This was taken from the message board at MMA TV. The topic was BJ Penn's conditioning in the rematch with Matt Hughes. Rhadi blamed it on HLA during BJ's attempt to submit Hughes with a reverse triangle choke. But Rhadi digresses to talk about an interesting topic: match architecture.
I would recommend that EVERY fighter who has to go 5 five minute rounds take a very good look at the way that Sylvia, Liddell, Randy, Hughes and others begin their fights. They start them very slowly, because a 25 minute match is a war of attrition and the moves that you can pull off when somebody is tired is different than what you can pull off when they are fresh. Especially when the 2 individuals are equally matched. You have to wait fro 10-15 minutes to pass so that you can impose your will. It's very hard to do so against a fresh competitor. You will also notice that 5 five minute rounds favor the striker - NOT THE GRAPPLER!!! If you stall in Greco Roman and freestyle wrestling, they put you down. If you stall in MMA - they stand you up. Very different. That means (drum roll please..........................) that the way you should practice your transitions if you are an MMA fighter is to roll super hard in practice for 45-60 second blasts on the floor, followed by 2-3 minutes of boxing. (this is when you are prepping for 5 five minute rounds). Am I giving too much away or should I stop now? And make sure that you understand this.- IN A 5-5 fight everything doubles. Meaning your takedown attempts, punches and everything doubles - UNLESS you are smart enough like Hughes, Sylvia and Liddell to the point where you are the Champ so you don't have to bring the fight to the other person - you only have to win rounds 3-4-and 5. And while the other guys is coming out like a house of fire - all you have to do is weather the storm and not get knocked out - which is easy to do when you are the champ. It takes a lot less energy for Matt to run and dance with BJ in 2 round than is does for him to really attack him for 2. Now don't get me wrong, Matt was working, but he didn't hit full tilt until it was time. The champs have found a way to take the same energy expenditure necessary for 3 3 minute rounds and use it for 5 5's. BJ was in shape though. He could have definitely benefitted from some individuals with a better background in sport psych and match architecture.What is interesting about this are the implications for jiu jitsu tournament fighting, and the way to be most effective in a five-minute match.
I remember reading somewhere that Mario Sperry's theory of tournament fighting was to score as many points as possible as early as possible so as to put your opponent in the worst possible situation of having no choice but to win by submission. The risks your opponent would likely have to taken in that instance would open up opportunities for submisssions of your own.
This makes sweeps and takedowns/passes critical elements of tournament fighting, it seems to me. In the same way that Rhadi talks about top mixed martial artists being most effective after the first 10-15 minutes, it seems to me that in a tournament match you want to spend the first minute or two pressing the action by either getting the takedown or pulling guard and getting the sweep as soon as possible. Anything that happens after that happen with you ahead 2-0.
From their it's all about getting the dominant position--mount, rear mount, knee on belly--or passing, depending on where you are coming from, and more points. Get ahead 5-0 or 6-0 in the first two or three minutes. The pressure on the other guy to take risks in order to avoid losing will become intense.
There are some training implications. You've got to be able to go at nearly 100% for two or three minutes to get to that 5-0 or 6-0 place. This is where the Chuck Liddells of the world have already scored their first few overhand rights, where the Minotauros have gotten mount, where the Marcelos have once again taken the back ... From there, it's all a matter of the opponent making the necessary mistake within the time allowed.
One of the things that caught my eye in the "Meeting Marcelo Garcia" post was the guy's observation about how hard Marcelo trained. A lot of the time I feel as if I'm training hard if for no other reason that the fact that I'm tired. But there is quite a bit to be said, especially in the context of what it means to succeed in a five, six or even ten-minute fight, for pushing oneself to perform the right techniques in the right way every single time. There will be plenty of time to feel sore once I'm done.
From what I've been reading, the 2-3 minute zone is all about glycolytic energy systems--someplace between the instant demands of a powerlifter and the continuous, steady-state, energy demands of a long distance runner. The five-minute jiu jitsu Tabata and the Berardi complexes are geared to streghtening just this "location", so I'm looking forward to seeing how my conditioning improves over the balance of the year.
This also means that Berardi was right about hydrating with a "sugary" drink during and immediately after training. I remember reading an article where Helio Gracie had recommended his sons eat honey while waiting and in between matches during tournaments. Honey is a a fast-to-medium releasing sugar source, which is ideal for evening out glycogen levels over the course of a long afternoon. For what it's worth, I tried honey during my last Copa tournament and it really seemed to help. I think Rhadi mentions glycogen in another post in this thread, also.
