Invisible MMA: The Flow of the Fight

The subtleties of grappling, or the economy, are sometimes called "invisible." It's the unseen force that determines the winners and the losers. A is pinning B, yet why can't B simply push A away and get back up? It's not any one thing but multiple things. It's not that it's too small to be seen but rather, what's being seen must be decoded.

MMA (mixed martial arts) is the most open combat sport. It's the least restrictive as far as rules and allows for a variety of styles and body types. It is this open nature of MMA that invisibilizes MMA. It is not possible to be aware of every technique and strategy. Though MMA is open, competitors are restricted by time. It is not possible to spend enough time on everything available in all of martial arts.

Even if you're aware of a particular technique, that doesn't mean you’ve spent enough time with it to always recognize it. A karate fighter knows what a double-leg takedown is, but can they always recognize it? Everyone who's seen an action movie knows what a side kick is, but can everyone spot one before it happens?

So much of what makes the difference at the highest level of competition is recognizing something before everyone else. If a fighter recognizes a side kick is coming at the same time everyone at home does, it's too late. Sparring refines perception. Refined perception is timing.

Just as knowing a move doesn't mean recognizing a move, knowing how to do a move doesn't mean you know when to do the move.

Training a kick a thousand times doesn't mean anything if you haven't trained your eyes to know when to throw the kick. Likewise, training your offense doesn't mean you've trained your eyes for your opponent's offense.

The Threat of the Takedown

Wrestlers who have defended thousands of takedowns still get taken down. They're hard to stop, even if you know what you're looking for. Takedowns don't necessarily deal damage, but they do something more important, they dictate the flow of the fight. Yet the flow of the fight is invisible to the eye.

Part of what makes MMA so unique, fluid, and complicated is the takedown. You have the striking arts and the ground arts, but MMA brings them together and allows for answers from different toolboxes. Whether successful or not, the takedown raises the question: are we fighting here, or are we fighting there?

Whether seen or unseen, the specter of takedowns looms large.

On April 25, 2004, world-class kickboxer Mirko Filipović was knocked out by wrestler Kevin Randleman in a major upset. Everyone at the time was baffled. Did Randleman dramatically improve his boxing, or did Filipović underestimate him? What actually happened was Randleman dipped down for a left hook, the level change looked like a takedown, and Filipović defended the wrong thing.

Instead of disrespecting Randleman's striking, Filipović respected Randleman's wrestling.

On June 26, 2015, Joe Schilling, another world-class kickboxer, took on Hisaki Kato. Before the fight, Schilling made several statements to the press that he would knock Kato out, then Kato put him to sleep. The fans believed Schilling's pride got the better of him.

Up until the knockout, Schilling was doing quite well. Then Kato took a leaping forward step that looked like a takedown. Schilling backed up thinking a takedown was coming, only to be caught by an awkward punch.

The threat of takedowns changed the complexion of these fights.

Georges St-Pierre was excellent at threatening with strikes to get the takedown. Once the takedowns land, it opens up his striking. Matt Serra tried to hit St-Pierre before he could take him down. That worked in their first fight (April 7, 2007), but in the second (April 19, 2008), it only led to more takedowns.

Matt Brown tried to overpower takedowns with an all-out assault in his fight with Johny Hendricks (March 14, 2015). But aggressive offense can blind you to the takedown.

Jiu-jitsu fighters had a different problem. When they couldn't take the fight to the ground, they were beaten up on the feet.

The goal of MMA is to be well-rounded. You can't strike well if you're afraid to be taken down. Likewise, you can't be effective at takedowns if you're afraid to strike.

Can you tell if Chuck Liddell is throwing a punch or shooting a takedown? It's difficult to tell, especially in the moment. Sometimes it's both a punch and a takedown.

The overhand is less common in boxing because boxers fight from closer proximity, but in MMA, you stand further away because of kicks and takedowns. The overhand is a way to throw a punch while closing the distance. Since it's similar to the mechanics of a takedown, it can disguise the takedown and vice versa. You block the punch, you get taken down; you stop the takedown, and you get punched. Win-win.

Much as the calf kick had its time in the sun, the MMA overhand seemed unstoppable, then MMA adapted.

Other than the sprawl, strikers have tried to taunt their way into a kickboxing match. Asking, demanding, daring, and awkwardly pleading with their opponents to stand and trade. This is a psychological tactic but not a very good one. Then came technical answers.

High Kick

Sprawling is about dropping down to stop a takedown. High kicks stand the opponent up. They can't change their level if they're blocking a kick.

Even if the opponent avoids the kick, it means standing up straight, backing away, or leaning back, eliminating the immediacy of the takedown.

If they don't back away and insist on closing the distance, this happens.

If they insist on still taking the shot, this happens.

But high kicks by themselves are nothing. They need to be accompanied by varied offense and takedown counters. Ultimately, you're still standing on one leg, and your opponent can time you. 

Straight Punch on the Exit

Not every fighter shoots for takedowns, some get their takedowns from clinch. Partly because of counters like kicks and knees but also because shooting takedowns expends so much energy. Here, Ronda Rousey is reaching for Holly Holm to clinch (November 14, 2015). Sportswriters at the time were confused as to why Rousey didn't try for takedowns. Rousey did try, but she was met with a straight punch every time.

Rousey had been punched before but still managed to get the clinch. What was different this time was the exit. Holm would hit and evade. This had the double effect of hurting Rousey and making her second-guess herself.

