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The Power Of Patience
How Renato Moicano Dominated Benoit Saint Denis
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The UFC just returned to Paris. To the surprise of most, Renato Moicano dealt with French action star Benoit Saint Denis. Today we’re going to take a look at how he did it.
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What's In Today's Letter?
TECHNICAL TAKEAWAYS:
How Renato Moicano dominated Benoit Saint Denis
The UFC’s most recent fight card was supposed to be Benoit Saint Denis’s (BSD) return to glory. He was paired against opportunistic action star Renato Moicano.
Moicano has a habit of hopping on finishes. He reaches. He can be overzealous. I thought this meant BSD would use his excellent butterfly guard to get off the bottom and beat up Moicano on the feet.
Below is an example of what I mean.
Moises gets a double leg and locks his hands on the fence. He throws BSD to the floor. BSD wastes no time. He gets butterfly and digs under hooks. BSD uses them to push Moises away, stand, and throw an elbow on the break. All that work and all Moises got was an elbow to his face. | Benoit Saint Denis - Thiago Moises |
I could not have been more wrong.
Watch this first ground exchange from Moicano and BSD.
Moicano gets on top of BSD with double under hooks. BSD gets an under hook but Moicano puts his head over it to keep BSD down. BSD sits up and Moicano digs an under hook. BSD kicks Moicano away, but Moicano grabs his leg, steps to half guard, and sticks BSD on the floor with a cross face. | Renato Moicano - Benoit Saint Denis |
BSD was able to get under hooks but Moicano countered them by driving his head into Moicano’s chin and chest to keep him down. Moicano used fundamental body locking and passing principles to beat BSD’s butterfly guard.
Generally, when you’re passing guard it’s a good idea to put your head on the opposite side of your under hook. This flattens your opponent’s shoulders so they can’t play guard, sit up, and sweep.
Let’s look at some frames to see what I’m talking about in more detail.
Moicano is using double under hooks to hold BSD to the mat
BSD digs an under hook with his left arm but Moicano puts his head on that shoulder to counter it
When BSD tries to sit up and get back to his feet, Moicano uses the space to get his under hook back
After this exchange I started to lose hope for BSD’s chances. Eventually BSD did make space to start getting up, but Moicano used that space to take his back. Then he locked his legs around BSD and the punishment poured out.
Moicano has a body triangle. The outside leg is threaded between BSD’s legs. Now Moicano is locked to BSD’s hips. He can transition between mount and the back and rain down punches. When BSD gives his back again, Moicano uses a half Nelson to put him on his back and hit him more. | Renato Moicano - Benoit Saint Denis |
BSD kept squirming and trying to writhe free. That only moved him closer to the fence. Then it went from bad to worse.
Moicano is using inside ties to throw elbows. When BSD gets to butterfly Moicano moves his head forward to pressure BSD. Again BSD turns over and Moicano hops to his back. Then he locks his legs around BSD to start hitting. BSD is turning into a bloody mess. | Renato Moicano - Benoit Saint Denis |
BSD survived and walked out for the second round. Both men traded strikes for the next five minutes and BSD actually stopped Moicano’s takedown attempts.
In the break between the second and third round the doctor tested BSD’s vision. BSD’s eyes had swollen shut to the point of blinding and the doctor waived off the fight.
Moicano fought with the patience and pressure of a veteran. BSD only had his heart, and the doctor decided that wasn’t enough.
The win moved Moicano closer to the top five and he called out Dan Hooker. Who would say no to that?
WHAT ELSE WAS WORTH WATCHING?
Rare submission finishes stand out
This weekend also gave us two more impressive submission finishes. The first was on the bottom of the UFC’s Paris card.
Scottish lightweight Chris Duncan put Bolaji Oki to sleep with an arm in guillotine.
Duncan is attacking the arm in guillotine. Oki is trying to rise out of it but Duncan keeps his chest over Oki’s head. This crunches Oki’s neck down into the choke. Duncan sits back and lets go only to find out Oki is unconscious. Duncan calls to the ref to get his win. | Chris Duncan - Bolaji Oki |
Another Scottish fighter made it to the headlines this weekend. Stevie Ray returned to welterweight to headline the PFL’s card in Glasgow. In the process he picked up his second twister in pro MMA finish.
Ray has has Long’s back. He inserts his free leg between Long’s legs as Long tries to turn into him. Then Ray uses his arms to turn Long’s neck away from him. Ray extends his hips to crank Long’s spine. Long is forced to tap. | Stevie Ray - Lewis Long |
LINKS, INSTRUCTIONALS, AND MORE MATCHES TO STUDY:
More looks at body locking and pinning your opponent’s shoulders
Moicano’s early success came from how he paired under hooks with head pressure to counter Benoit Saint Denis’s under hooks. If you want to learn more you should study body lock passing.
Here is a thorough (and long) primer on body lock passing
And you can watch my favorite body lock setup here
THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS (you might have missed)
More and more police departments are incorporating jiujitsu. I live and run a gym in Austin, Texas, and the city subsidizes officers’ training. Click here to read how Colorado Springs is incorporating jiujitsu into training.
The UFC has proposed a new settlement for their antitrust lawsuit. They’ve agreed to increase the payout to $375 million. You can read more here.
Former ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight champion, Reiner De Ridder has signed with the UFC. This comes after ONE claimed he was still under contract. We’ll be watching this story to see how it evolves.
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