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Kubrat Pulev dominated former UFC champion Frank Mir and earned himself a knockout win. Pulev earned himself the inaugural Triad Combat belt with his win over Mir. Mir started the fight by clinching up, but could not keep Pulev in his grasp. Pulev was able to pick apart Mir while keeping his distance and landed […]
Kubrat Pulev dominated former UFC champion Frank Mir and earned himself a knockout win. Pulev earned himself the inaugural Triad Combat belt with his win over Mir.
Mir started the fight by clinching up, but could not keep Pulev in his grasp. Pulev was able to pick apart Mir while keeping his distance and landed a few power shots that had Mir wobbling on his feet. Referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in to call off the fight with Mir still on his feet in the corner.
Alexander Flores was able to get team boxing a win after beating Matt Mitrione by unanimous decision. The two fighters came out of the gates throwing bombs at each other with ill intention. After a back and forth first round, Mitrione opens the second round with a huge knockdown of Flores. Mitrione followed up with […]
Alexander Flores was able to get team boxing a win after beating Matt Mitrione by unanimous decision.
The two fighters came out of the gates throwing bombs at each other with ill intention. After a back and forth first round, Mitrione opens the second round with a huge knockdown of Flores. Mitrione followed up with a right uppercut to knock him down after a beautiful right straight.
Mitrione earned a knock down and pushed the clinch most of the fight. Flores ended the fight on a nice roll and ultimately knocked Mitrione’s mouthpiece out. His push in the late rounds were enough to earn the win and beat Mitrione despite the early output by Mitrione.
DOB: November 10th, 1977 Nickname: The Warmaster, The Babyface Assassin Gym: UWF USA Location: Seattle, Washington Martial Arts Records: 35-8(MMA) 4-5(BJJ) 1-0(mixed rules bare knuckle boxing) Notable Championships: UFC Heavyweight Champion, Pancrase Open Weight Champion, World No-Gi Champion, Metamoris Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett’s early years training Josh Barnett grew up in Seattle, Washington and would […]
Josh Barnett grew up in Seattle, Washington and would frequently get in trouble as a kid. He would constantly get into fights and had an anger problem that was leading him down a destructive path.
To keep him out of trouble, Josh was encouraged to go out for sports to focus his attention on athletics. Barnette would excel at wrestling and football during his time in high school.
Barnett’s life would change after watching UFC 2 while in high school. After watching the UFC 2 tournament, Josh decided that he wanted to become a fighter.
He then began learning Judo and kickboxing to go along with his wrestling. After high school, Barnett would become a walk-on for the Montana University football team, but wouldn’t play.
Instead, Josh would learn Karate for a short time under Jim Harrison. During this time, Barnett had no money and would take classes in exchange for cleaning the mats.
When Barnett moved back to the west coast, he began learning catch wrestling. During his career, he has trained three of the premiere catch wrestling instructors in the world.
Catch wrestling legend Billy Robinson along with catch wrestling specialists Eric Paulson and Matt Hume. Josh considers himself a catch wrestling practitioner and has been an ambassador for the martial art for years.
At 20 years old, Josh “The Babyfaced Assassin” Barnett would make his MMA debut for the United Full Contact Federation.(UFCF) He would win his pro debut with an RNC in under 3 minutes of the first round.
He would fight 4 more times for the UFCF and go 5-0 to start his MMA career. Barnett was then invited to a one night tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii put on by the promotion Superbrawl.
Josh would defeat all three of his opponents that night to win the Superbrawl Heavyweight Tournament. In his last bout with the promotion, Josh Barnett would submit former UFC champion Dan Severn with an armbar.
Putting his pro record at 9-0.
After going 9-0 to start his MMA career, Josh Barnett was invited to fight for the UFC. He would make his UFC debut against Gan McGee UFC 28 and win his promotional debut by TKO.
At 10-0, Barnett would suffer his first loss in MMA after being knocked out by UFC vet Pedro Rizzo.
Josh would quickly bounce back from the loss and pull off two straight wins. Beating kickboxing legend Semmy Schilt by armbar and beating Bobby Hoffman by TKO for a second time.
