Finishing the fight - working the body

[Aaron]

by C.C Reicht

How many times in an MMA fight have we seen one fighter rock another with a hard punch or kick and then not capitalize and finish the fight? For me it happens far more often than it should. Most people will point to the reason for the rocked fighter not getting finished is a quick recovery time on his part, but in most cases I disagree. One of the key things that happens in MMA when one fighter rocks another is the fighter trying to finish the fight goes head hunting. When they do this one of three things generally happens:

1) The rocked fighter will swing wildly like Wanderlei Silva
2) They will shoot for a takedown
3) They just cover their head up.

This can put the fighter trying to finish the fight in a precarious position where they can either be rocked or knocked out themselves or put on their back allowing their opponent to get his wits about him. So what's the solution?

One of the most fundamental things in boxing is to go to the body. Once you hurt a fighter, don’t head hunt, work the body. What this does is make the other fighter concentrate on different areas that you are attacking and not be able to just cover up. Anybody that has taken a body shot that they didn’t see coming knows how much it can hurt and when you are already hurt this can lead to a fight ending.

Especially with MMA gloves, when a fighter just covers up to avoid getting punched in the face it leaves prime real estate for the other fighter to dig a hook, knee or kick into the liver. Now when a guy starts swinging wildly what going to the body does, is it puts your head below where his strikes are coming from, since he is most likely looking for a big head shot as well. This lessens the chance of you getting caught and increases the chances that you hurt your opponent.

Now, we have seen body work in MMA, but not nearly enough. Case in point, the famous Pete Sell vs Scott Smith fight. Sell hurt Smith badly with a liver shot and as Smith backed up Sell runs forward looking for the huge KO punch to the head and Smith KO’s Sell. Had Sell been little more cautious and looked to go back to the body, he most likely wins that fight. Or in the Liddell/Silva fight, at one point Chuck had Wanderlei up against the cage trying to tee off on Silva’s face all the while Silva’s body was there for the taking.

What I hope to see from MMA fighters that are going to boxing trainers like Freddie Roach would be for them to use body shots more throughout the fight to wear down and slow down their opponents and especially as a way to end a fight. My feeling on why this isn’t used as much as a way to finish is that fighters don’t think it is as spectacular as a KO coming from a punch to the head. While some fans may think this is true, there are others like me who find a fight that ended by a body shot to be just as satisfying.

One can hope that as MMA evolves and the fighters become more well rounded that this tactic is one of the things that will be used more often because if you want to see the effects of body punches I suggest watching De La Hoya/Hopkins, Ward/Sanchez, Arce/Rojas, Gatti/Dorin and many more because all these fights ended with a body shot. The fighter that lost I bet would tell you how effective working the body is.

discuss

[Wise]

Yeah even on the ground dropping knees on the body like GSP did to finish off Serra. I think guys are just so desperate to finish the guy off a lot of the time that they lose their head. Also you see a ton of fights where guys are throwing at a guy who is covering up, doing no damage but the ref stops it just because it looks like damage is being done.

A recent boxing fight where dude set up the KO with a body shot perfectly was Marquez vs Diaz.

[Drogo]

The main thing I see is that guys simply get too excited when they get a guy hurt and get too eager, too wild. Slow down and make sure your next punch after you hurt the guy lands. It doesn't have to be a home run shot, once the guy is hurt if you can pop him again with even a light punch it keeps him hurt.

GSP vs. Hughes II is the best example I can think of off the top of my head. He lands the kick on Hughes and drops him and then follows Hughes down and you can see GSP pause....measure him a bit....POW.

I can't count the number of times I see guys jump on someone and flail away while the guy covers up and recovers. Slow down tiger and make it count.

[Thaispider]

i think with some fighters they see ther opponent rocked and the adreneline takes over and they swing wildy trying to finish the fight in a spectuacular manner but if you look at the real top draw fighters such as GSP, Anderson Silva etc they have that extra bit of composure that controlled serebral aggression rather than all out cave man style attack when someone is rocked , but still seeing someone swing wildly is fun to watch just look at wanderlei.

[PirateNinja415]

i agree, more fighters should mixing up their striking by incorporating body shots. a lot of the guys that we see in the ufc are still developing their stand up and might not have the awareness to see an opening for a body shot or are just too caught up in the fight to go for the body. also, a lot of fighters work the body by using kicks, and we've seen the effectiveness of those in chuck vs jardine and rich vs hammil.

[JT42]

I couldnt agree with this more. I think many guys dont go into a fight planning to go all 3 rounds (or 5 for championship matches). I think every fighter who plans on trying to stand should start the match out by punishing the body and legs because by the third round usually that pays great dividends!

[Brad.Taschuk]

I don't know where the idea comes from that head shots are so much more exciting KO's than body shots anyways. I look at finshes like Loiseau-McCarthy (!!!!!!), Guillard-Ruediger, CroCop-Herring, and I think those are all off the charts. I love some Bas Rutten liver shot action!

I don't know how many times I scream for knees to the body when guys are in side control. Heath Herring made me so happy when he used them liberally against Kongo. Rampage is good at working the body on the ground too, both elbows and knees.

[vikingpride]

I don't know where the idea comes from that head shots are so much more exciting KO's than body shots anyways. I look at finshes like Loiseau-McCarthy (!!!!!!), Guillard-Ruediger, CroCop-Herring, and I think those are all off the charts. I love some Bas Rutten liver shot action!

I don't know how many times I scream for knees to the body when guys are in side control. Heath Herring made me so happy when he used them liberally against Kongo. Rampage is good at working the body on the ground too, both elbows and knees.

