The UFC’s lightweight champion has started to implement a signature technique at the highest level.
Islam Makhachev has always been a submission threat and he has proved that inside the Octagon with half of his UFC wins coming via this method of victory.
However, it is in his recent fights where a favored technique that you don’t often see in MMA has started to become a key weapon for the pound-for-pound best fighter in the sport today.
Makhachev caught both Renato Moicano and Dustin Poirier with the same D’Arce choke in back-to-back title defenses of the 155-pound gold.
He claims that it’s a submission that he constantly pulls off in training and with how efficiently he’s able to lock it up, it’s sure to be something that his future opponents pay close attention to.
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Kade Ruotolo breaks down Islam Makhachev’s signature D’Arce choke
Islam Makhachev’s recent finishes have caught the eye of one of the best submission grapplers in the world today, Kade Ruotolo.
The ONE Championship athlete, who is set to compete in his third MMA bout at ONE 171 on February 20, made history by becoming the youngest ever ADCC World Champion at 19-years-old.
Along with his long list of accomplishments including winning the first under 80kg CJI tournament, both Kade and his brother Tye are known for their incredibly dangerous D’Arce chokes.
Ruotolo helped to break down Makhachev’s sneaky submission technique in a recent exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow ahead of his upcoming fight in Qatar.
“It’s obviously a great technique. It’s one of our favorites and the way he uses it, he grabs the arm and goes shallow instead of going all the way to the bicep which I think is also cool. The gloves have probably something to do with that.
“It’s probably hard for him to get all the way to the bicep and then also, you have a different level of torque when you have that grip, it turns into a little bit more of a neck crank as well as a choke which is what we’re super keen on, creating the crank on top of the choke. I think it’s one of the best chokes out there, it’s one of the most underutilized chokes for sure so to see Islam kind of putting it back out there on the MMA side of things is great to see.”
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Kade Ruotolo is making his own waves in the lightweight division
At 22-years-old, Kade Ruotolo made the big decision to transition to MMA last year where he picked up back-to-back wins and first-round finishes.
He even secured a D’Arce choke win of his own last time out at ONE 169 in November where he submitted Ahmed Mujtaba after dropping his opponent early on.
Ruotolo is back at ONE 171 to continue his promising MMA career which recently earned him a spot on ESPN’s 25 under 25 whilst still being one of the best grapplers in the world.
He faces the 7-0 Nicolas Vigna at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar and who knows, if Ruotolo is able to keep on winning, perhaps he will get the opportunity to test his jiu-jitsu against the wrestling skills of the Dagestani fighters in the future.