“Here is a good fight from the recent UFC 200 event and I had some questions regarding the southpaw in the green trunks."

Johny Hendricks vs Kelvin Gastelum Fight Video - UFC 200 Prelim | AllFreeFightVideos | FightVideoMMA | UFC - MMA - Mixed Martial Arts Fight Videos Online

"1. His jab seems to be pretty decent mixing up body and head shots. Would you agree?

2. Why is it so many fighters now keep their lead hand low yet still manage to punch and defend effectively? Is this a lack of skill or on purpose?

3. His kicking and punching game seemed to be synced up well what is he doing that made him successful?”

Thanks,

Sean

1. His Jab: He used outside [oblique] steps to score and then closed his guard as seen at 4:08. He does not show a lot of hand variety in the jab but a lot of varied mobility and is committed to using it as a probe, not to score points or keep a guy off him, but to breakdown his guard and limited his mobility. His willingness to change direction from a closed guard, while jabbing instead of just stopping and starting or hopping in and out, was clutch against this grappling opponent.

2. Low Lead Hand: His wing block, as seen at 2:17, is working over his pivot. The key is he is taller, faster and has better footwork. With these three a low guard gets the other guy to throw so he will open up. When he throws the jab—which is now a high hand because it is a rising jab, he throws the straight rear hand as a sinker, transferring his weight from rear hip to lead knee while only the hand goes forward, with his head getting off line. To get away with the low lead you need to be taller, faster, have better footwork, and keep your chin tucked. It also helps to have a wing block that works on the highline.

3. What… Made Him Successful: He was not afraid to extend both hands over the shorter man’s arms and kept his chin tucked while doing so. This was an ancient Greek tactic called akrocherismos or "highhandedness" and something Ali and the Klitsckhos did a lot. While playing the kicking game he is not using the high shell guard, but extending a hand or two to keep this shaven polar bear from taking him down. At 3:34 he uses a stiff arm to check the clinch with the palm to head and ruin the opponent’s left hand, which does not work if he is going against a guy his height. At 5:30 we see what I like about MMA, it has taught boxers to work the clinch like they did 120 years ago when all the best pro boxers sparred with wrestlers so that they could learn to hit hard from the clinch, as the referee had not yet become the intrusive busybody he is today.

Our Latino fighter here has awesome footwork and was going up against a wrestler that has but one punch and has no concept of broken rhythm motion. In this fight Hendricks should have been more aggressive about the takedown and not relied on his rear hand power punch, but used it on the ground from the mount.