Submission Breakdown: Khamzat Chimaev Sleeps the Leech
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
This past weekend was Khamzat Chimaev’s long-awaited return to the cage. After over a year long layoff, that nearly led to retirement from Covid-19 complications, he did so in emphatic fashion. Li Jiangliang is no stranger to tough opponents since joining the UFC in 2014, but none of them have ever manhandled him the way Chimaev did.
Let’s focus on the finishing sequence. Most are likely fixated on the fact that Chimaev put Li to sleep, or the fact that he generally dominated the fight. However, I was particularly impressed with the adjustments made by Chimaev to get the RNC finish. Many may have missed the interplay between the defenses used by Li, and Chimaev’s counters and traps. So let’s work our way through the finishing sequence, and enjoy the small technical details that can often be overlooked.
Chimaev had both hooks in, and was landing hard shots to the relatively defenseless Li. As Chimaev found the opening to sneak his left arm across the neck, the right leg of Li became an important detail. As Chimaev worked to slide in the securing hand, Li pushed off his leg. This forced Chimaev forward, as he was already leaning his weight slightly over the left side of Li. Chimaev’s securing hand came down, unable to slide behind the head of Li, in part due to how tight Chimaev was with his control, there was no space to get it in. Li continued pushing, and as they turned over, Li fought hard to point his hips toward the ceiling in transition. Chimaev was able to maintain control with his hook, seatbelt, and he crossed his leg over to lock Li down from moving further.
Li pulled the securing hand down, and maintained contact with the choking hand. Because of this, you’ll notice that Chimaev is applying some force, but wasn’t really trying to finish. He was waiting for a moment where Li’s grips would loosen, and repositioned the moment he felt it. Chimaev hooked his right leg behind Li’s, and used it to push him forward, creating a little extra space for him to slide his chest further down the back of Li. However, as tight as it looked (and it was certainly pretty tight), Chimaev was not in a position to get the finish just yet.
In addition to Li’s constant attempts to point his hips up, which would have loosened Chimaev’s bottom hook and given Li a chance to escape/create a scramble, Chimaev’s choking arm was not deep enough to fully cut off blood flow to the brain. Both Chimaev and Li seemed fully aware of this as well. Chimaev attempted to bring the elbow behind Li at 2:06 in the round, potentially to switch to the Gable grip and finish that way, but was blocked by the mat. Li was just trying to keep the space needed to avoid getting slept, and I would be shocked to hear he wasn’t thinking about allowing Chimaev to gas out his arms. Chimaev released the top hook, and dragged Li over to the other side, for his 3rd, and final, RNC attempt.
The entire sequence was a showcase of how good Chimaev is as a grappler, cutting off and countering any avenues of escape that Li attempted. He clearly had no intention of gassing his arms out powering through for a finish. Each attempt was sensible, and correctly utilized in response to the defenses of Li. Li, to his credit, knew what to do for the most part. He was constantly trying to reposition his hips, remained calm and initiatlly fought the hands, and I liked his attempt to game Chimaev into gassing his arms out (something that would absolutely have worked on most fighters). It didn’t matter, and Chimaev is clearly levels above Li on the ground, and we see that play out further in the finish itself.
As Chimaev finished turning Li to the other side, Li pulled the securing hand down onto his chest. Chimaev responded by sliding the choking hand further across the neck, which signaled danger for Li. Li released his 2-on-1 grip to grab the choking hand, which is what Chimaev wanted. As soon as Li pulled Chimaev’s left arm away, he’d given up the space needed to switch hands. Chimaev slid his right arm across the neck, and you’ll notice how much deeper it got than the prior attempts, and locked his arm behind the head of Li. He squeezed, this time with all the effort he can muster. He knew it was in, and Li didn’t even fight the hands. Right before Li went out, it appeared that he was going to tap, but went out before he could.
Chimaev is an overwhelming physical force on the ground, but we’ve seen our fair share of fighters who can overwhelm an opponent with sheer physicality. What impresseses me about Chimaev is the small details you can find watching him work. His positional awareness, trap setting, and understanding of when to apply pressure, or release it, are just a few ways he shows he’s not just a physical force, but he’s a talented and skilled grappler to boot. We still have questions about things that just haven’t been answered yet. His cardio is, obviously, the big one, but his reaction to adversity in the cage, durability, and ability to make adjustments when things are not going as planned are some of those questions posed.
Regardless of those question marks, the fact is that Chimaev is an extremely talented prospect, who may very well end up champion one day. We may never get answers to some of these questions mind you, depending on how his career progresses. Whatever happens though, I’m very excited to watch what he can do.