UFC Fight Island 2: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2 Grappling Quick Hits
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Back for another installment of the grappling quick hits! We had a bunch of submissions happen in the old grapple areas of the fights, and I’m here to tell ya’ll just what the hell happened in those exchanges that led to these submission wins.
The Joker Takes a Heel Home
Well I was on board with The Joker winning, but I certainly didn’t expect him to grab a heel hook, the first of his professional career, and it was extremely well executed to boot.
With an overhook on his left side, we see Jack push his right foot off the hip of Kelvin to create space to enter into the deep half-guard. He uses the hook he has under Kelvin’s right leg and elevates him. Jack then brings his right leg over Kelvin’s left leg into a knee reap, both hands securing Kelvin’s calf during attempt to wrench his leg free of the entanglement. Jack pushes Kelvin’s leg to the mat as Kelvin turns towards him and puts weight down on the foot. This gives Jack the moment he needs to secure the heel under his armpit.
Jack’s leg positioning is key here. With Kelvin’s foot secure, he uses the hook he maintained throughout behind Kelvin’s right leg, and the reaping knee across the top of his left thigh/hip-line, to knock Kelvin off-balance as he tried to turn and escape. Once grounded, we see Kelvin try to point his knee to the mat, which isn’t incorrect necessarily. But, it was expected and Jack had already eliminated this escape route before the position even materialized. Remember that hooking left leg? Well it stopped Kelvin from pushing off Jack’s bum to try and pull his leg free. With Kelvin on all fours, and clearly unsure where to go, Jack laces his right foot behind Kelvin’s, joining his other hook, and finishing the heel hook moments later, eliciting a tap from Kelvin.
The Violence Queen Wanted a Knee(bar)
Ariane Lipski gets her second straight win, scoring her very own first career leglock submission, via an absolutely brutal kneebar over Luana Carolina (I hope she will be okay, it was especially nasty and they confirmed there is ligament damage). But let’s break down what happened because Ariane deserves shine for that lovely bit of violence submission grappling.
As Ariane tries to bypass the legs of Luana to land some ground and pound, she gets stuck in an awkward position with her right leg caught in between those of Luana, who’s holding onto her heel. There’s no danger of a heel hook in that position, but Luana slides her right shin across the back of Ariane, who sits back on top of her, seemingly putting herself in danger of a calf slicer. However, due to the incorrect positioning, it was Luana who was the one in danger here. There are a couple of key errors made by Luana that led to her knee getting mangled. 1) When attacking with a calf slicer, the shin behind the leg of your opponent needs to be facing outward, not in as Luana’s was. 2) Ariane’s weight was on the mat, not on top of Luana, who was trying to pull Ariane back onto her. Mistake number one was the key here, and compare her calf slicer to Charles Oliveira’s on Eric Wisely.
Notice the differences in both the direction Charles’ leg is pointing and how he pulls Wisely on top of him? You’ll also notice another key factor here, Charles’ other leg is not in between Wisely’s, meaning there’s zero danger of a kneebar for him. Luana’s left leg was in between Ariane’s, and Ariane knew this. She immediately began to pull Luana’s foot towards her the second her butt hit the mat. After slowly but surely increasing the leverage, even pushing herself on top of Luana since there was zero danger to her own leg, she extends Luana’s leg, drives her hip forward, and pop goes the knee. Violence Queen lived up to her name, and just look at this:
Irish Joe Duffy Retired
I have always liked Duffy as a fighter, and his decline has been a bit sad for me to watch. He officially retired after last nights loss, and I completely understand why. Third straight loss and not getting younger, I wish him the best in retirement and life. But let’s not remove the shine from Joel Alvarez, who was able to submit savvy veteran, the only man to do so since 2011. Joel scored the 1st submission win of his UFC career, and 4th guillotine choke win of his career. This one was as elementary a guillotine counter to the takedown as it gets.
Duffy shoots in for a a double leg, low on the hips. Alvarez is able to immediately dig his right hand inside and pulls his right hip away, while wrapping up the neck as Duffy lifts his left leg to try and complete the takedown. Alvarez uses his left hook to keep Duffy’s hips elevated as he frees his right leg from between Duffy’s. His hands are already connected, and you can see Alvarez smiling widely as he knows the finish is coming. He places his now free right leg over the lower back of Duffy, squeezes, and begins arching his hips. Duffy taps and Alvarez secured his 2nd UFC win. Excellent counter to the takedown, and 14th submission win in the first round.
The Prince Arrives in Style
Well we got ourselves a beautiful triangle choke finish to discuss as well! Amir Albazi is an exciting young prospect and he made his UFC debut in style. Just 26 years old, Amir has 12 finishes in 13 wins, his lone loss coming to UFC veteran Jose Torres. The fight itself was a lot of fun, but the transition and finish at the end were just lovely.
As Gordon attempts so push Albazi off of him to escape the mount he was stuck under for a bit, Albazi is caught off guard and catches himself by posting his arm, and waits to spring the trap. As Gordon begins to turn into Albazi’s guard, Albazi shoots his right leg over the shoulder while holding Gordon’s right wrist to prevent him from pulling the arm out and free. Once he got his leg over the shoulder, Albazi switches to holding the head down so he can begin to lock up the triangle to hold him in place. With his ankles locked, the choke is not in yet and Albazi begins the process of breaking down Gordon’s defenses.
Gordon stands up and leans forward into Albazi to try and prevent him from tightening the triangle up, who starts softening him up with hard elbows to the head, forcing Gordon to drop to his knee. The entire time throughout, Albazi will grab his shin and pull it tighter, slowly increasing the pressure on Gordon. Strikes, grab shin, back to strikes. After Gordon drops to the knee, Albazi pulls down on his head again, compressing his legs, prompting Gordon to stand and try to pressure down on Albazi again. It’s no use, as Albazi is doing all the little things right. Constantly extending his hips to allow him to tighten the triangle even further by pulling his shin, making sure Gordon’s right arm is stuck across his body, and continuously squeezing throughout, rather than a burst of pressure. Textbook triangle choke with a beautiful transition to start it off. Albazi is one to watch, and I’m excited for his next fight.