Alan Belcher’s Leg-Lock Battle with Rousimar Palhares Revisited
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
When you think of great, grappling-heavy fights, there’s one in particular I remember being stunned by, along with the rest of the MMA world. Alan Belcher was coming in to face the scariest submission artist in MMA at that time, and arguably still one of the scarier ones to date. Both of them were riding 3 fight win streaks, but only one of them was tearing knees apart left and right. Belcher, as discussed by commentary, is a jiu jitsu black belt, but that was not what he was known for, despite nearly half his finishes coming by way of submission.
Rousimar Palhares’ notoriety as a leglock specialist was rather new to the UFC scene, especially up in the heavier weight classes, and his tendency to hold on too long added to the danger associated with engaging on the ground with him. Belcher made it clear in pre-fight interviews that he would prefer to strike with Palhares, but he was fairly confident in his preparation and skills should the bout go to the mat, and as we’d learn, for good reason.
When it comes to grappling, particularly in MMA, the striking realm is where we get to see exchanges happening on a more even playing field more often than not. When it comes to grappling, we generally have a slow paced grind, or one fighter dominating positionally, or quick back and forth scrambles before the position settles once more. It’s uncommon in MMA to have deeply layered, extended sequences of back and forth position and submission hunting. It’s even rarer to see it performed at such a high level at the higher weight classes.
I’ve broken up the fight into a few sections that can be discussed as the fight progressed. The first was their time spent in the Twister position. It was here that Belcher was the one attacking the submission on Palhares. Joe Rogan was having a fit from here on out.
Belcher Gives Him the Splits
After scoring a single leg takedown, Palhares has his head outside, and Belcher begins to scoot out to the side, working to free his hip to secure a hook and get the back control. Palhares is wise to this, and begins backstepping with his right leg to keep his weight over Belcher. However, he’s not in a secure spot, as Belcher has control of his hips, so he granby rolls to begin attacking a leg. Belcher’s locked legs keep him safe, and it’s Palhares stuck in the compromised position here. Belcher threatened the Banana Split, but for the most part, was trying to secure Palhares’ right arm behind his head to lock up a Twister. To see further examples of how that looks when applied, check out my article on Bryce Mitchell’s UFC run.
This sequence didn’t produce much action in and of itself, but Belcher’s willingness to attack where Palhares was deemed most dangerous is a significant point to address. Normally when gameplanning, it’s common to see coaches, analysts, and fans discuss how a fighter would be avoiding those areas and stay in their ideal area of combat. Belcher was clearly well trained and schooled for this fight, as we will see, to defend technically, efficiently, and with urgency every method of attack Palhares would employ. An example of this would be how well Holly Holm was prepared for the clinch and armbar entry of Rousey for their fight. Knowing that a fight will end up in a specific spot, it’s important to work on what do when, not if, that spot occurs in the fight.
After Palhares was able to free his arm, we got into the real “meat and potatoes” of this, in my opinion, fantastic battle of a leg entanglement that is as deep as any striking display sequence we will see in MMA.
Footsie
This first foray into footsie showed the depth of both of their respective games. Belcher employs all the key tactics when defending against the leg attacks. He never allowed Palhares to secure his leg with knees, rolling with Palhares, constantly adjusting his hips, while kicking and pulling at his grips, forcing him to adjust constantly. He would curl his legs and bring his weight over him, and landed strikes whenever there was an opening. These tactics and defenses can be seen employed throughout the entanglement sequences, and allowed him to wade through Palhares’ best attacks unscathed.
Palhares sat forward, concaving his upper body, working to free Belcher’s bottom leg to attack a kneebar. Palhares rolls to help break open the crossed feet. Belcher knows he will be unable to keep them crossed and releases it, rolling with Palhares, who has his leg extended and is belly down again. Belcher’s entire focus is on preventing Palhares from securing the knee in a position where it’s pointed directly into his body. Palhares is looking to clamp his knees around Belcher’s thigh, just above the knee joint, immobilizing it and allowing him to attack with kneebars or heel hooks. Palhares adjusts and rolls back on top of Belcher to secure the knee on the other side. Belcher is able use the free space on his right side, curl his leg, and posture into a stronger kneeling position over Palhares, but only for a moment. Palhares rolls to his back again and pulls the leg back over his body to attack the straight ankle lock. Belcher again uses that space to pull himself over Palhares, taking care to use his free foot to step on the grip of Palhares, breaking it open, and crossing his legs. Palhares is belly down now, and has to work to break open the feet again, and is greeted with a few stiff punches.
