarily and launches a right sidekick pushing her opponent away. This is a great way to keep opponents away after a failed kick.

Fight: Gilbert Burns vs. Dan Moret

Technique #1

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Description: If you are one of the select few that follow my work you know I do not recommend going for inside low kicks with the back foot against an opponent in an opposite stance. Especially without set-up punches. Fighters can see the kick coming and there are several counters (ask Anderson Silva). One of the best counters for such a kick is demonstrated above. Dan Moret goes for a left inside low kick from a southpaw stance and although the kick lands, Gilbert Burns catches him with a vicious right cross that was the beginning of the end for Moret. In relation to the famous boxing saying “make them pay for missing,” I call this “make them pay for landing a shot.”

Fight: Antônio Carlos Júnior vs. Tim Boetsch

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Description: If you have read this article on BloodyElbow you also know that I love trapping techniques. Here, Antônio Carlos Júnior uses his left hand to trap Tim Boetsch’s right hand and lands a right low kick. The trapping move has many functions: it sets the distance, it is used to distract Boetsch and finally checks the whereabouts of a possible right hand counter.

Fight: John Moraga vs. Wilson Reis

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Description: John Moraga caught Wilson Reis in a pretty tight guillotine and Reis had to go through several positions in order to escape. He finally escaped as you can see above with a double leg lifting takedown. In order to escape, notice in photo 3 how Wilson lifts his left elbow up while holding the leg as his right hand pushes Moraga’s left knee to the left and upwards. The best escape position against a guillotine is top side control with your legs on the near side and your trapped head on the far side. In photo 6, Reis controls the hips to avoid guard recovery.

Here are some tips on how to avoid the guillotine when going for the double leg takedown (at the 9:30 minute mark):

Fight: Michelle Waterson vs. Cortney Casey

Technique #1

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Description: In a classic Karate (and Bruce Lee) move, Cortney Casey attacks with a jab and Michelle Waterson pulls back and as her head is out of range, lands a left roundhouse kick. Karate fighters often combine this counter with follow-up straight right hands.

Technique #2

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Description: Cortney Casey jabs and both fighters go for a right cross, resulting in a common arms entanglement that I call “the anchor” (photo 3). As the two fighters disengage Casey lands a left hook on Waterson.

Fight: Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori

Technique #1

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Description: A solution to the Anderson Silva-style bobbing and weaving stance is to avoid focusing on catching the head but instead to look for compromised underhook openings and go for a takedown. Here, Israel Adesanya is able to slip a couple of Marvin Vettori’s left and right punches and extends his left arm. Vettori ducks under the arm and gets the takedown.

Technique #2

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Description: This is a typical Taekwondo move, rarely seen in MMA. Marvin Vettori feints a jab and goes for a right low kick as Israel Adesanya spins backwards and attacks with a back kick. Although the move failed to do damage it was still beautiful to watch.

Fight: Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje

Technique #1

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Description: This is a nice right low kick counter against an incoming lead right cross to the body by Justin Gaethje. Dustin Poirier in as southpaw stance cannot block the kick because his weight is on his right foot. Here are the results of Gaethje’s kicks:

Technique #2

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Description: Dustin Poirier is in a southpaw stance and Justin Gaethje attacks with a right low kick. This time Poirier makes him pay with a series of punches starting with a left cross. Punches can be used to counter low kicks but you need to possess KO power and be the longer fighter or at least have the same reach for them to work effectively.

Technique #3

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Description: Punches in bunches coming from all directions was the key strategy that Poirier employed in order to defeat Gaethje. Unfortunately for Justin the high guard (where both fists are placed on the forehead) works in K-1/Glory style kickboxing due to the padding of the gloves, but MMA gloves do not offer the same protection. Here, Poirier in a southpaw stance attacks with a left cross, a right hook,a left uppercut, a right cross, and moves a bit to the side to land a left uppercut under Gaethje’s guard.

That will be all for now. Please join me next week for another breakdown. For a list of my previous technique breakdowns on Bloody Elbow, check out this link.

About the Author: Kostas Fantaousakis is a researcher of fighting concepts, tactics, and techniques, and a state-certified MMA, grappling, and wrestling coach in Greece. He teaches his unique Speedforce MMA mittwork system © which combines strikes, takedowns, knees, and elbows applied in the Continuous Feedback © mittwork system of the Mayweather family. Kostas is a brown belt in BJJ under MMA veteran and BJJ world champion Wander Braga (the teacher of Gabriel Napao Gonzaga).

Follow Kostas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kostasfant and search #fantmoves for more techniques.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the hurt business tonight (Sat., April 21, 2018) for UFC Fight Night 128 featuring a main event scrap between top lightweight contenders Kevin Lee and Edson Barboza, which will go down from inside Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

What’s Hot:

Coming off a loss to Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title, Kevin Lee is hungry to prove that he didn’t just stumble into a title shot, and deserves to be at the top of the championship hunt (unlike this guy). He has a tough task ahead of him in his return bout, as Edson Barboza is without a doubt the most technical and vicious striker in the 155-pound division. After getting worked over by Khabib Nurmagomedov in his previous loss (see it), the Brazilian bomber is looking to erase the memory of the one-sided beatdown and will attempt to insert himself back into the title picture with a win over a former championship challenger. Lee is predominantly known for his wrestling, but he isn’t afraid to keep the fight standing. Whether or not he actually lives up to this statement and dominates Barboza in every area, is another thing.

