Rory's guard work

[Turtlepawah]

I was watching Rory MacDonald's fight against Jon Fitch, and was very surprised to see how amateurish Rory's work from the guard looked. Several times he went for kimuras that weren't there, went for arm bars and triangels when he was already stacked and had no chance of generating enough leverage to make it work. He even went for rubber guard a couple of times, a position which I thought every sane fighter had abandoned at this point. When in butterfly, he actually lay with his back to the mat and hips squared and just tried lifting Fitch with his legs, kinda similair to the Maia fight where Maia's only moment of success was when he smashed through Rory's butterfly.

Of course, Fitch deserves credit for being very effective in controlling Rory and pushing him up against the cage, so it might just be that he is good enough to make one of the best fighters in the world look bad. Still, I hadn't expected so many unsound decisions from a guy that's been training under Firas Zahabi for so many year. Where did his fundamentals go?

 

[yetanother]

What's wrong with rubber guard to stall for a standup?

 

[BCNASH]

Well when I saw him in a match against JT Torres he looked like he knew what he was doing, so I gonna say getting hit in the head probably had a bit to do with his technique deteriorating. Not trying to be a dick, but have you ever fought an MMA fight and tried to have a good guard game? It isn't easy, especially as the fight goes on and sweat becomes worse. Also, maybe he was catching his breath because he didn't feel threatened when he had Fitch in his guard? A lot of variables at work...

 

[Zankou]

Compare how Jacare’s guard fared last night and I’d say Rory looked a BJJ wizard by comparison.

 

[RJ Green]

it's almost like the meta game leans towards not conceding bottom position against someone as/more skilled than you, especially when they can punch you in the face...

 

[GODZILLA213]

Rory looked like shit all around last night. His post fight speech didn't exactly inspire confidence for his next fight either.

 

[thugpoet]

When punches are involved it's better to NOT be on the bottom. Mma guard work hasn't evolved much in the past 10 years.

Even the Bjj style guys work the top

 

[mattemate]

Compare how Jacare’s guard fared last night and I’d say Rory looked a BJJ wizard by comparison.

Man I was thinking the same. Jacare just held closed guard and didn't do much. I think that three punch combo in Rd 1 hurt him pretty bad and he just couldn't get it rolling til round three, and then he was basically gassed

 

[popac]

When punches are involved it's better to NOT be on the bottom. Mma guard work hasn't evolved much in the past 10 years.

Even the Bjj style guys work the top

Ortega seems to have a good guard, but I don't know much about jj

 

[mattemate]

Ortega seems to have a good guard, but I don't know much about jj

Demian Maia actually did more for BJJ in modern MMA than anyone in the last five years easily. More guys should adapt his name. He ran into a better athlete in Woodley but his too notch BJJ kept him in there.

His passing, positional dominance and control, and submissions were really sharp.

I'd REALLY like to see him train a generation of new fighters.

If you want to see some great stuff look at BJJ scouts studies on him.

 

[Turtlepawah]

Compare how Jacare’s guard fared last night and I’d say Rory looked a BJJ wizard by comparison.

Man I was thinking the same. Jacare just held closed guard and didn't do much. I think that three punch combo in Rd 1 hurt him pretty bad and he just couldn't get it rolling til round three, and then he was basically gassed

Then I think you should really watch both fights again. While not amounting to anything, Jacare displayed a really solid defensive closed guard. He controlled Hermansson's posture, blocked most of the strikes and didn't waste too much energy. I would also say that he was actually working pretty actively to trap arms and create angles in order to set up sweeps and subs, but Hermansson's did a good job of nullifying all of this. It might not have won Jacare the round, but it was bjj 101. Rory on the other hand spend his time back flat and hips squared and most importantly stacked, which not only made him carry Fitch's weight the entire time, but also made every single sub attempt he threw completely futile.

The point I am making is not that Rory should have been able to hit flashy shit, it's that he made descisions that made him look like a rookie, and this surprises me.

 

[tekkenfan]

I was watching Rory MacDonald's fight against Jon Fitch, and was very surprised to see how amateurish Rory's work from the guard looked. Several times he went for kimuras that weren't there, went for arm bars and triangels when he was already stacked and had no chance of generating enough leverage to make it work. He even went for rubber guard a couple of times, a position which I thought every sane fighter had abandoned at this point. When in butterfly, he actually lay with his back to the mat and hips squared and just tried lifting Fitch with his legs, kinda similair to the Maia fight where Maia's only moment of success was when he smashed through Rory's butterfly.

