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- Apr 27, 2015
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As the man with perhaps the most devastating, fearsome top game in Mixed Martial Arts today, Nurmagomedov knows where his bread is buttered. The majority of what Nurmagomedov does on the feet is designed to put his opponent in position to be taken down.
Once on top of his man, his entire game opens up. Nurmagomedov combines devastating ground striking with incredible positional grappling and guard-passing savvy. The most unique aspect of Nurmagomedov’s game is his unparalleled ability to switch tracks, seamlessly flowing between ground striking, folkstyle control positions, and a comprehensive tripod and knee-cut passing game.
While his top-game involves a progression of transitions and control positions resembling an endless flow-chart with counters prepared to deal with each and every reaction, his game on the feet is forced to deal with a bottleneck.
Although Nurmagomedov possesses some of the best chain wrestling in MMA, his initial shot is not particularly fast and his timing and setups are greatly lacking. A preference for operating at long range on the feet and discomfort in the pocket compounds this problem. Most of his shots are executed from far away and he lacks the programmed reactions in his striking to slip or duck under punches in order to hit reactive takedowns.
These issues create an inherent contradiction in his game – in order to take opponents down, Nurmagomedov must first get them to the cage to get in cleanly on the hips, but his striking skillset makes that difficult. Fortunately for Nurmagomedov, he’s developed several tactics to deal with the contradiction.
In his early career, Nurmagomedov would maintain distance until he found his own back on the cage, before catching an underhook in an exchange or ducking in on the hips to reverse his opponent toward the cage.
The problem with drawing opponents onto him this way is that it puts Nurmagomedov in an inferior position and largely relies on the actions of his opponent to open up the clinch. A more patient, thoughtful striker would perhaps be able to use throwaway strikes to pick at Nurmagomedov and avoid rushing into the clinch.
More recently, Nurmagomedov has been developing an effective pressure game. By moving forward and taking ground, he can proactively force his opponent’s back to the cage. Although Nurmagomedov relentlessly walked down Edson Barboza, who is particularly vulnerable to pressure, the best example of his pressure game as a delivery system for his grappling came in his fight with Michael Johnson
Nurmagomedov would give ground to avoid Johnson’s sharp, fast straight punches, before immediately resuming the forward pressure. He was able to walk the delicate line of backing up to avoid the offense of Johnson, while still maintaining a net gain in ground throughout most of the fight, before eventually pushing Johnson to the cage and taking him down.
While his pressure is effective, it is not perfect. It is very difficult to consistently pressure a sound outfighter when you must give ground to avoid his offense, as Rory MacDonald can attest after his frustrating loss at the hands of Stephen Thompson.
There’s Something in the Water
Like most of the Dagestani fighters that seem to be kicking around in MMA, Nurmagomedov possesses a relentless style of wrestling. Nurmagomedov attacks the upper body as well as the legs, seamlessly transitioning between takedowns as openings become available. The basic principle behind chain-wrestling is that an opponent’s defense to a given takedown exposes certain openings, which can be capitalized on by switching to another takedown. Nurmagomedov possesses some of the strongest chain-wrestling in MMA.
Nurmagomedov used a single leg cut-back as his go-to takedown in his early career. While it was strong enough to get him into the UFC, a lack of strong setups for the single leg forced him to shoot from far outside, which lead to issues once he started facing stronger wrestlers. Gleison Tibau famously held Nurmagomedov to zero takedown completions in their fight, primarily by catching an underhook and pulling Nurmagomedov up into the clinch whenever he shot.
Since the Tibau fight, Nurmagomedov has adjusted his wrestling game, developing a devastating clinch game with strong upper-body takedowns to deal with opponents who can reliably use an underhook.
In his current form, Nurmagomedov primarily uses his shots not to finish takedowns, but as a starting point to push his opponents onto the cage. The cage acts as a backstop, preventing them from creating distance and allowing Nurmagomedov to get close to their hips, where he can work his incredible chain wrestling. Shooting his opponents to the cage also limits the degree to which Nurmagomedov needs to pressure, as he can reliably stick opponents on the cage with a shot once he has his feet near the black line of the central octagon.
Once Nurmagomedov has his man on the cage, he will usually come up into the clinch and work his upper body takedowns. Instead of trying to force the single leg through an opponent’s underhook, Nurmagomedov will use a body lock to nullify the underhook.
Nurmagomedov clamps his hands together behind his opponent’s back and squeezes tightly. The opponent’s underhook is pinned to his ribs, and he is left unable to exert leverage on it. Once Nurmagomedov has a tight body lock, he will step outside the underhook-side leg and block it for an outside trip, or trip the opposite leg out from inside if his opponent offers resistance.
https://gfycat.com/tensewhirlwindfurseal
Along with tripping out the legs, Nurmagomedov will lift opponents straight up from the body lock. The first sequence is truly incredible: Nurmagomedov picks dos Anjos up and attempts an inside trip on the right leg. When he fails that, he keeps dos Anjos in the air and swings him around while bringing his right leg forward to block dos Anjos’ left from planting, before tipping him over it with his upper body. Truly one of the most ridiculous takedowns I’ve ever seen in MMA.