Those two wins would set the Babyface Assassin with a heavyweight title shot against Randy Couture. He would beat Couture by TKO at UFC 36 to become the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history.(25 years old)
Unfortunately, Josh Barnett had failed a second drug test and was immediately stripped of his title.
After being stripped of his UFC title Barnett would go on to compete in other promotions. The first was in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
NJPW is a pro wrestling promotion, but president Antonio Inoki attempted to turn it into a pseudo MMA promotion. He would defeat Jimmy Ambriz before going on to compete for the promotion Pancrase.
Barnett would be in the main event of the main event of the promotion’s 10th anniversary show. The Babyface Assassin would submit Yuki Kondo in the 3rd round to win the Pancrase Openweight Championship.
Josh would go back to compete in NJPW and submit wrestler Yoshiki Takahashi by arm triangle. He would then fight in Antonio Inoki’s NYE event Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 and submit Semmy Schilt again by armbar.
Boosting his record to 17-1, Barnett would fight in a K-1-MMA event and beat Rene Rooze by TKO.
At 18-1, Josh Barnett would be invited for Pride Fighting Championship at Pride 28. His debut was a disappointing one against Mirko Cro Cop, when Barnett had to quit due to a shoulder injury.
They would rematch at Pride 30, but Cro Cop would win again by decision. Barnett would bounce back with a submission win at Pride 31.
He would then be invited to compete in the 2006 Pride Heavyweight GP and meet Aleksander Emilianenko in the opening round. Josh would submit Aleksander by Americana and Mark Hunt by kimura in the 2nd round.
This would put him in the semi-finals with former Pride Heavyweight Champion Antonio “Minotoro” Nogueira. The two would have an incredibly tough match that Barnett would win by split decision.
The Babyface Assassin would meet Cro Cop for a third time later that night at Pride FC: Conflict Absolute. Both were bloody and battered from their previous fights and put on a show that Cro Cop would win again.
Josh Barnett would compete two more times going 1-1 before the promotion closed its doors.
Barnett’s first stop after leaving Pride was two fights for the Japanese promotion World Victory Road. Winning both fights before joining the short lived MMA promotion Affliction.
In Affliction, the Babyface Assassin would go 2-0 in Affliction. Knocking out Pedro Rizzo to avenge his first MMA loss and later stopping UFC veteran Gilbert Yvel with strikes.
He would then beat kickboxer Might Mo in a MMA match at Dream 13 and another TKO win at Impact FC.
In 2010, Josh was invited to compete for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. Barnett would defeat Brett Rogers in the opening round by arm triangle. Also submitting Sergei Kharitonov in the semi final by arm triangle.
This would set him up in the finals against UFC champion Daniel Cormier. The former Olympian would dominate Barnett for 5 rounds to win the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.
His last bout with the promotion would be another win by arm triangle against Nandor Guelmino
When Strikeforce was bought by the UFC, Barnett would return to the company for the first time in 11 years. He would beat former heavyweight champion Frank Mir in his return to the promotion.
Josh Barnett would get stopped by strikes by Travis Browne in his next fight. He would bounce back from the loss by beating Roy Nelson in Saitama, Japan.
In his next fight, Barnett would lose by guillotine choke to Ben Rothwell and then beat Andrei Arlovski by rear naked choke.
He had initially tested positive for a banned supplement, but appealed his suspension. It was then proven that the positive test was due to a tainted supplement.
Josh’s frustrations with USADA would lead to him asking for his release and being granted it in 2018.
Later in his career, Josh Barnett would change his nickname to “The Warmaster.” The nickname was based off of a song by power metal band Bolt Thrower.
To this day, Barnett is still referred to as the Warmaster.
When Billy Robinson taught Josh catch wrestling, he also taught him the inner workings of pro wrestling.
For his entire MMA career, Barnett has also worked as a pro wrestler whenever he wasn’t fighting. Josh initially worked for NJPW from 2003-2004 before joining Antonio Inoki in his new promotion from 2007-2014.
After his stint with Inoki, Josh would return to NJPW in 2015 and still makes occasional appearances for the promotion.
He would also create his own promotion Bloodsport in association with the promotion Game Changer Wrestling. A shoot style wrestling promotion, where there are no ropes and it is hard hitting.