Damn i knew someone would beat me to the Bas reference.

It's almost like People don't seem to realize how much damage can be done with body shots. I was watching Rampage fight Igor V on one of the pride events and Rampage was on top and threw a body shot and Igor had to tap because it looked to have broke his freaking RIB (and Igor's a thick dude). So yeah Body shots can do huge damage. Hopefully fighters start throwing more of them.

[Meshuggeth]

Body shots are brutal. I've seen boxing matches where a guy just breaks down after one, sometimes because of a broken rib.

[RileyTP17]

I would like to see more body shots period, not for just finishing a fight. They wear your opponent down and set up those sweet highlight head KO's. Fighters have to start mixing up their strikes, and where they aim is a big part of that.

[Suizida]

I am still wondering why Paul Kelly stopped throwing the body shots in his last fight, he was owning melendez with em.

The best examples i can think of KO's that have a body shot in them are Anderson Silva v Rich Franklin 2, and Marquadt v Kapamann, if Marquadt didn't throw the body fight im sure the fight would've continued

[Gallows]

I agree with the sentiment of the thread: Concentrating on areas other than the head when your opponent is in a bad situation can be so much more effective.

Knees, punches, kicks to the body can be debilitating, and if your opponent recovers quickly, at least his energy level is going to be on the way down as it begins to get harder to breath.

I'm also a fan of vicious kicks and/or knees to the legs when your opponent is covering up since they are very unlikely to check those shots when worrying about their head.

[mls]

I'm also a fan of vicious kicks and/or knees to the legs when your opponent is covering up since they are very unlikely to check those shots when worrying about their head.

This is a typical Manhoef combo, little different then what you said but you will see why.

qhxulLbe9zQ

[Gallows]

This is a typical Manhoef combo, little different then what you said but you will see why.

Yeah I had a couple K1 fighters in mind when I said that.

As for that fight, Karaev wasn't worrying about checking the kick because he was unconcious. lol. I never get tired of seeing that vid though.

[Brad.Taschuk]

This is a typical Manhoef combo, little different then what you said but you will see why.

I still don't know why more guys don't finish combos with leg kicks instead of throwing them as single strikes.

[mls]

I still don't know why more guys don't finish combos with leg kicks instead of throwing them as single strikes.

My thinking is because in mma there aren't to many guys that have both good punches and kicks and to throw that combo and not get hit since you are inside for awhile you need to be good with both.

They just lack the skill and fluidity to put that combo together. Though GSP in the last couple fights has started throwing combos that end with leg kicks.

[vikingpride]

This is a typical Manhoef combo, little different then what you said but you will see why.

qhxulLbe9zQ

WOW That was a nasty combo and i'm sure if i could have actually seen what happened. I would have been even more impressed. It looks like someone just put the video on fast forward (search for you younger guys). How does the human body move that fast?

[XitUp]

If you've ever been hit in the liver you will love seeing people go for it in fights cos you know just how much it can take out of you.

I let my mate punch me there when I was drunk and I almost started crying.

[Superman55]

I love me some body shots. Completely underutilized in MMA. Why do you think Bas always emphasizes the liver shot, because it works.
I remember me and my boss were screwing around at work (its like 11:40, like 20 minutes before close), and he told me to punch this kid (He is a good friend of mine who worked there) in the kidney. So I did, he dropped instantly, one of the funniest things I have ever seen lol.

[PirateNinja415]

My thinking is because in mma there aren't to many guys that have both good punches and kicks and to throw that combo and not get hit since you are inside for awhile you need to be good with both.

They just lack the skill and fluidity to put that combo together. Though GSP in the last couple fights has started throwing combos that end with leg kicks.

forrest griffen is another fighter that will throw the leg kick at the end of a combo. it really throws their opponent off guard and doesn't really give them time to check the kick. it can also set up a body kick or a head kick if their opponent thinks they're going to their legs the whole time

[modsquad]

The Hilton brothers (David and Matthew) out of Montreal were good examples of boxers who consistently worked the body. They were more than happy to beat on an opponent's ribs and gut for 8 rounds to suck the life out of them, then finish the fight with head work. The difference though is that neither boxers nor kickboxers need to worry about being taken down. Fedor's a great example of an MMA fighter who will take a leg kick to the midsection, and still have the speed to grab the leg and put the fighter on his back.

What I don't understand is why more MMA fighters don't work their way up the ladder. Low kicks first to impede stability and mobility, then go torso. Work a knee and hamstring over first, to remove the speed and power of a takedown from an opponent (Fedor excluded). Then work the abdomen/diaphram with front kicks (underused) and ribs/liver/kidneys with side kicks. Then go for the head with feet or hands. Outside of a small group in MMA (CC, Cung Le, Gonzaga and maybe GSP to name a few) I don't think most trust their leg speed and power to work the midsection early in a fight without getting the leg caught and themselves taken down.

[plazzman]

Hmm, don't know why I just read this now? Great article Mr. Reicht o_0

PS: On the note of Body shots, I shall throw up the most infamous case of body shot goodness.

x82e1

[Brad.Taschuk]

Damn, I never get sick of watching that. So funny with Bas' commentary too, he gets so angry at DeLucia.

[plazzman]

"And DATS ven I broke his liver..BOOM, garrhhhh"

[Jack]

Hmm, don't know why I just read this now? Great article Mr. Reicht o_0

PS: On the note of Body shots, I shall throw up the most infamous case of body shot goodness.

x82e1

Damn plazz! Now I gotta change my pants.:o