Submission Breakdown: Jon Jones’ Guillotine on Lyoto Machida
TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 10: (L-R) Light Heavyweight Champion Jon "Bones" Jones and challenger Lyoto Machida receive final instructions from referee John McCarthy before their bout during the UFC 140 event at Air Canada Centre on December 10, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Nick Laham/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
I have crazy news everyone! It turns out, MMA can produce some incredible submission grappling moments, so why not talk about them? In this series, I’ll be taking a look at some of the most impressive, and frankly mind-blowing submissions throughout MMA history. I’ll break down what happened, the methodology and thought process behind it, as well as the mechanics involved. For context as to what prompted this, check out the Twitter thread, and feel free to add your own favorites as well.
Remember when Jones was actually cool as hell in the cage? Good times. Well, not if you were a fan of Machida, but still, you have to admit that this finishing sequence was brutal to watch, in the best possible way.
After dropping Machida with a counter left, Machida is dazed and tried to grab the leg of Jones briefly. Jones secures a front headlock and forces Machida back to the cage, throwing in a solid knee to the body for good measure. You can see Jones snaking his left hand under the chin of Machida as he pushes him towards the cage.
With Machida’s back to the cage, Jones begins to secure the guillotine. A traditional guillotine grip works perfectly well in most instances, but Jones’ length gives him options that many others would have difficulty executing as easily. Jones, with his left hand through and the neck secure, uses his right hand to push up on his left (the choking hand). This adds a significant amount of force to the choke, while also making it extremely difficult for Machida, who’s already hurt badly, to try and peel it away.
Jones is the taller man, so as he straightens up with the choke, you’ll see how Machida’s body is forced up/elevated. When defending against the guillotine, allowing your opponent to elevate you is one of the things you absolutely should not do. It increases the amount of pressure your opponent can exert on your neck, raising the discomfort/pain levels and tightening the choke. It also prevents you from being able to defend effectively, as your defensive abilities become compromised. You can’t generate any force from your legs when your on your tippy-toes, leaving you to defend using only your hands. This is far from ideal when your opponent can generate force using their entire body, and all you can fight with are your hands.
Machida grabbed the forearm of Jones’ right hand and tried to use his left hand to peel at Jones’ hand, pushing and pulling to break the grip. Jones rotated Machida, using the pressure of the guillotine, toward Machida’s right side. This made it hard for Machida to generate any force. He had no weight in his left leg/side, thus he was unable to generate any power. He couldn’t peel the grip, and couldn’t pull the choking hand away. Jones, using the pushing grip, tightened up and crunched Machida’s head in toward his chest. Jones crunched with the choke, leaning his upper body back, increasing the pressure on Machida’s neck and putting him out. Jones drops his body in an absolutely badass moment and saunters away. One of the most impressive finishes of Jones’ career by far.
Well, that brings us to the end of the third installment of our Submission Breakdown Series. Feel free to comb through the Twitter thread, and let me know which submission you’d like me to break down next time.