The Warlord has also competed in various grappling competitions for over 4 decades. Competing at the early ADCC tournaments in 1999 and 2000 and then winning No-Gi Worlds in 2009.
Josh Barnett would also win the Metamoris Heavyweight Championship by submitting Dean Lister with a scarf hold armlock. He would also compete in Sakuraba’s promotion Quintet, where he was submitted by Gordon Ryan.
After getting his release from the UFC, Josh Barnett signed with Bellator MMA, He was initially supposed to make his debut against Ronny Markes in 2019, but was severely ill on fight night.
He was then supposed to face Matt Mitrione in his next bout Bellator 241, but wasn’t medically cleared to compete.
Although Bellator did allow Barnett to compete for KSW in a bare knuckle boxing match that allowed elbows. Barnett would defeat former KSW champion Marcin Rozalski by TKO.
Josh Barnett is considered by many a legend in the sport of MMA. He has competed for over 24 years and has won championships at the highest level.
Also competing at the highest level in grappling and pro wrestling to add to his impressive resume. At 44, Barnett is still going strong and waiting for his next opportunity to compete.
To those with a bare knowledge of Capoeira, they see it as a martial art mixed with dance. But if you read into the history of this martial art, it means so much more than that. Capoeira is a martial art that was developed by slaves and represents their culture and fight for freedom. Its […]
To those with a bare knowledge of Capoeira, they see it as a martial art mixed with dance. But if you read into the history of this martial art, it means so much more than that.
Capoeira is a martial art that was developed by slaves and represents their culture and fight for freedom. Its creation dates back 5 centuries and in that time it has fought to survive and become what it is today.
Here is the complete story of the Brazilian martial art Capoeira. We’ll tell the story of how it was developed, the techniques, the music, and how it is portrayed in pop culture.
The story of Capoeira starts during the 16th century when the Portuguese empire began colonizing Brazil. During this time, Portugal was one of the biggest slave-trading nations in the world.
Representing over 40% of the Africans enslaved between the early 1600s and when Brazil abolished slavery in 1888.
A large number of these enslaved people came from the region of Africa that we know as modern-day Angola. The warriors from this region would perform a ritualistic fight dance called “Engola.”
A dance masked as a fighting style that included various spinning kicks and sweeps. This is what would be the inspiration for Capoeira.
To put it bluntly, the reason why African slaves within Brazil learned Capoeira was for survival. They were imprisoned in an unknown land and had no way to defend themselves.
When they would attempt to escape, they had to fight to survive, so Capoeira was developed. It gave many escaped slaves a way to fight for their freedom.
Slaves were able to practice their early form of Capoeira during the 16th and 17th century masking it as a dance. They would make a circle, play handmade instruments, and play music as they danced, but they weren’t really dancing.
What they were doing was practicing a fighting method in order to one day revolt against their slave masters.
Slavery was also a bit different in Brazil, than in the United States, where it was a bit more brutal. Brazil was more rural compared to the southern US and slave masters would send their slaves out to work.
While they were out, these slaves would often meet up with other slaves and practice Capoeira. Building up their skill to one day fight for their freedom and escape.
Slaves that were lucky enough to escape would establish settlements called Quilombos. These settlements were home to not just slaves, but also other escaped prisoners and those escaping or Christian Extremism.
In Quilombos, Capoeiristas would continue their training, but instead of learning to escape, they trained to prepare for battle.
The biggest of these Quilombos established was the Quilombo dos Palmares that lasted over a century. A provincial governor acknowledged the prowess of Quilombo warriors. Stating: “It’s harder to defeat a Quilombo than the Dutch Invaders.
When the 1800s came around, the number of slaves far outnumbered the number of slaveholders within the region. The colonial power’s fear of being overthrown led to a ban on the practice of Capoeira
The martial art along with any other cultural practice from Africa was also banned with severe punishment. Normally either a severe public beating or execution were the two most normal punishments for those caught practicing Capoeira.
This forced Capoeiristas to train in secret, so as to not get caught and possibly killed for practicing it. During this time thousands of Capoeiristas were imprisoned for practicing their martial art.
In 1988, Brazil was the last nation to abolish slavery in the world. Unfortunately, a negative effect of slaves gaining their freedom was they now had no way of making a living.
