Photo via windsorstar.com
Clay Guida has always been known for his wrestling, but not many people comment much on his awesome jiu jitsu. I think they might start after Saturday night.
Yeah, he won 60,000 clams for “Submission of the Night” with his attempt to rip Takanori Gomi’s head and spine right out of his body, but the sexiness of the technique he used is more subtle than that.
Guida started out by single-leg manhandling Gomi to the ground (was anyone else as impressed as I was by Gomi’s takedown defense up to that point? That is a slippery little bastard).
Gomi used a combination of wrestling setups (posting his arm inside Guida’s leg) and solid jits (controlling the wrist) to prevent getting man-crushed from underneath Guida’s top half guard), and he utilized a really cool trick of switching his control leg on Guida’s trapped leg to keep him there while Guida tried to pass. Gomi almost popped out once, but Caveman-Jitsu took over and Guida took him back to the ground.
I like how Gomi controlled Guida’s wrist from underneath. Most of the other jits-centric fights on the card involved guys gunning for the kimura from bottom half guard (or bottom side control, in the case of Jeremy Stephens). Gomi, however, wasn’t trying to get the kimura – he was doing an awesome job of preventing Guida’s shoulder from rearranging his face like happened to Brandon Vera (although in fairness that was a Brazilian fist, not a shoulder). Anyway. By holding Guida’s wrist way down by his legs, Gomi prevents the crossface, and gives himself plenty of space from which to work.
Unfortunately for Gomi, MONGO SMASH. Guida used brute strength to move up on Gomi’s body, then popped him a couple times in the face with backward elbows (like a shoulder strike, except weirder) to get him to let go of that hand. Then, because he was up high, instead of trying to flatten Gomi with the crossface, he looped his arm over Gomi’s head. From half guard, this could be either a setup or just an attempt to do something with his arm. Either way, it turned into a setup.
Now here’s the cool part of what Guida did. He used a concept that takes awhile to gather from jiu jitsu – top mount is almost identical to being in bottom full guard. There are some significant differences, sure, the main one being that you have much more freedom of motion, but for the most part, the leg and arm positions are the same.
A guillotine choke is strongest from inside your full guard, because as you pull up on the neck, you can push your opponent’s body down with your legs. You also prevent him from moving to the side, which takes your forearm off his neck. You can do it from half guard, but it’s not nearly as effective.
Guida, once he decided to commit to the guillotine, knew he had to get to full mount…OR full guard. Either one works. So as he slid his leg out of Gomi’s half guard, Gomi rolled him easily. Except Guida had the same position, just upside down, and the roll allowed him to get that leg free. And he squeezed Gomi’s little head like a zit. Awesome. And apparently worth $60,000.
Good read, thanks
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