Of course, Fitch deserves credit for being very effective in controlling Rory and pushing him up against the cage, so it might just be that he is good enough to make one of the best fighters in the world look bad. Still, I hadn't expected so many unsound decisions from a guy that's been training under Firas Zahabi for so many year. Where did his fundamentals go?

some guys just have bad nights man i promise you rory is more technical than 90% of guys on here iv seen him working his guard in the gym he is very good loves x guard to stand back up

 

[tekkenfan]

Demian Maia actually did more for BJJ in modern MMA than anyone in the last five years easily. More guys should adapt his name. He ran into a better athlete in Woodley but his too notch BJJ kept him in there.

His passing, positional dominance and control, and submissions were really sharp.

I'd REALLY like to see him train a generation of new fighters.

If you want to see some great stuff look at BJJ scouts studies on him.

this..
maia byf ar is the best rep of bjj in mma then its prob rani yahra next

jacares great o doubt but he uses alot of his athleticism and explosiveness to his advantage and boxes a lot today vs maia maia is much more methodical in his approach i feel

 

[mataleaos]

Demian Maia actually did more for BJJ in modern MMA than anyone in the last five years easily. More guys should adapt his name. He ran into a better athlete in Woodley but his too notch BJJ kept him in there.

His passing, positional dominance and control, and submissions were really sharp.

I'd REALLY like to see him train a generation of new fighters.

If you want to see some great stuff look at BJJ scouts studies on him.

Agreed. I wish Maia did one thing more and it's not a critique. I would like to see him threaten some arm triangle, kimura, or brabo attempts on his guard passing. Only because I'd like to study how he implements that. But I have zero qualms with his game and I think he essentially perfected his BJJ for MMA.

 

[Turtlepawah]

Agreed. I wish Maia did one thing more and it's not a critique. I would like to see him threaten some arm triangle, kimura, or brabo attempts on his guard passing. Only because I'd like to study how he implements that. But I have zero qualms with his game and I think he essentially perfected his BJJ for MMA.

No doubt about it, Maia is brilliant. My passing a-game, both leg weave and half guard, is more or less stolen from him, with some slight modifications that allows me to land straight into a mounted arm triangle. A put my head under the guarders arm pit, cross faces with the opposite arm, and after that it's just there. God how I wished I could attend a seminar with him, or even take a private some time.

 

[yetanother]

No doubt about it, Maia is brilliant.God how I wished I could attend a seminar with him, or even take a private some time.

The structure of his game is good, single legs and half complement each other very well even in pure bjj.
It's interesting how much of the success with what he does is in teachable technical details or just perfection in execution.

 

[Escabar]

this..
maia byf ar is the best rep of bjj in mma then its prob rani yahra next

jacares great o doubt but he uses alot of his athleticism and explosiveness to his advantage and boxes a lot today vs maia maia is much more methodical in his approach i feel

I think Werdum might be the second best rep of bjj after Maia, arguably number one when you look at who he's subbed. Ironic Jacare dominated Werdum in bjj even threw him around despite being so much smaller, he's lost a lot his explosiveness.

 

[Coconutwater]

it's almost like the meta game leans towards not conceding bottom position against someone as/more skilled than you, especially when they can punch you in the face...

Kron Gracie is the last hope for a really offensive guard.

If he can’t do it in the time allotted, nobody can.

 

[RJ Green]

holy shit you guys, i've been doing this for 15 years and just realized offensive guard is an oxymoron

 

[Judoka1532]

I was watching Rory MacDonald's fight against Jon Fitch, and was very surprised to see how amateurish Rory's work from the guard looked. Several times he went for kimuras that weren't there, went for arm bars and triangels when he was already stacked and had no chance of generating enough leverage to make it work. He even went for rubber guard a couple of times, a position which I thought every sane fighter had abandoned at this point. When in butterfly, he actually lay with his back to the mat and hips squared and just tried lifting Fitch with his legs, kinda similair to the Maia fight where Maia's only moment of success was when he smashed through Rory's butterfly.

Of course, Fitch deserves credit for being very effective in controlling Rory and pushing him up against the cage, so it might just be that he is good enough to make one of the best fighters in the world look bad. Still, I hadn't expected so many unsound decisions from a guy that's been training under Firas Zahabi for so many year. Where did his fundamentals go?

Jacare's guard work was not impressive at all. To be such a decorated grappler, I just thought he accepted that position and tried to ride the round out.

BJJ is a very unique aspect of mma. Some of the best are good at certain aspects and not for others.