Frankie Edgar suffered the first knockout loss of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career just last month at UFC 222, getting taken out by Brian Ortega in Las Vegas, Nevada (highlights). The first stoppage loss of his storied career didn’t stop “The Answer” from picking up the phone a few weeks later when UFC dialed him up to rematch Cub Swanson in his own home state.

It’s an interesting move to say the least on behalf of Edgar, as one would assume he needs more time to gather himself instead of accepting a quick turnaround against a hungry Cub. Granted, Edgar already has a win over Swanson, but the 145-pound stalwart is out to prove he deserves the contract extension and pay raise he received to re-sign with the promotion. As for Edgar, he wants to show he isn’t done just yet. This one is tough to call.

Original Card vs. Actual card:

Augusto Mendes was set to face off against Merab Dvalishvilli, but was pulled from the fight and replaced by Ricky Simon after he was notified of a potential United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) violation. Paulo Costa was set to fight Uriah Hall at the event, but was forced out with an injury and the bout was re-booked for UFC 226. Furthermore, a day before fight night, Aspen Ladd was removed from her fight against Leslie Smith for failing to make weight. Apparently Smith wouldn’t accept the fight — even after getting offered plenty of financial compensation — since her opponent came in 1.8 pounds heavy.

Injuries:

In addition to Costa’s arm injury, Magomed Bibulatov was bounced from his scheduled scrap against Ulka Sasaki with a late back injury.

New Blood:

Simon will be the only fighter making his UFC debut after dominating the regional circuit over his last five bouts including wins under the Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) banner and an appearance on Dana White’s “Tuesday Night Contender Series.” He will face Merab Dvalishvilli after stepping in for Augusto Mendes.

How The “Prelims” Look:

The “Prelims” undercard has some pretty noticeable and experienced fighters fighting to get back into the spotlight, including Patrick Cummins, who will face off against Corey Anderson in an interesting light heavyweight scrap. Siyar Bahadurzada had some pretty big hype early on in his UFC career, but after an injury forced him to the sidelines he’s kind of becoming a forgotten man in a welterweight division that has all of a sudden become stacked. He will look to collect his third-straight win against Luan Chagas.

Ryan LaFlare is another 170-pound combatant who lost a little bit of steam after beginning his Octagon career with four-straight wins. Going 2-2 in his last four bouts after going undefeated for seven years, the New York native looks to bounce back from a knockout loss to Alex Oliveira when he takes on Alex Garcia.

Who Needs A Win Badly:

Jim Miller is one of the most hard-nosed and experienced veterans fighting under the UFC banner. But, 2017 was not kind for him, losing all three of his fights to Anthony Pettis, Dustin Poirier and Francisco Trinaldo. I don’t foresee the promotion parting ways with Miller should he drop his fourth straight when he faces Dan Hooker in the opening bout of the main card, but the 155-pound staple still needs to get back on track before he starts falling further down the mountain.

Interest Level: 8/10

This card is actually pretty damn good and has plenty of intriguing fights taking part on the main card. Aside from the main and co-main bouts, the other four bouts will add some spice to this free event. At heavyweight, Chase Sherman and Justin Willis will look to up their stock in the land of big men, which doesn’t exactly have a legit top contender to challenge current champion Stipe Miocic, who had to look at the 205-pound division for his next title defense.

David Branch didn’t make the splash he would’ve hoped for in his second UFC fight after getting finished by former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and having his 11-fight win streak snapped in devastating fashion. Branch will have another tough test ahead of him as Thiago Santos has quietly won four straight via knockout.

After getting knocked out cold by Marlon Moraes in his last outing, Aljamain Sterling will make his return to action to face undefeated prospect Brett Johns in a highly-intriguing bantamweight bout. Their styles matchup perfectly, and this fight has my vote for potential ”Fight of the Night” winner.

We are in for an exciting night of fights.

Full UFC Fight Night 128 Fight Card:

UFC Fight Night 128 Main Event:

157 lbs.: Edson Barboza vs. Kevin Lee

UFC Fight Night 128 Co-Main Event:

145 lbs.: Frankie Edgar vs. Cub Swanson

UFC Fight Night 128 Main Card on FOX Sports 1 (10 p.m. ET):

265 lbs.: Chase Sherman vs. Justin Willis
185 lbs.: David Branch vs. Thiago Santos
135 lbs.: Brett Johns vs. Aljamain Sterling
155 lbs.: Dan Hooker vs. Jim Miller

UFC Fight Night 128 Prelims Card on FOX Sports 1 (8 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Alex Garcia vs. Ryan LaFlare
135 lbs.: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Ricky Simon
170 lbs.: Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Luan Chagas
205 lbs.: Corey Anderson vs. Patrick Cummins

UFC Fight Night 128 Prelims Card on Fight Pass (7:30 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Tony Martin vs. Keita Nakamura

For more upcoming UFC events click here.