European and Asian immigrants were favored over ex-slaves for labor jobs. This forced many ex-slaves, who practiced Capoeira, to turn to crime to survive.
Working as guards for warlords as bodyguards and even forming their own gangs called “maltas.” The two biggest of these maltas were the Nagoas and the Guaiamuns.
Both of which worked as hit forces for the Conservative and Liberal Party. Since Capoeira was now associated with criminals another nationwide prohibition on martial arts was implemented.
When the 19th century began, the prohibition on Capoeira was starting to wind down. Finally, when the 1920s started, the Brazilian government began allowing the art to be taught to the public.
This would mark the beginning of Capoeira’s expansion. Starting with Brazil and then the world.
There are many figures who had a hand in developing modern Capoeira. Here are the most prominent Capoeira practitioners that helped create and spread the martial art.
Professor Mário Aleixo was a physical educator and martial artist who began teaching a variation of Capoeira with Judo and wrestling. Aleixo billed his version of Capoeira as “revised, made bigger, and better.”
Burlamaqui was credited with writing the very first official Capoeira manual called: Ginástica Nacional, Capoeiragem Metodizada e Regrada. (National Gymnastics, Methodized and Ruled Capoeiragem) Also introducing boxing-like rules to Capoeira competitions.
Inezil Pehna would also write a very important manual on Capoeira called: Em 1945, Inezil Penna Marinho publicava a obra “Subsídios Para o estudo da metodologia do treinamento da capoeiragem.” (Subsidies for the study of the methodology of training in capoeiragem”)
Manuel dos Reis Machado or Mestre Bimba as he was known, was one of the two most influential figures for Capoeira. He opened the very first Capoeira school in Brazil called the Capoeira Regional School.
He began learning Capoeira in secret when he was 12 years old due to the prohibition on the martial art. Learning from a navigation captain in a small neighborhood in the city of Salvador.
When he was 18, Bimba felt that the movements had lost their effectiveness and began revising the defense system. Taking the original movements from Engola and another African style called batuque. Also movements that Bimba himself developed.
Mestre Bimba was the first Capoeira master to develop a teaching method for Capoeira. Prior to this, the only way a beginner would learn was by watching the movements in the roda circle.
Bimba was also the Capoeira practitioner responsible for ending the official ban of Capoeira in 1930. This was after giving a performance at the palace of Bahia’s Governor, Juracy Magalhães.
Then in 1937, the state board approved the registration of the very first Capoeira. Mestre Bimba in his time teaching Capoeira brought legitimacy to the martial art and helped it be accepted into Brazilian culture.
Agenor Moreira Sampaio or Mestre Sinhozinho as he was known developed the style of Capoeira known as Capoeira Carioca.
Sinhozinho would also open a Capoeira school in the 1930s right after Mestre Bimba opened the first school. His style of Capoeira favored the effectiveness of combat over artistic expression.
He would implement wrestling and Judo techniques into his own form, as well as weight training for his students. Sampaio would also teach his students how to use weapons to go along with their hand-to-hand combat training.
Mestre Sinozinho’s legacy is being the Capoeirista responsible for spreading Capoeira across the city and state of Rio de Janeiro.
Vicente Ferreira Pastinha was born to a poor Spanish immigrant family. His first exposure to Capoeira was when he was 8 years old by a practitioner named Benedito.
It is said that Beneditio began teaching Pastinha after seeing an older boy bullying him. This kind gesture would lead to Pastinha developing a passion for Capoeira.
Years later, Mestre Pastinha would open the first Capoeira Angola school called the Centro Esportivo de Capoeira Angola.(Capoeira Angola Sport Center.)
The techniques of Capoeira include:
The schools of Capoeira teach one of three different styles of the martial art. Either Capoeira Angola, Capoeira Regional, or Capoeira Contemporânea.
Capoeira Angola is the most traditional of the Capoeira styles that was pushed by Mestre Pastinha. What Capoeira Angola strives for is to stick to the roots of the martial art like in the early Engola style. It stresses that each movement is precise, strategic, and unexpected.
