I found this fun gif at the super-skanky MMA-Core site (I’d link there but I don’t want to expose the unthinking to the full on assault of spyware and got knows what else is on that site).
It highlights a trend I’ve been excited about over the last couple of years — the successful, effective application of good judo technique in MMA.
Obviously Karo Parisyan was the pioneer of this but we’re seeing it in more and more fights. Nate Diaz owes his victory over Josh Neer in part to the judo he busted out when Neer had double underhooks and was going for a takedown. His superior jiu jitsu iced his win, but without the ability to impose positional dominance, Diaz could have found himself eating some ground and pound.
Miura didn’t beat Condit, but he came much closer than many expected and IMO its because he was able to disrupt Condit’s momentum with a succession of judo moves that repeatedly put Condit on his ass.
I have to go walk the baby right now but I’m going to come back and attempt to name each of the techniques Miura uses in the gif seen here. Here’s a fun judo reference site if you want to take a shot.
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