Bear hugs in the UFC and MMA

[Robbocop]

Perhaps this topic has been discussed before, however I have this question for my fellow sherdoggers:

Has there ever been a submission via bear hug in the UFC?

In my mind, you could kill a man by squeezing him to death from the front in a bear hug. However, I see this move is not banned in the UFC under the rules of restricted techniques (Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts). Also, it doesn't seem to be a submission that fighters ever go for.

So I wonder, why is that? Is the bear hug actually not an effective technique in MMA? Or in fact is it the case that the only submission from a bear hug is a broken spine and fighters do not wish to kill or cripple their opponents?

Any opinions from sherdoggers, mma historians or those familiar with the grappling arts are welcome.

 

[Wormwood]

Khabib exposed the uselessness of hugs from bears decades ago..

 

[OldBoy91]

Dunno about a straight up bear hug but we have seen people having their ribs squeezed in MMA and tapping to it.

We have seen a couple of scorpion crunches in MMA, yeah that sounds like a pro wrestling move but it's legit. Basically like a bear hug but with the legs instead of the arms, applied from the bottom when a guy is in your full guard.

 

[SuperNerd]

notworking.gif

 

[RemyR]

 

[2004 account]

Didnt paul varelans try one in a real fight once? Rip

 

[kingofthecans]

Khabib exposed the uselessness of hugs from bears decades ago..

Sorry but a wild bear would fucking kill him. My uncle's friend was killed by one and if that dude got killed by one then Khabib would be too.

 

[Robbocop]

Just thinking out loud, I question if a 55kg or 70kg guy could kill a man with a bear hug, but I do tend to believe a 100kg+ (220 pounds+) adult male could kill a man with a bear hug.

Perhaps it only is effective vs a smaller opponent? e.g. a 100kg (220 pounds) guy vs a 70kg guy (155 pounds).

And actually we don't often get MMA fights with size mismatches these days, so maybe that's why we never see the good ol' bear hug.

 

[no fat chicks]

If would have to be a outrageous mismatch

 

[Anewt]

 

[NoSmilez]

Fk off bear hug enthusiast. We all Dim Mak supporters here.

 

[wwkirk]

Taking the question somewhat seriously, the main use for bear hugs in MMA is from the bottom to prevent getting GnP'd. Not the way bears do it, but it used to work fairly often.

 

[Ozze]

Because of the scorpion kick.

 

[HHJ]

Sorry but a wild bear would fucking kill him. My uncle's friend was killed by one and if that dude got killed by one then Khabib would be too.

Your uncle's friend wrestling is ZERO
His grappling is ZERO

 

[Krixes]

 

[rmongler]

The phrase 'the juice is not worth the squeeze' has a rather literal application here. You will burn your arms out before you could seriously threaten a fit man of equal or greater size, and of course his own arms are free to crossface or interfere with the hold in other ways, too.

There *are* submissions that work through chest compression, but they involve using specific body structures to act as wedges and gain mechanical advantage, such as the scarfhold chest compression, or body scissors jackpot.

Para exemple:

 

[Xuh]

The Yeti (sorry, Yet-teh) would be longest-running UFC champ if MMA had been a thing when he was in his prime

edit: bah gif no worku. Looks like I jumped the gun on praising the mods a moment ago

 

[Liverkick-king56]

Dunno about a straight up bear hug but we have seen people having their ribs squeezed in MMA and tapping to it.

We have seen a couple of scorpion crunches in MMA, yeah that sounds like a pro wrestling move but it's legit. Basically like a bear hug but with the legs instead of the arms, applied from the bottom when a guy is in your full guard.

It's also only effective over guys who are new to martial arts. Just like getting taps with body triangles.
I've tapped tons of friends with this move just to be fancy but every time I went for it against a more experienced grappler it just ended up being a body triangle type situation where in gassing myself more than I'm hurting my opponent.

 

[blaseblase]

It's also only effective over guys who are new to martial arts. Just like getting taps with body triangles.
I've tapped tons of friends with this move just to be fancy but every time I went for it against a more experienced grappler it just ended up being a body triangle type situation where in gassing myself more than I'm hurting my opponent.

Pettis tapped to a body triangle

 

[Liverkick-king56]

Pettis tapped to a body triangle

He twisted himself into an injury. I doubt somebody his size could squeeze him into a tap if he just sat there.