Capoeira Regional was the style developed by Mestre Bimba. Mestre Bimba reformed his style of Capoeira to be more on the martial side to make the moves more effective. Remember to always keep one foot on the ground to never lose your base and to perform effective attacks.
Capoeira Contemporânea was the evolution of the martial art that started to be developed during the 1970s. It mixes elements of both Capoeira Angola and Capoeira Regional with more acrobatics involved.
While not as taught as much in modern times, older Capoeiristas did carry and use weapons. Here are some of the main weapons that they used.
Capoeira practitioners would also train to defend against the weapons, as well.
One of the things that makes Capoeira unique is that instruments are played during the training and the games. The instruments of Capoeira includes:
The music of Capoeira is based around the games being played along with the different rituals. Each song is either a call and response format or telling a story.
Like with any other type of music, there’s a wide variety of subject matter within these Capoeira songs. Some are about love, loss, telling the history of famous Capoeiristas, or jokes.
These songs are designed to inspire those playing the games to play at the best of their abilities. Lyrics are also often changed to give those outside of the roda a play by play of how the game is transpiring.
The songs in Capoeira are broken up into 4 main groups. These are Ladaínha, Chula, Corrido and Quadra .
For Capoeira practitioners to practice their technique without hurting one another, they would play a game. A game around skill rather than brute force like in boxing sparring.
These games are performed in a circle called a roda, where all the participants gather around and take part in the game. Those playing the instruments near the front of the circle and play songs depending on the pace of the game. They also double as the singers give play by play of what is happening within the game.
Once the ceremonial songs are done, the highest ranked player will take to the center of the roda. They will then do what is called a chamada or call out of the player they want to play against. Once the player being called out to the center walks in, the game begins
The Capoeiristas will begin doing their gingas to feel out their opponents. Looking for openings to land a variation of cartwheel kicks and sweeps.
Whenever the game ends or the rhythm is disrupted, the players perform a volta ao mundo. (walk around the world.) Sort of like an intermission before the game continues or another one starts.
A majority of Capoeira schools have a colored ranking system that they use to separate the skill levels of students. Rank is signified by colored cords that go around the waste of the students.
The colors are all from the Brazilian flag and go in the order of:
(Many Angola schools do not go by colored ranks)
Going along with the ranks of Capoeira, there is a ceremony for new students performed called a batizado. In a batizado, the newest student is welcomed to the roda, where they perform alone in front of the others alone.
They then have to go against the highest ranked player or teacher present. It’s a playful game that generally ends with the new student getting swept.
After the game, the newest student is given an apelido (nickname) and formally welcomed into the group.
Capoeira began expanding outside of Brazil during the 1970s when professors began moving to different countries to teach their art. This expansion grew an interest in the Brazilian martial art and many from all over the world began to practice Capoeira.
Today, Capoeira is taught in nearly every continent and is ingrained in Brazilian culture. Every year tourists flock to Brazil to watch the art be performed where it was created.
From around the late 1980s to the early 2000s, Capoeira really started to get showcased within pop culture. Capoeiristas would be featured in various action films, where they would showcase their acrobatic talents.
Also where many fight fans first learned about Capoeira was from the Tekken video games. These games featured a fighter named Eddie Gordo that was a favorite to fans of the game.
There have been numerous Brazilian MMA fighters and BJJ athletes that have practiced Capoeira. MMA fighter and Capoeirista Marcus Lelo Aurelio went viral after millions with his knockout win using a compass kick.
BJJ world champion Cobrinha Charles is also a Capoeira practitioner. He is known for making his students drill Capoeira movements to work on their balance and coordination.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu wasn’t the only grappling martial art to be developed within Brazil. Luta Livre, which is often overshadowed by BJJ, has a rich history of its own. A rich history that unfortunately many that practice grappling aren’t aware of. Here is the complete story of Luta Livre and how it has influenced modern […]
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu wasn’t the only grappling martial art to be developed within Brazil. Luta Livre, which is often overshadowed by BJJ, has a rich history of its own.
A rich history that unfortunately many that practice grappling aren’t aware of. Here is the complete story of Luta Livre and how it has influenced modern No-Gi and MMA.
We’ll go through what Luta Livre is, who created it, and list some of the best Luta Livre fighters. Also detail the martial arts rivalry with BJJ that at times turned violent.
