Know When to Hold 'Em

The Side I'm On

Danielle Martin, Gracie Barra Black Belt

Know When to Fold 'Em

Indefinitely suspending "MMA Submission Hero of the Week" in favor of supporting this excellent effort for the foreseeable future.

MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month

Resistance 12.26.14

DB squats

DB deadlifts

DB seated overhead press

DB upright row

Calf-raises (machine)

Resistance 12.24.14

Pull-ups / Dips

Incline DB bench

DB one-arm row

Low to high cable pull

Incline Bench (machine)

Metrics: December 14 - 20

Training Days: 3
Four Week training average: 1.75

Techniques of the Week
Counter to Thai plum / Armbar from mount / Keylock from mount / Double leg to ankle pick / Spinning armbar from knee on belly / Rollout escape from armbar

Conditioning
Tech Lift / Push-Row circuit (Thu)

Weight
166.8 (Mon noon)
approx. 160.0 (Sat am - no gi)

Live Training
26 minutes / 3 sessions

Keep: Santana pass, UBS/LBS, tracking metrics
Start: Instep guard v. standing passes, 3x/week conditioning
Stop: Staying up past 11pm on weeknights

MMA Submission Hero of the Week: Rousimar Palhares

Rousimar Palhares (leglock v. Jon Fitch) - World Series of Fighting 16

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Guy squares off against Rousimar Palhares. Fight goes to ground. Palhares grabs opponent's leg. Squeeze. Pain. Tap.

While scientists and fight fans have uncovered one individual able to withstand the relentless and often punishing leg lock attack of Rousimar Palhares, the rest of humanity would be well-advised to keep combat contests with the limb-snapper affectionately known as "Paul Harris" on the feet.

Jordan Breen once made a great point that for all the talk of "well-roundedness" in mixed martial arts, there is and may always be something special if not vital about successful fighters with only a sole path to victory. And while there will always be killshot artists like Chuck Liddell, you've really got to hand it to a fighter whose single path to victory is a submission.

Palhares is just that kind of guy. And even if his submission-uber-alles approach proves not be enough to make him more than the champion of a second-tier mixed martial arts organization, it's hardly a bad way to spend a career kicking ass.

Rousimar can be a hard guy to love - even for those of us in the "take few prisoners" school of jiu-jitsu in MMA. He has been criticized for holding submission holds - particularly heel hooks - "too long" and subjecting his opponents to greater than necessary injury. And as someone who has seen Rousimar grapple in training, I would love to see more of his submission arsenal (why not add a few arms to his growing collection of legs?).

One interesting MMA Submission Hero of the Week trivia note. Last week, two our of our top three submission heroes were heroines. This week, two of the top three submission heroes got it done with leglocks. In fact, compared to last week, the diversity among submissions was impressive with chokes, armbars, and leglocks each earning equally effective fight-ending applications.

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Runner's Up
Ian Entwistle (leglock v. Anthony Birchak) - UFC on Fox 13
John Moraga (choke v. Willie Gates) - UFC on Fox 13

Honorable Mention
Yancy Medieros (choke v. Joe Proctor) - TUF 20 Finale
Felice Herrig (armbar v. Lisa Ellis) - TUF 20 Finale
Aisling Daly (armbar v. Alex Chambers) - TUF 20 Finale
Drew Dober (choke v. Jamie Varner) - UFC of Fox 13

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What is an MMA Submission Hero?
Death to the death of jiu-jitsu in mixed martial arts! There are guys and gals getting it done with chokes, armbars, leglocks and more every weekend in the cage! 

MMA Submission Hero of the Week recognizes the men and women who finish fights "the gentle way." Each week we'll highlight MMA's best stranglers, arm collectors, and leg snappers, be they well-known jiu-jitsu superstars or a small-show strikers with a knack for pulling off the occasional submission surprise.

Check the sidecontrol blog every Sunday after a weekend of MMA action and see just who is this week's MMA Submission Hero of the Week!

Metrics: December 7 - December13

Training Days: 0
Four Week training average: 1.5

Techniques of the Week
N.A.

Conditioning
Box Step/Upright Rows/Overhead Press circuit: Saturday
"Shoulder Shocker": Saturday

Weight
Begin: N.A.
End: N.A.

Live Training
None

Goals

• Keep: Track of the metrics - woeful as they may be sometimes

• Start: Training at least twice a week when I'm in town

• Stop: Not training at least twice a week when I'm in town

As Jiu-Jitsu Evolves, When is Difference Different?

The Coming Division: Will Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Give Birth to New Martial Arts

Brazilian jiu jitsu is evolving but evolving into what? Anyone who has trained in multiple jiu jitsu schools will notice the differences in philosophy and technical emphasis that exist between academies. Certainly, there is a common body of techniques and transitions that they all share; but what they emphasize is so different, so as to call into question whether the term “Brazilian jiu jitsu” will continue to be adequate in describing them all.

