FIRST THINGS FIRST
Welcome to Open Note Grappling.
Every Tuesday morning I send out a breakdown of the best combat sports action. In less than 10 minutes you'll learn how the top fighters win and anything else fighters, martial artists, and fight fans need to know.
The UFC put on their best card of the year so far. Hyped prospects got highlight reel finishes and one man set a record for his grappling output. Today we’re going to analyze how they got it done.
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Now let’s get into it.
What's In Today's Letter?
MYKTYBEK OROLBAI’S RECORD BREAKING PERFORMANCE
15 Minutes, 19 Takedowns
Myktybek Orolbai is a madman. After starting is career 3-1 with two submission wins and one loss from a bloody war, the Kyrgyzstani grappler decided to move up to welterweight.
He started his 170 pound campaign by knocking out Jack Hermansson. This weekend he went on to fight another former middleweight.
“Action Man“ Chris Curtis is a veteran boxer. He has great hands, but he doesn’t always show the best footwork. Orolbai used that to his advantage by getting him past the black line immediately and putting on a wrestling clinic.
Orolbai is inching forward, waving his hands. Curtis tries to hook over Orolbai’s left. Orolbai ducks under the punch to pick up a single and run Curtis to the fence. He holds the leg with his left and picks Curtis’s foot with his right. Then he pulls Curtis off of the fence.
Myktybek Orolbai - Chris Curtis
This small maneuver is key to Orolbai’s success. As people try to stand out of single legs and maintain their stance, Orolbai grabs their foot out to compromise their base.
It’s small, annoying, and supremely effective for getting people off of their feet.
When people turn away to stand and deny those small foot picks, Orolbai switches to holding rear body locks. From there he’ll use his legs to off balance opponents so he can mat return them with ease. Watch how he did it to Curtis below.
Curtis builds up and turns away. Orolbai holds a rear body lock. He moves back and forth, alternating which foot goes in front of Curtis’s legs so he can keep taking away Curtis’s base. When Curtis start hopping his feet become light. Then Orolbai lifts Curtis to slam him.
Myktybek Orolbai - Chris Curtis
Below you’ll see Orolbai combine these attacks to close one portion of his takedown system.
Curtis is able to stand up. Orolbai tries kicking at Curtis’s feet and stepping around to disrupt his base. Curtis doesn’t move. Orolbai drops low to pull out Curtis’s far ankle and put him back down on his butt. Supremely frustrating.
Myktybek Orolbai - Chris Curtis
This is the beauty of Orolbai’s simple flow. If you stand-up straight, he’ll mat return you. If you try staying low, he’ll drop to pull your foot out. The combination of these two tactics leaves you fighting off a barrage of small takedowns that keep you underneath him.
Towards the last minute of the first round Orolbai made the most of his lead.
Orolbai mat returns Curtis. Curtis ends up turtled. Orolbai puts his hooks in and attacks a rear naked choke. Curtis spins and ends up facedown under Orolbai. Curtis continues spinning until he’s turtle again. Orolbai starts raining down punches. He stands above Curtis’s turtle to land hard shots.
Myktybek Orolbai - Chris Curtis
Man I popped for this sequence. This is what MMA grappling is supposed to look like! Slams, submission attempts, and strikes all chained together. Just beautiful.
In the second round Curtis tried to stop Orolbai’s takedowns by leaning far forward. Again, Orolbai had an answer.
Orolbai has another rear body lock. He’s trying to off balance Curtis but he can’t move Curtis’s feet enough to elevate him for a mat return. Curtis is leaning forward so Orolbai jumps into a reverse tai otoshi to bring him down.
Myktybek Orolbai - Chris Curtis
In the third round Curtis needed a finish but he still got stuck in a rear body lock. After a minute of being out grappled he started reaching for a kimura grip. Then Orolbai took him for a ride.
Orolbai is trying to stick his legs in to off balance Curtis. Curtis is leaning forward to fight Orolbai’s hands. They end up perpendicular to one another and Curtis reaches for a kimura grip. Orolbai drops on a single leg to pick Curtis up and slam him on his head.
Myktybek Orolbai - Chris Curtis
Orolbai ended this 15 minute fight with 19 takedowns scored. That is a UFC welterweight record, and second all time behind Khabib Nurmagomedov.
THE LADY GOAT GETS ANOTHER DOMINANT FINISH
Bia Mesquita Beats Rendon Down
Beatriz “Bia” Mesquita is the best women’s jiujitsu competitor by a wide margin. She’s won ADCC, Worlds, Euros, Pan Americans, and Brasileros. She even has a record 10 IBJJF World Championships wins.
Bia is carrying that success into MMA. She hasn’t gone past the second round in any of her fights. What I enjoy most about her game is how mean she is when she gets a lead.
Bia hurts Rendon with a right. Rendon is able to get up along the fence. Bia takes her down, knee slices, and steps into mount. When Bia gets to mount she alternates between elbows, punches, and using wrist pins to hold Rendon down.
Beatriz Mesquita - Montserrat Rendon
The best grapplers in MMA are starting to incorporate wrist pinning into their game. Read this if you want to see other examples and learn more about the skill.
After nearly a minute of holding mount Rendon made a mistake that would cost her the fight.
Rendon reaches up to push Bia away so she can sit up. Bia floats over her, puts her hooks in, and slides a rear naked choke through in the process. Rendon taps out in seconds.
Beatriz Mesquita - Montserrat Rendon
Again, this is what MMA grappling is supposed to look like. Takedowns, immediate positional advancement, and punishing every misstep with hard strikes.
With so much critique about MMA grappling devolving into boring wrestling, it’s refreshing to see so much action from dominant grapplers.
HELP DESK UPDATES:
ADCC South American Trials Brings New Blood
This weekend was the first South American ADCC trials. A few new competitors earned their way to the World Championships but one stood out. David Santos.
Santos is only 18, but he buzz sawed his division. He submitted half of his opponents and no one was close to even scoring on him.
Albuquerque shoots on Santos. Santos catches a guillotine and sits down. Santos pops up as Albuquerque starts trying to open his hands. Albuquerque drops to his knees. Santos locks Albuquerque’s left arm into the head lock for an anaconda choke. He sits down and flips Albuquerque over to finish the choke.
David Santos - Bernardo Albuquerque
If you want to study the newest phenom from Brazil and learn why he reminds me of Rafa Mendes click here to upgrade your subscription and access the the Help Desk. The Help Desk comes with:
A library of technique gifs and explanations
Analysis of classic fights with high level grappling
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LINKS, INSTRUCTIONALS, AND MORE MATCHES TO STUDY:
Throws And More Lady GOAT Matches
The throw Myktybek Orolbai hit on Chris Curtis is actually really simple to do. Click here to learn it.
Before Bia had an MMA fight in the UFC she did a BJJ match for them against Miesha tate. Watch that weird match-up here.
THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS (you might have missed)
Nate Diaz is returning to MMA to fight Mike Perry on Netflix. That means this card is turning into casual fans’ dream event much to the annoyance of the UFC. The word on the street is, they will no longer offer Diaz any fights in their promotion.
In more troubling press for the UFC, Jon Jones has requested his release after not getting a fight on the White House card. He claims he was lowballed by the promotion again. That’s not the only White House update. Both Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria are claiming the other man didn’t want to fight them.
Craig Jones isn’t finished with his crusade. Now he’s claiming a certain black belt has threatened to revoke athletes’ visas if they report sexual assault to the police. I sincerely hope that isn’t true.
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