Palhares wanted to prevent more shots, bringing Belcher’s weight over him for a moment, where he’s able to uncross Belcher’s feet. An important detail here, Because Belcher’s entire lower body is over Palhares, he’s forced to use both his hands to post, which leaves his feet unguarded for Palhares to untangle. Palhares clamps down on the right foot, just over the Achilles, to hold it in place. As Belcher tries to maintain his balance, Palhares uses his left hand to pull the securing foot and uncross Belcher’s feet so that he can attack the heel. Belcher immediately backsteps with that same leg, bringing his butt to the mat so he can fight Palhares’ grip. Palhares attempts a modified heel hook of sorts, but Belcher’s knee is not secure (which I mentioned earlier is a key factor in securing a heel hook), and Belcher kicks at the grip, breaking it open and curling his leg back. He has a grip around Palhares waist, posts his foot and scoots back to pull his knee out from Palhares’ hip line. He doesn’t quite make it out, and Palhares maintains control of the leg, but is unable to continue attacking as they settle into a 50/50 position.
50/50: Rousimar’s Final Push
The 50/50 guard has been popularized as one of the premier positions to attack heel hooks from in sport grappling. At the time of Rousimar’s rise, I would imagine it was not a position most fighters would have been particularly familiar with. All the more reason to be impressed with Belcher’s defensive capabilities in these spots, as he systematically shut down the last set of attempts Palhares would make to score another inverted heel hook victory.
Before we break down the sequence, a quick note. An inverted heel hook is when the foot is across the body and you rotate the heel from inside, to outside. A standard heel hook is the opposite, where you immobilize the knee and rotate from outside, to inside. Both require the immobilization of the knee joint to be successfully applied, which will again be the focus of Belcher’s defense. As long as he can keep his knee from being immobilized, he will be able to defend the attacks on his heel. Here’s a good article explaining the differences in depth and why the inverted is considered more dangerous.
Palhares digs an his arm under Belcher’s leg to unhook his ankles so he can begin isolating his ankle. Belcher wallops him a few times to remind him this is still an MMA fight, and Palhares kicks it into gear, scooting his hips back and attacking with more urgency. Palhares sits up to avoid more incoming shots and give himself a moment to prepare his next move. They fall to their sides, and Belcher posts to get his posture back and get on top. Palhares slides his left leg inside to create a post against Belcher’s chest and pulls himself under Belcher’s hips.
Palhares planned to unfurl his body, which would force the extension of Belcher’s legs and body, giving him a chance to immobilize the knee by clamping his legs down tightly and attack the inverted heel hook. Belcher recognized this and reacted accordingly.
Belcher sat on his butt, extending his legs and body and used his right hand to push Palhares’ leg to the outside, using his left hand as a post to sit up into Palhares. He switches posts to his right hand so he can pull at Palhares grip on his foot. He knew Palhares would be looking to clamp down with his knees, and timed the roll back, removing the right hand post to stick his hand in between his leg and Palhares’, giving him both hands to fight the grips with, and no way for Palhares to immobilize his knee. Palhares threw his leg over Belcher’s head to help recover some control of Belcher’s knee line, but to no avail. Belcher releases Palhares’ grip, and turns to all fours, driving his knee into the mat and posting on his hands. From here, he’s safe, as there’s no control of his leg above the knee line, despite Palhares having a hold of is ankle. Belcher back-steps over Palhares, pullinig his foot free completely, and begins the ground and pound assault that would end the fight.
From here on out, the fight was done, even if it hadn’t yet officially ended. Palhares would throw up a few lazy armbar attempts, but Belcher, unscathed after diving into the fire, broke Palhares mentally far before his elbows and punches finished him physically. It was enjoyable to also listen to Rogan’s frantic yelling that Belcher should pull out of the guard after thoroughly and systematically working through every bad spot. The funny part was that he was, for the most part, accurately describing Belcher’s defenses working, he just was so enamored with Palhares’ game, and its mystique at this point, he just couldn’t accept that Belcher was beating him there. The enthusiasm of Rogan was kind of nice though. Please enjoy the rest of the fight, and Belcher’s powerful, accurate ground and pound.