Continued here as we discuss his skilled guard passing, devastating ground and pound, and innovative riding game.
Once on top of his man, his entire game opens up. Nurmagomedov combines devastating ground striking with incredible positional grappling and guard-passing savvy. The most unique aspect of Nurmagomedov’s game is his unparalleled ability to switch tracks, seamlessly flowing between ground striking, folkstyle control positions, and a comprehensive tripod and knee-cut passing game.
While his top-game involves a progression of transitions and control positions resembling an endless flow-chart with counters prepared to deal with each and every reaction, his game on the feet is forced to deal with a bottleneck.
Although Nurmagomedov possesses some of the best chain wrestling in MMA, his initial shot is not particularly fast and his timing and setups are greatly lacking. A preference for operating at long range on the feet and discomfort in the pocket compounds this problem. Most of his shots are executed from far away and he lacks the programmed reactions in his striking to slip or duck under punches in order to hit reactive takedowns.
These issues create an inherent contradiction in his game – in order to take opponents down, Nurmagomedov must first get them to the cage to get in cleanly on the hips, but his striking skillset makes that difficult. Fortunately for Nurmagomedov, he’s developed several tactics to deal with the contradiction.
In his early career, Nurmagomedov would maintain distance until he found his own back on the cage, before catching an underhook in an exchange or ducking in on the hips to reverse his opponent toward the cage.
The problem with drawing opponents onto him this way is that it puts Nurmagomedov in an inferior position and largely relies on the actions of his opponent to open up the clinch. A more patient, thoughtful striker would perhaps be able to use throwaway strikes to pick at Nurmagomedov and avoid rushing into the clinch.
More recently, Nurmagomedov has been developing an effective pressure game. By moving forward and taking ground, he can proactively force his opponent’s back to the cage. Although Nurmagomedov relentlessly walked down Edson Barboza, who is particularly vulnerable to pressure, the best example of his pressure game as a delivery system for his grappling came in his fight with Michael Johnson
Nurmagomedov would give ground to avoid Johnson’s sharp, fast straight punches, before immediately resuming the forward pressure. He was able to walk the delicate line of backing up to avoid the offense of Johnson, while still maintaining a net gain in ground throughout most of the fight, before eventually pushing Johnson to the cage and taking him down.
While his pressure is effective, it is not perfect. It is very difficult to consistently pressure a sound outfighter when you must give ground to avoid his offense, as Rory MacDonald can attest after his frustrating loss at the hands of Stephen Thompson.
There’s Something in the Water
Like most of the Dagestani fighters that seem to be kicking around in MMA, Nurmagomedov possesses a relentless style of wrestling. Nurmagomedov attacks the upper body as well as the legs, seamlessly transitioning between takedowns as openings become available. The basic principle behind chain-wrestling is that an opponent’s defense to a given takedown exposes certain openings, which can be capitalized on by switching to another takedown. Nurmagomedov possesses some of the strongest chain-wrestling in MMA.
Nurmagomedov used a single leg cut-back as his go-to takedown in his early career. While it was strong enough to get him into the UFC, a lack of strong setups for the single leg forced him to shoot from far outside, which lead to issues once he started facing stronger wrestlers. Gleison Tibau famously held Nurmagomedov to zero takedown completions in their fight, primarily by catching an underhook and pulling Nurmagomedov up into the clinch whenever he shot.
Since the Tibau fight, Nurmagomedov has adjusted his wrestling game, developing a devastating clinch game with strong upper-body takedowns to deal with opponents who can reliably use an underhook.
In his current form, Nurmagomedov primarily uses his shots not to finish takedowns, but as a starting point to push his opponents onto the cage. The cage acts as a backstop, preventing them from creating distance and allowing Nurmagomedov to get close to their hips, where he can work his incredible chain wrestling. Shooting his opponents to the cage also limits the degree to which Nurmagomedov needs to pressure, as he can reliably stick opponents on the cage with a shot once he has his feet near the black line of the central octagon.
Once Nurmagomedov has his man on the cage, he will usually come up into the clinch and work his upper body takedowns. Instead of trying to force the single leg through an opponent’s underhook, Nurmagomedov will use a body lock to nullify the underhook.
Nurmagomedov clamps his hands together behind his opponent’s back and squeezes tightly. The opponent’s underhook is pinned to his ribs, and he is left unable to exert leverage on it. Once Nurmagomedov has a tight body lock, he will step outside the underhook-side leg and block it for an outside trip, or trip the opposite leg out from inside if his opponent offers resistance.
https://gfycat.com/tensewhirlwindfurseal
Along with tripping out the legs, Nurmagomedov will lift opponents straight up from the body lock. The first sequence is truly incredible: Nurmagomedov picks dos Anjos up and attempts an inside trip on the right leg. When he fails that, he keeps dos Anjos in the air and swings him around while bringing his right leg forward to block dos Anjos’ left from planting, before tipping him over it with his upper body. Truly one of the most ridiculous takedowns I’ve ever seen in MMA.
Continued here as we discuss his skilled guard passing, devastating ground and pound, and innovative riding game.