Vision

Rather than power and speed, some fighters rely on accuracy. Wrestlers sometimes swarm fighters with strikes to make them cover up so they can shoot for their legs. Rather than panic, precision strikers will keep their eyes peeled to deliver an intercepting punch. When you can see what's invisible, there is no more fog of war. For someone like Stephen Thompson, once he could see the flow of the fight and the threat of the takedowns, he could now do in MMA what he did in karate.

Front Kick

The front kick is a versatile offensive tool that's quick, powerful, and hard to catch. You can aim for the head or stomach, and since it comes from below, it's hard to see or block.

Since front kicks and knees start out the same way, you can turn a front kick into a knee and a knee into a front kick. Even the threat of the front kick or knee will prevent fighters from coming in or bending over for a takedown. This is why the front kick and knee are taught for self-defense, to create distance and deter people from getting too close.

Distance and Patience

A sea change in defensive MMA was fighting from further away and ignoring the crowd. Now you are too far away to grab or hit. This reintroduced attacks from traditional martial arts that used the tips of your longest limbs. It also meant footwork beyond just walking forward and back.

Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva avoided takedowns not with counter wrestling but by fighting from further away.

Frustrated fighters who tried to force their way into a clinch were met with counters. This also came in tandem with game planning. Rather than focusing on fans, fighters were focusing on their game plans.

Long Range Strikes

Distance is not just about moving yourself backward, it's also about your opponent moving backward. You can cause that with kicks. Moving yourself backward runs the risk of running onto the cage. Kicks like the side kick and push kick don't just push your opponent away, it also knocks the wind out of them.

From a side-on stance, you're already aiming your longest weapons at your opponent while standing furthest away. From this stance, the side kick is like a jab, only longer and more powerful. As a result, it's nearly impossible to catch or parry.

If you're not sideways, the push kick is available. It doesn't just push opponents away but also stops their forward movement.

The stomp kick, which can be done side-on or from a square stance, is a stomp to your opponent's knee. This not only stops your opponent dead in their tracks, but it can also cause permanent injury, discouraging your opponent from walking you down.

Takedowns

The reason two wrestlers can end up engaging in a kickboxing match is because takedowns prevent takedowns. If you're defending takedowns, you're not doing takedowns. Fighters with no intention of fighting on the ground will often threaten and feint takedowns to put their opponent on the defensive, stopping their takedowns before they even start.

Size of the Environment

The UFC Octagon is 30 feet across and 6 feet high. 750 square feet in floor size. Just as fighting in a closet is different from fighting in a field, the environment determines the strategy. There's a lot of room in an octagon, and no sharp corners like in a ring. You can circle and never run into anything. Since grappling is intimate, utilizing the entirety of the octagon made it harder to grapple and hold people down.

Circling and Footwork: Defense

The freedom of the cage allows for circling as a defense against takedowns. Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva baffled opponents for years by simply circling. Rather than mechanical defenses where you're countering after the fact, footwork can prevent your opponent from setting their takedowns or securing holds.

Counter wrestling is after the crisis, footwork prevents the crisis. It took a minute, but eventually strikers realized the strategy of being a moving target also applied against grapplers.

Circling and Footwork: Offense

Angling and footwork allow you to attack and vanish before the takedown.

Pivot and Sidesteps

MMA was initially about movement on the ground. Then it became about movement on the feet. Rather than the old sprawl and brawl, it's better to avoid the takedown altogether—just as it's better to avoid getting hit altogether.

Contrary to what many initially believed about MMA, how you do one thing is how you do a thousand things. Many of the rules for striking still apply even against grappling.

You have 360 degrees of movement on your feet. You don't have to move just back and forth. You can circle, you can pivot, you can sidestep, you can even pivot step. You can hit and not be there when your opponent reaches for you.

Time

MMA has five-minute rounds, the longest in all combat sports. That's a long time but also a short time. It's long in that since you can end up fighting for 15 to 25 minutes, cardio can end up being your best defense. It's also a lot of time to think and adjust. But five minutes is also short because you don't have to stop takedowns indefinitely, only for five minutes at a time.

The Audience and Composure

Possibly the biggest unseen variable in an MMA fight is us, the audience. Some people can perform well in the gym but not in the UFC because in the UFC you're performing for the world. This even affects fighters from other organizations.

Since UFC fans tend to prefer striking over grappling, this can unconsciously push wrestlers to abandon takedowns. Sometimes the fighter who controls the flow of the fight isn't the better fighter on paper but the more composed fighter. These aren't strategic variables but fight-altering variables nonetheless.

Incentives

The main reason for the rise of strikers in MMA is that the UFC monetarily incentivizes striking and penalizes fighters who don't follow the UFC program. This also affects other organizations because of the UFC's monopsony. You fight in other organizations to attract the UFC, and attracting the UFC means standing and banging.

MMA

MMA is not just striking with takedown defense or takedowns with striking defense. It is the fluid blending of stand-up fighting and ground fighting.

Regardless of incentives, what's most important is winning. To do that, you have to round out your game.

When the takedowns fail, you have to know how to strike. When the takedown defense fails, you have to know how to fight on the ground. When the striking fails, you have to know how to take the fight to the ground.

The beauty of MMA is that it's not any one thing, it flows from thing to thing, not just in the fight but also as an evolving sport. It's not married to any one style or technique but simply beating your opponent. Not only is it the least restrictive combat sport as far as rules, but also paths to victory. Then the mystery is everything between touching the gloves and getting the hand raised.

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