Luta Livre is a form of submission grappling that was developed in the 1930s in Brazil. It is a mix of catch wrestling, Judo, and Pankration techniques.
The name Luta Livre in Portuguese translates to “free fighting” and basically is an early form of No-Gi Jiu Jitsu. Much of the training you would see in a Luta Livre school 60 years ago looks exactly like a modern No-Gi class.
While both Luta Livre and BJJ are grappling martial arts with emphasis on ground fighting, they do have two glaring differences. Those being ideological differences and of course the training attire.
Traditional BJJ trains in a kimono or Gi and is used in many of the techniques. Luta Livre is No-Gi, where you only train in shorts.
Ideologically, the two martial arts have very different approaches to grappling. Jiu Jitsu is more guard based along with using the Gi, while Luta Livre is more wrestling based.
The objective in Luta Livre is to get the takedown, stay on top, and lock on a submission. Leg locks are also more frequently used in this martial art, while they’re frowned upon in BJJ.
In Luta Livre, there is a belt ranking system similar to BJJ, but is slightly different. Belts are divided between beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Luta Livre was created by Euclydes “Tatu” Hatem. Tatu (armadillo) as he was nicknamed for his stocky, yet wide and muscular frame was a born athlete.
After attempting to be a competitive rower, he took up learning catch wrestling to stay active and learn self defense. He took classes at the Associação de Cristã de Moços in Rio de Janeiro.
His teacher was a pioneer of catch wrestling in Brazil named Orlando Americo “Dudu” da Silva. A famed fighter at the time that once beat Geo Omori, one of the original Judokas that came to Brazil.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Hatem fought professionally, participating in various luta livre and wrestling competitions. He fought a wide variety of fighters with backgrounds in wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, and Judo.
Most notable submitting the Gracie brothers’ cousin George Gracie and a series of matches with Takeo Yano. Also in one of his last professional matches beating a superheavyweight Russian wrestler Leon Falkenstein nicknamed the “man mountain.”
Once he retired in the 1950s, Tatu opened his own school and began teaching Luta Livre. He would teach at his school for nearly 30 years before passing away in 1984.
There have been numerous famous fighters with a background in Luta Livre. Here are some of the most notable Luta Livre fighters of all time.
Hatem, the creator of Luta Livre, had a 2 decade fight career in various forms of fighting. Winning a wide variety of championships in different styles, which makes him one of the most accomplished Brazilian fighters ever.
Euclides Pereira was a famous Luta Livre practitioner that fought in Luta Livre competitions for 25 years. Nicknamed “O Diabo Ouro”(The Blonde Devil), Pereira fought in over 300 Vale Tudo fights against the best of the era. Including Carlson Gracie, Waldo Santana, Waldemar Santana, Ivan Gomes, and Rei Zulu.
Marco Ruas was a student of Tatu Hatem and fought in a variety of Vale Tudo fights during his career. Most notably winning the UFC 7 tournament and having a stint in the Pride Fighting Championship.
UFC and Strikeforce veteran Renato “Babalu” Sobral was a Brazilian wrestling champion before learning Luta Livre under Marco Ruas. Babalu went 37-12 in his career and won the Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Championship.
Since Luta Livre and BJJ were developing around the same time, a rivalry sort of grew between the two. A rivalry that would sometimes turn violent.
Their rivalry stems from many things that were more than just Jiu Jitsu vs submission wrestling. Here are some of the reasons behind why the rivalry developed.
From a glance, the rivalry would seem to stem from two grappling arts with different methods of teaching. The rivalry actually goes deeper than that and it’s actually a battle between social classes.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu during the 19th century was practiced more by the upper class of Brazilian society. The Gis were expensive and so were the monthly dues for Jiu Jitsu classes.
Luta Livre was practiced more by the middle to lower class within Brazil. It was more affordable and all you needed to train was a pair of shorts.
Under the surface of the rivalry, there was always a bitterness that Luta Livre practitioners held against BJJ practitioners.
During the early years, there was a rivalry between the two grappling styles, but it was more or less respectful. Tatu beat a few Jiu Jitsu practitioners during his fighting career, which included George Gracie.
