1 Lesson From 2 Anaconda Chokes

The UFC returned to Miami this weekend. We got a great lesson in anaconda chokes and some of the most egregious sorts washing you’ll see.

Now let’s get into it.

I love Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I teach grappling for a day job and I am fascinated with how people get it working in mixed martial arts.

One of my favorite parts of watching MMA is when a single fight card shows us how to finish one submission through a positive example and a negative example. UFC 327 gave us that with anaconda chokes.

Both Kevin Holland and Vicente Luque found the choke but only Luque was able to finish it. Let’s look at how he did it.

Generally people are taught to roll under their opponent’s trapped arm to finish the anaconda choke. I actually prefer what Luque did above. It allows you to pull your arms in tight, cutting off the carotid arteries and there’s less risk of everything slipping open as you do a dynamic roll.

Now that we’ve seen how to finish the choke, let’s look at Holland’s and why it didn’t work.

Here are the most important frames from these submissions.

Now let’s look at how Holland tried to secure his victory.

I’m not saying you can’t finish an anaconda like Holland is right here. Holland even finished Luque with an anaconda choke of his own last year. He’s got a great squeeze!

I do find Luque’s method to be mechanically superior. The initial bite that you get on the neck with the forearm is powerful and it makes everything downstream much tighter.

Unfortunately for most people in and out of MMA, the biggest headlines from this card didn’t come from the fights

I put this section second to spare you. If you only care about technical analysis skip ahead.

UFC 327 took place in Miami’s Kaseya center. The UFC generously hosted two of Florida’s most infamous residents to enjoy the festivities. You can see something of a meeting of the minds below.

I can only assume President Donald Trump attended UFC 327 to seek counsel from his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Rubio is the chief foreign affairs adviser and the United Stataes is at war after all.

Sorry. They’re not at war. Only Congress can declare war.

The United States simply bombed Iran because they were inches away from developing nuclear weapons like Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling us since the 90s. The United States bombed Iran to maintain peace. Plus, Vice President JD Vance went over to Pakistan this weekend to clear everything up with them.

You might be like millions of people across the world wondering why? Why are these western leaders taking time away from their conflict posts to watch fights?

Dana White says he doesn’t think like that. He claims that even his speeches at Republican Conventions aren’t political. I swear that’s not a typo. He really said that.

The Greek historian Pericles said something like “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you,” and that’s exactly what’s happening here.

I am not particularly obligated to any one person or party. I have a very abnormal circle of friends and family. They coalesced to paint a picture of the world many don’t see.

My dad is as blue collar as they come. A construction worker turned contractor turned handyman living in the southwest. He regularly votes democrat. On the other hand (one of) my moms is gay and she voted for Trump. I bring these two examples up to say that I understand that politics don’t map as evenly as you might think and I am more than willing to hear what other people think, why they think the way they do, and find a common ground to work towards mutually assured prosperity.

You can’t understand someone’s opinions simply by looking at them and you should value diversity of them.But you don’t have to value being force fed political figures at every inch of the entertainment you consume.

I don’t want to escape. I also don’t want to worry about how negotiations with Iran are going when I’m watching the sports I love and live. And I’m not alone.

UFC 327 recorded a gate of $6,518,684 from 17,741 in attendance. That’s almost half of what the first event at the Kasyea Center did. That’s hardly within striking distance of any event the UFC has done at Kaseya.

UFC 287 recorded around $12 million, less than UFC 299’s $14 million, and just over last year’s UFC 314 gate of over $11 million in ticket sales. You can argue that those cards star power combined with the rapidly eroding purchasing power of the dollar is played into UFC 327’s lower revenue. I wouldn’t disagree with that.

I would add that propping up political figures and playing AI promo videos instead of focusing on the fights people want to see isn’t improving ticket sale revenue.

Whatever effort is going into promoting is not working and playing politics isn’t helping.

If you’re familiar with White you’ll know he would tell me and all detractors to shut up and watch the fights. I promise I want to.

How is anyone supposed to shut up and enjoy combat sport sedation being when the events we’re being sold are turning into social hour for the least enjoyed people alive right now?

Politics happens to you. You are affected by who does and does not happen on The Hill whether you like it or not.

UFC, we’re all begging you, stop pushing us to politicalization so we can go back to watching the fights.

Vicente Luque has been a professional fighter for 17 years. That’s half his life.

Luque came to the UFC through The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians in 2015. He lost his first fight in the UFC only to rattle off four finishes over Belal Muhammad, Héctor Urbina, Álvaro Herrera, and Hayder Hassan. The final two being two indirect chokes.

If you want to see how a master of these chokes makes them work at the highest levels of professional fighting you have to read the article I just added to The Help Desk.