Sapo celebrates victory after coming close to finishing by arm-and-neck choke. Photo: Nick Laham, UFC
When mounted by your opponent, you have to keep your cool like the “seven Jiu-Jitsu aces taught here on GRACIEMAG.com (click here). Out of anxiousness to get out from bottom position, a fighter may end up exposing himself and ending up in some attack, like an arm-and-neck choke, for example.
At UFC 143 this Saturday in Las Vegas, Rafael Sapo got rocked and dropped and was taking a beating on the ground but recovered, floundered his way out from bottom position, and sent Michael Kuiper sailing through the air. Now on top and in the mount, Sapo sunk an arm-and-neck choke that he maintained until the final bell. Now if Michael Kuiper has his Jiu-Jitsu game up to par, he could have escaped the hold and not needed to be saved by the bell. How? Here’s how:
THE ARM SPELLING YOUR DOOM CAN BE YOUR SALVATION
Kurt Osiander is a Ralph Gracie black belt and gentle art scholar. In this video, Osiander demonstrates how the important part is to not leave your arm astray, but even if you can’t get it free, he teaches a last-ditch escape using the elbow and a slip of the hip.