Then from the 1950s to 1970s, there really wasn’t any violent hostility between the two styles. One high profile fight between the two sides would take place in 1968 between Euclides Pereira and Carlson Gracie.
A match that Pereia would win to give bragging rights to Luta Livre. After
The rivalry wouldn’t turn violent until the early 1980s. In 1982 during Carnival, a fight broke out between a Muay Thai school and younger members of the Gracie family.
One of the Gracie boys that got injured in the fight was a young Royce Gracie. Rolles Gracie was furious with the attack and took a group from the Gracie Jiu Jitsu school to the Muay Thai gym.
At the Muay Thai gym, Rolles would challenge the coach of the gym and easily beat him. The Muay Thai school wanted payback and the two sides agreed on putting on 3 Vale Tudo matches.
Marco Ruas was one of the Muay Thai students chosen to fight, who also happened to be a Luta Livre practitioner. Ruas would recruit other Luta Livre practitioners to fight against the Jiu Jitsu school.
Going into the fights, Jiu Jitsu was heavily favored to win, but would be shocked at the result. They would fight to a draw against the Luta Livre fighters, which really hurt Jiu Jitsu’s reputation of being superior.
The next violent chapter in this rivalry stemmed from a fight at a Copacabana beach between Rickson Gracie and Hugo Duarte. Gracie claims that the two were in talks to fight, but heard Duarte was going to withdraw.
So Rickson confronted Hugo at a beach in Copacabana and forced Duarte to fight him. Gracie handily beat Duarte in a fight that was filmed by Rickso’s training partner.
This enraged the Luta Livre faction and led to a gang of their fighters storming the Gracie Academy with weapons. Hélio Gracie would diffuse the situation and help set up another contest between the two sides.
In 1991, another fight night between the two sides after Walid Ismail made disparaging remarks about Luta Livre to a paper. Restarting the rivalry that was actually calm for a few years.
Ismail, Fabio Gurgel, and Murilo Bustamante would get a clean sweep over the Luta Livre fighters in this competition. Giving the bragging rights to Jiu Jitsu.
In 1997, the two sides would have the last major conflict with one another. Renzo Gracie would face Luta Livre fighter Eugenio Tadeu. This fight was set up due to a grudge Tadeu had with the Gracie’s for attacking his teammate Duarte years before.
In the main event, the crowd got emotional and security failed to keep them away from the cage. The crowd began hanging on the cage during the Renzo and Tadeu fight.
Violence erupted after a spectator struck Renzo and a riot ensued. Many were injured and the venue was destroyed.
This riot forced the Brazilian government to intervene and force a truce between the two sides. Since then, the relationship between the two sides has been a respectful one.
Even though Luta Livre gets overshadowed by Jiu Jitsu, it is an effective martial art that deserves credit for its innovations. This grappling martial art would help form what we know as modern No-Gi Jiu Jitsu and MMA.
Today, many of the top MMA fighters ever developed their skills within Luta Livre. Including Pedro Rizzo, Roushimar Palhares, Darren Till, and future UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo.
In MMA, Dagestani fighters have been taking over the sport. Using a variety of techniques that they were taught within Sambo and wrestling. One of the signature moves of these fighters has been coined the “Dagestani handcuff.” A move that was used quite frequently by former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Let’s break down everything […]
In MMA, Dagestani fighters have been taking over the sport. Using a variety of techniques that they were taught within Sambo and wrestling.
One of the signature moves of these fighters has been coined the “Dagestani handcuff.” A move that was used quite frequently by former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Let’s break down everything about the Dagestani Handcuff. We’re going to go over how it was developed and how the move works. Then we’ll go into various ways to use it, as well as list important tips for locking it in.
While this technique has been dubbed the Dagestani Handcuff, this isn’t the move’s original name. The original and most common name used for this technique is the hammerlock.
The hammerlock has been used for centuries within amateur wrestling, Sambo, and catch wrestling. In amateur wrestling, the maneuver is used to pin an opponent. Then within submission wrestling, the move would be turned into a submission.
Dagestani MMA fighters have utilized this move, which is why the hammerlock was nicknamed the Dagestani Handcuff.
Today this move has many variations that have different purposes. Everything from pinning an opponent, submission, guard pass, or just to expose an opponent’s face to land strikes.