Either Brazilian jiu jitsu will reproduce new styles of martial art or it will continue to exist as a single combat sport, with disparate competition rule sets, the way Wrestling does. With the current state of jiu jitsu variety, simply saying one has a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu isn’t as descriptive as it was in the early 90’s.

I'll admit to being somewhere between the first and second schools, myself. I've never been especially preoccupied by having the best jiu-jitsu in a room full of guys and gals who know jiu-jitsu. For me, jiu-jitsu is a shield against the world outside the academy, a self-defense resource first and foremost, a response to the great philosophical question: "What if he tries to punch you in the face?"

Everything else, as enjoyable as it is, (and it is) is secondary.

That said, I'm especially curious about what drives people to want to learn to train jiu-jitsu now. What is motivating the folks signing up to learn jiu-jitsu today - or, even better, the ones who will sign up in 2015?  Self-defense? A dream of being an IBJJF champion or MMA star? My suspicion is that it will be the same thing that's always drawn a certain percentage of the population toward martial arts, something that's a little superhero, a little warrior, and more than a little spiritual, as well.

More on that last later. 

MMA Submission Hero of the Week: Herica Tiburcio

Herica Tiburcio (choke v. Michelle Waterson) - Invicta FC10

There will be some who wonder how submitting one of the top lightweights in the world - which is what UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis did last night in his victory by choke over Gilbert Melendez - does not earn you the title of MMA Submission Hero of the Week.

It's a fair point. For all the talk of guys like Eddie Alvarez, Gilbert Melendez was the great white whale of the UFC's lightweight division. For years, if there was one lightweight competing outside of the Ultimate Fighting Championship who could claim to be better than the dudes in his division inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship, that lightweight was Gilbert Melendez.

So for Anthony Pettis to return to the cage and make the first defense of his title a victory by submission over such an opponent, it is not hard at all to see Mr. Showtime as a Submission Hero of the Highest Order.

And he is.

But if there is one thing more dramatic than defending the belt by submission, it is taking the belt from the champ by submission (ask Benson Henderson, who lost his title to an Anthony Pettis armbar a little over a year ago). And I think we can also agree that it is even more impressive if that submission victory and belt-changing comes at the hand of a substantial underdog.

That's the spirit that has me giving the nod to Invicta's new Atomweight Champion, Herica Tiburcio. Tiburcio dominated former champ Michelle Waterson en route to a finish by choke in round three.

The fighter from Minas Gerais was a +600 underdog coming into the fight against a champion on a six fight win streak with five finishes. Tiburcio controlled much of the contest, putting Waterson on the defensive with strikes, including one that left a large, vision-impeding mouse under the champion's left eye.

The submission victory is Tiburcio's seventh out of eleven pro fights, and her third victory by guillotine.

To say that this shakes up the Atomweight division is an understatement. And while there will likely be many clamoring for a rematch between Tiburcio and the "Karate Hottie", there are other Atomweights, such as Jinh Yu Frey, who should be in the conversation, as well. Frey won her contest at Invicta FC 10, defeating winless Cassie Robb by choke.

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Runner's Up
Anthony Pettis (choke v. Gilbert Melendez) - UFC 181
Racquel Pennington (choke v. Ashlee Evans-Smith) - UFC 181

Honorable Mentions
Bibiano Fernandes (choke v, Dae Hwan Kim) - One FC 23
Tony Ferguson (choke v. Abel Trujillo) - UFC 181
Borys Mankowski (choke v. David Zawada) - KSW 29
Jinh Yu Frey (choke v. Cassie Robb) - Invicta FC 10
Tonya Evinger (armbar v. Cindy Dandois) - Invicta FC 10
Urijah Faber (choke v. Francisco Rivera) - UFC 181


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What is an MMA Submission Hero?
Death to the death of jiu-jitsu in mixed martial arts! There are guys and gals getting it done with chokes, armbars, leglocks and more every weekend in the cage! 

MMA Submission Hero of the Week recognizes the men and women who finish fights "the gentle way." Each week we'll highlight MMA's best stranglers, arm collectors, and leg snappers, be they well-known jiu-jitsu superstars or a small-show strikers with a knack for pulling off the occasional submission surprise.

Check the sidecontrol blog every Sunday after a weekend of MMA action and see just who is this week's MMA Submission Hero of the Week!

Metrics: November 30 - December 6

Training Days: Four
Four week training average: 2.0

Techniques of the week: Double leg takedowns and sprawls / Kimura from knee on belly / Asymmetrical choke variation from kimura from knee on belly

Conditioning
Cardiac Output: Monday
Tempo Method: Tuesday, Saturday

Weight (gi, post-training)
Start (Mon pm): 170
End (Sat noon): 163.4

Live Training: 16 minutes

Goals

• Keep: Murilo Santana pass, Tozi pass, Ezekiel choke, conditioning, regular stretching, Cucumber water, 4x training/week, passion for warmups :)

• Start: Tracking training on blog weekly, training in the evenings at least once a week

• Stop: Pre-training distractions