Hatsu Hioki

[Wrestler160]

How does he always go to side control so easy? Every fight I've seen of his, he'll go right into side control or sometimes mount right away. With that being said, do you think he could submit Marlon Sandro?

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

Yes, I do think he could submit Marlon Sandro. I think he's the single most underrated bjj stylist in MMA. His ground game is incredible, but unfortunately he fights with the strategy of a beginner. He outgrappled Daisuke "Amazon" Sugie and Baret Yoshida soundly, and they are world class black belts.

 

[Chute Stomp]

^^^
Daisuke Sugie? Was that a grappling match or something, cause i've never seen it and it's not on his record?

 

[jasoncyclops**]

and even more shocking is :
Hioki is not even a blackbelt yet, he's just a brown belt
damn, who's his instructor? anyone being able to outgrapple Baret Yoshida deserve a blackbelt

 

[Varth]

I think Marlon has a little too much power for him but the ground is definately dangerous territory for Marlon. Outgrappling a 2 time vice-champion of ADCC is no easy feat so he definately knows what he is doing.

 

[Connoisseur]

His guard passing is second to none, but it's true- he's had gameplanning/ strategy issues before. That said, he's said things lately which lead me to believe that he's focusing on fixing that hole in his game

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

^^^
Daisuke Sugie? Was that a grappling match or something, cause i've never seen it and it's not on his record?

It was a bjj match, in the gi I believe. I remember Hioki schooling him, and this was a few years ago.

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

and even more shocking is :
Hioki is not even a blackbelt yet, he's just a brown belt
damn, who's his instructor? anyone being able to outgrapple Baret Yoshida deserve a blackbelt

Not just outgrapple him. Cause in MMA sometimes you see a good grappler shut down because of the strikes. But Hioki outgrappled Yoshida from the bottom, sweeping him with an omoplata and mounting him with ease.

 

[Strykerx]

Hatsu Hioki vs Jose Aldo would be a sick match.

 

[Calibur]

According to Marc Laimon, he just has a stupid good inside underhook pass and when he does it the "knee slide" just smashes inside like a greasy wrecking ball.

 

[MrBen]

Anyone have any videos?

 

[pattheflip]

I haven't been back to Alive since 2008, but Amazon and Hatsu are the gym's top guns and I can't imagine them competing against each other--Hatsu didn't really compete with the gi very often while I was there, they're different weight classes, and Hatsu was (and still is?) a brown belt.

Hatsu's one of the three instructors at Alive (the others being Daisuke "Amazon" Sugie and Youichi Suzuki).

 

[Grey Kid]

I'm trying to picture an inside underhook pass.

Is this just where you pin one of your opponent's legs/knees to the mat while maintaining an underhook on his other leg - then you slide a knee over the pinned leg and start circling yourself towards that pinned side to pass?

 

[SILVAREDEMPTION]

Hioki is a superb grappler. his last display, dispatching Lawson in two minutes was really impressive. He has dominated top grapplers in the past, but Sandro posseses a different threat. I just think is a difficult match-up for Hioki, because Sandro is a typical Nova Uniao guy, being a good grappler with good TD defense, but adding deadly power in his hands. Hioki is an all-offense fighter, and though his stand-up is decent, his stance leaves him a little too much exposed to Sandro's power. Hioki has a good chin and he can survive some exchanges, but he can have problems to get it to ground, as he had with Inoue.
You can discount Hioki, with his quick transitions and incredible guard passing skills, but he is gonna be in permanent trouble as much as the fight stays on the feet. Either way that fight is a must happen, being both top 5 FWs fighting in the same org.