The basic function of the Dagestani is quite simple, yet very effective. Using two arms on one of your opponent’s to put their arm behind their back gives you ultimate control over them.
With their arm trapped behind their back, they can do nothing, but struggle to recover control of their arm. This is why every law enforcement agency in the world uses this technique to control a suspect.
Once you lock on this handcuff, you can do just about anything you want to your opponent.
The first Dagestani Handcuff technique we’ll detail is the armlock. This technique starts from when your opponent is in turtle and you’re on top of them.
In amateur wrestling, this is called a hip ride position. Your opponent will try to escape this position by raising up and either sitting out or turning into you.
To prevent that, grab a bodylock around your opponent’s chest. Then drive your shoulder under your opponent’s shoulder, and walk to the side to drag them to the mat.
From here, you’re going to keep them to the mat by taking wrist control and driving forward. They can still stand up, so to prevent this, push their leg down with your free hand and go to S-Mount.
In S-mount, triangle your legs together and drive forward to trap your opponent’s arm/shoulder to the mat. To get the armlock, back step out of S-mount, put two hands on their wrist, and push the arm up. Pushing it towards their shoulder to put intense pressure on their shoulder joint.
The Dagestani Handcuff or hammerlock can also be used to pass your opponent’s guard. From your opponent’s guard, you start the set up by grabbing wrist control, and planting their arm to the mat.
Next, you’re going to bring your head to your opponent’s chin, come to your feet, and drive forward. When you do this it opens space between your opponent’s lower back and the mat.
This gives you the space to reach under your opponent and pass their wrist to your other hand. If they resist, you can walk your hips toward the arm you’re controlling and pass it from there.
Be sure to re-grab their wrist on the pass with a palm up grip to establish the best control. Now with their arm trapped, you can freely pass on that side of your opponent’s body.
Walk your hip towards their shoulder, push their knee down to open their guard, and pass to side-control.
In MMA, you can do the exact same movement as the guard passing technique to lay down heavy ground n pound. Grab hold of your opponent’s wrist, drive forward, and pass their arm to your other hand.
From here, you can land some strikes, but your opponent can still land a submission with their arm trapped. Especially if they are a good guard player.
So, to prevent this, you can step over their leg and triangle your legs together from half-guard. Their leg and arm is trapped and can do nothing to stop you from landing hard strikes.
Instead of going for an armlock like in the first technique detailed above, you can handcuff to land powerful strikes. Start the technique by keeping your hip connected to your opponent’s with no space given.
Next establish control of their near side arm to keep them from getting an underhook on you and stand up. Then your other hand is going to reach under your opponent’s far arm and grab hold of their wrist.
With that wrist control, push their hand to their belly and drive forward to flatten them out. From here, you can throw a variation of strikes to either finish your opponent or open them up for a submission.
While it seems like it’s almost impossible to get out of this handcuffing technique, there are counters being developed. One of them being this wrist to free your hand from your opponent’s handcuff.
The first step of this escape is to have your hand up defending strikes. You’re already in a bad position, so you have to be defending yourself at all times before it gets worse.
Turtle your head down to try and cover your head as you grab your wrist that the opponent is controlling. Once you grab your wrist, extend your back and straighten out your arm.
Then work to shuck your elbow around your opponent’s shoulder to give you space to turn into them. From here you can either try to recover guard or try a sweep.
The cross body ride is where you hook your opponent’s leg and turn them to take their back. Instead of taking your opponent’s back you can go for a hammerlock.
You start with your legs triangled around your opponent’s legs going for a calf slicer. They extend their leg to defend and you use that momentum to move to their back.
As you move towards their back, grab wrist control on your opponent along with an underhook on their elbow. Holding their arm to your chest to establish control over it.
Next, use your control to push your opponent’s arm to the mat and towards their far armpit. Then take your arm hooking under your opponent’s arm out and hook from the top and cup their shoulder.
To finish this hammerlock, cup your other hand on top of their shoulder and pull it to your chest.
The Dagestani Handcuff is one of the most powerful controls in grappling, but you have to be flawless with the details. Here are some important tips for locking on the Dagestani Handcuff.