The mount is probably the most static position in mixed martial arts. It’s rare to see a fighter move past a position he can hit hard from, and there’s no where you can hit harder from than the mount.

Every fighter in the sport is willing to admit that if you’re in the mount, you’re in about the best shape you can be. There’s no way that the judges are going to look the other way about a position like that, and the chances that the fight is even going to go to the judges are slim to none.

Fighters look for the mount to finish, but there’s a way that they finish way more than any other, and it’s something that’s strange, given the number of grapplers in MMA.

The viceral nature of the sport makes everyone feel like strikes are the be all and the end all, especially from a position where you have some much control over them. That’s why even the top Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters don’t finish with submissions from the mount, even when an opponent throws their arms up to protect them from strikes.

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Now, the reign of Tito Ortiz did alot of things to jiu-jitsu in MMA, and, realistically speaking, Tito has had a deep affect on jiu-jitsu because of his innovations in the groundnpound. While it’s easy to credit guys like Fedor, who appear much later, with smashing many of the conventions of the jiu-jitsu game, Tito was there first, and was the biggest enabler of this style of fighting.

The problem for alot of guys with great grappling skills was that their opponents could wait through a few rounds and win on the judges scorecards. While the layngay attack was often booed, it became a popular style for wrestlers who cared more about winning than about pulling out the big finish.

That said, there was a development within alot of submission grappling circles that revolutionized all of this, that helped guys beat their opponents without breaking down their posture and without their opponents forcing their head into their opponents chest.

While the game has not become quite as popular in MMA (because of the way that the broken down guard has become popular among heavyweights and the way the rubber guard has gained popularity among lightweights) the intermediary between the two has found its way into alot of ground games and enables both of these other fighting styles.

Basically, the opponent postures up and, instead of trying to break them down, you follow them up and proceed for a hip-sweep, kimura or guillotine. These finishes have alot of power purely in the basis that they either force the opponent to drop their shoulder, breaking their posture for you, or that they put you in a top position or a finishing position.

The intermediary, sitting up position has been challenged by those who don’t think that it works, because it doesn’t seem to stand on its own. That, though, is why it appeals to so many grapplers, and has worked so effectively as a way to set up the well controlled guard or the rubber guard.

The reason it hasn’t become as prevalent in MMA is because, realistically speaking, the quality of jiu-jitsu is lower amongst MMA fighters than amongst guys who strictly train BJJ. Still, we’ve seen BJ Penn and Shinya Aoki sit up and threaten with the kimura to set up their rubber guard games, we’ve seen Fabricio Werdum use it to finish fights against Aleks Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem. It’s a game that works for guys who have the patience to make it work, and while it is not the final evolution of the guard, it is certainly a development that we are starting to see among the upper echelong of jiu-jitsu guys in MMA.

This is part 3 in a four part series. Here are links to parts one and two.

It seems like common sense, doesn’t it? If you don’t get punched in the face, it’s going to be hard to get TKO’d. Still, it took fighters a long time to learn how to efficiently break down their opponents.

The common dictum in modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that an opponent without posture is not going to pass your guard, he’s not in a position to attack. He’s more or less forced into the defensive, because his arms are easy to control, his hips have no power and his head is buried in your chest, greatly limiting his ability to see what you’re doing.

Historically speaking, the strategy appears in part at UFC 4, but Royce Gracie didn’t really break down Kimo Leopoldo’s posture, he just spent alot of time trying.

The fact is, you can’t performa triangle choke on a postured opponent. You can’t pull a guillotine or a kimura off the bottom against an opponent who’s got his balance, so the fact that this development is really only used by BJJ blackbelts like Gabriel Gonzaga (see his fight with Carmello Marrero) and Fabricio Werdum during his Pride career. It’s a standard procedure in the Royler Gracie lineage of BJJ, and most purple belts can pull it off, but the advent of the can opener and other neck cranks out of the guard position has made the game extremely uncomfortable for anyone fighting a strong wrestler.

Still, expect to see the game more and more in the coming years, especially from the UFC lightweight and heavyweight divisions, where there are plenty of blackbelts comfortable fighting off of their backs.

This is the second in a four part series. Here’s the link to part one.

We are getting close to wrapping up the Ultimate Fighter Season 6 and I wanted to take a look back at all of the fighters that were pardoned from The Ultimate Fighter during the past six seasons to see where they presently stood in MMA. Some of these fighters were removed from the show willingly or due of injury while others were yanked off television at the hands of an angry Dana White. I did not include fighters who did not make it past Week 1 because there’s nothing to really take from their performance on the show. In the end, we can determine if The Ultimate Fighter was a stepping stone for fighters or merely advertising for the UFC. Then we’ll take a look at how these guys stack up to the ex-TUF fighters who are still in the UFC.

Noah Inhofer: This spectacled fighter seemed like he had a chance to shine as a TUF 3 contestant back in 2005, but things quickly changed after he received a message from his girlfriend stating that there were some problems back home. Inhofer decided he wanted to leave immediately and end his stint as an Ultimate Fighter to be with his friends and family. This is where the famous Dana White “do you wanna be a fighter” speech comes back to the show after the first season. Although White was able to paint a very sharp picture of a possible career-ending decision to Inhofer, this didn’t stop him from leaving and the now ex-UFC fighter went on the record after departing the show to defend his actions.

“People say that they would give up everything for the ones they love. I feel honored that I actually got to do that, not that she was the lone reason,” Inhofer said in an interview Thursday afternoon. “The point is, I knew she was hurting, and I’m not the kind of person that could let that go. It would have been selfish of me to know she was going through these hard times without me being by her side.”

It wasn’t just all about leaving the show either. Inhofer claims that the producers added some drama to the situation as well.

“All of the things on there happened, but they’re taken out of context,” he said. “Also the producers can find things in order to push you in a certain direction.

“If you had a TV show where everyone got along, people wouldn’t watch it.”

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If the UFC and Dana White want the best guys who are quickly moving up through the ranks, they should have paid more attention to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, a young and dangerous Judo and Muay Thai fighter. Why Sokoudjou? Well, any fighter who comes off of two knockout wins against Brazilian Top Team light-heavyweight fighters Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Noguiera, while up against 16-1 odds, should be given a chance to showcase more of their skills in the largest MMA Organization in the world.

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Now that we are in Week 5 and my decision to continue with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training has been communicated, I have decided to mix up the layout of the White Collar Submission column. This column focuses on my development while training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while working and being a full-time husband and father.

Week 5 consisted of a Saturday class with a different instructor and an entirely different, albeit extremely useful, format.

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Welcome to the newest installment of White Collar Submission. This article is written through my point of view as a typical person who is attempting to learn how to fight in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

This article combines the second half of Week 2 and Week 3 into one large article. Keep reading to keep updated with my progress with learning the Jiu-Jitsu fighting style.

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Welcome to Week 2 of White Collar Submission. I will take you through MMA training from the viewpoint of a young white collar husband and father of two. After a rough first week of Jiu-Jitsu training, I wasn’t sure how my body would react to another night of grappling. Considering that I spend most of my working days sitting at a desk in the air conditioning, my body was in shock after attempting so much physical labor.

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Welcome to the first installment of White Collar Submission. This is where I will personally take the plunge to begin learning and training different MMA fighting styles. Once I feel comfortable with my abilities, I will then take my skills to the ring. Welcome to Mixed Martial Arts for the regular guy. Want to learn what it takes? Keep reading.

About Me: I’m in my mid-twenties and I am married with two young children. I stand 5′8″ and weigh 147. I have never been in a fight where more than two punches were thrown.

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