By Brent Wilson
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I don't know why, but the subject of "finishers" in MMA is still on my mind. Really, I think the only way you could have a finisher in MMA would be being so adept with a submission hold that you are able to finish the majority of your opponents with it. There are plenty of guys like that, Giva "The Arm Collector" Santana has finished ten of his eleven wins with first round armbars, guys like Joe Stevenson and Pequeno Nogueira have killer guillotines, TUF Coach Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira introduced the Anaconda Choke to the masses with back to back wins with it in PRIDE, and several high level amateur wrestlers have shown to be adept with the D'Arce choke due to its similar setup to their familiar front headlock.
But I think special mention should be made of guys who not only can finish fights with the same submission, but also can do so with a wacky submission, making their "finisher" especially personal. Shinya Aoki and Brad Imes have done that with the gogoplata, current Shooto 143 lb. champ Hideki Kadowaki has finished opponents with the Kadowaki Special (Rear Naked Choke from Back Crucifix as seen here at 5:50 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3651x_rumina-sato-vs-hideki-kadowaki_sport)
Tristan Yunker has finished opponents with a keylock using his legs from top side control that he has dubbed the "Tarantula"
(0:55 vs. UFC vet John Halverson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OAQLte8KVM).
My personal favorite fighter in the world Masakazu Imanaris' finisher is right in his nickname. Ashikan Judan means Master of Leglocks and Imanari has lived up to it with 7 of his 15 wins coming by way of heel hook or toe hold. Imanari often sets up his attempts by baseball sliding at his opponents legs to wrap them up and has finished several black belts in this manner. Imanari was the final Cage Rage Featherweight Champ and is also famously the man who ripped up Jorge Gurgel's knee with a leglock, which had obvious consequences when Gurgel was on the Ultimate Fighter. The following linked fight has several of his leg lock attempts in it, but you should really watch the entire thing.
This was the fight I most enjoyed watching in 2007 solely for the wackiness put on display by both fighters. Ever wondered how the traditional martial art hourglass stance would work in MMA? How about solely using kicks, baseball slides and running laps as your offense? Well then Imanari vs. Hiroyuki Abe is the fight for you.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3b-lut0jyg)
As well here's an Imanari highlight reel showcasing several of his leg lock finishes, including the Gurgel one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ldw-TFeZqY&feature=related)
Show recap ---
In the intro they announce it will be a LHW fight tonight, they highlight that it'll either be Krzysztof Soszynski or Vinny Magalhaes from Team Mir, against either Kyle Kingsbury or Jules Bruchez from Team Nog. Kingsbury talks about how everyone thought Delgado was a bit of a puss, but that he acquitted himself well in the fight with Junie last week. Eliot Marshall points out that Junie did not come close to backing up his smack talk, Soszynski says his team knew Junies conditioning would be a sticking point. Frank Mir is all over Junie in the dressing room after the fight slamming his conditiong, telling him to keep his nose clean from now on in the house, he tells Junie that no one will fear him after that performance.
During training while Krzysztof is rolling around with Marshall he bends his thumb the wrong way while framing up a kimura. Soszynski feels it may be broken or fractued but that he can still make a fist and fight. Mir praises Vinny's ground game and BJJ talents but makes sure to point out that he's had trouble transitioning that skill to the actual fight.
In the Team Nog training session everyone emphasizes the light mood present there, we get footage of the team fooling around, leap frogging, and having a jolly old good time. Nogueira expresses how he wishes he had control to pick the fights now, although to be honest I think either of his guys would lose to either of Mirs guys.
Mir mentions how he didn't take conditioning seriously even after he became champion....Really? I am shocked to hear this highly shocking information. You couldn't tell by watching him flop around the cage whenever the fight lasted longer than three minutes at all.
Mir talks about how important anaerobic training is to prepare for a fight in addition to things like road work or hitting the treadmill.
They show the fighters working through circuit training, sprint intervals, and training with snorkels to try and replicate the explosions and lack of oxygen and buildup of lactic acid the body fights through in an actual fight. The fighters also hop into ice baths after training to help circulation...all this stuff looks like it sucks..... a lot.
Mir again praises Vinnys' ground game, we see Vinny setting up a flying armbar in practice, as well as holding his own while rolling with Mir. Both Mir and Vinny talk about how Vinny could hold his own in a straight BJJ match with Nogueira and feel that Nogueira is very basic on the mat. That statement actually isn't as blasphemous as you might think, although Nog would walk through him in MMA.
Back at the house both Jules and Phillipe Nover bake Big Nog a cake for his birthday and the team comes together for a big dinner. Shane Nelson and Vinny feel that Team Nog's togetherness is forced and fake. Nog feels that Team Mir will choose Vinny to face Jules which Nog says he also would have picked and that ends up being the fight Mir picks at the announcement.
Vinny was born in Rio, Brazil, he started BJJ at 13, is the BJJ coach at Team Quest Temecula, and has several grappling titles under his belt. In MMA when he's fought guys he's outmatched he's walked through them in seconds. If his opponent puts up resistance that's where Vinny has trouble, his takedowns aren't the best, nor is his standup. That can lead to him losing on the feet and needing to pull guard to get the fight to the floor and it's very difficult to win a fight from the bottom on the score cards. His conditioning has also been questionable so if Jules can push him into deep water he'll have a chance. Vinny used that right kick to injure Rashad Evans brother Lance and win in the first round.
Mir feels that Vinny has an excellent jab and straight right and that is stand up is coming along, a decent right head kick, and that's he's phenomenally strong.
Team Nog relates back to Minotauro how Vinny has been running his mouth about his prowess on the ground and how he feels Nog isn't that impressive in BJJ as he hasn't competed there in a while. Nog hits the nail on the head when he brings up that there's a huge difference between the BJJ mats and inside the cage, and that he didn't make Vinny his first pick as he feels Vinny has little balls.
Nog confronts Vinny about his words, Nog is angry and calls him and Vinny enemies from now on. Vinny backtracks claims Nog's team is lying to him and that Nog will see that Vinny never spoke poorly of him, and that Vinny has always admired Nog. Nog sees right through Vinny and isn't buying it at all and again reiterates that everything is recorded and he will be vindicated (I resisted making an awful pun there, you're welcome.) Vinny then says he won't kiss Nogs' ass.....little does he know every word they say is recorded and he was shown on film putting over Nog to his face bigtime. Or maybe he thought they wouldn't bother to translate his and Nogs' largely Portuguese conversation.
Nog feels that Jules has been greatly improving with his time here, that he has powerful hands, and a lot of heart. Jules won his fight in the opening round by a pretty rear naked choke set up with one arm in the first round by Eric Magee. Team Nog feels that Jules has a decent shot if he can keep the fight standing, they also feel Vinny doesn't like to get hit which is pretty spot on, the fact that Jules is a southpaw is also listed as a big advantage in making Vinny uncomfortable. This fight is really obvious to break down, Vinny wants the fight on the ground, Jules does not. Vinny talks up finishing the fight with his flying armbar.
For his next prank Soszynski gets a body bag and foam headstone to put on Jules bed. Unfortunately, Soszynski doesn't pull an Abyss and attempt to sell that the foam headstone weighs a bajillion pounds. Jules doesn't seem to care at all. The fight is clearly going short as we get some filler with a complete clipped reshowing of Jules first round fight, and both Jules and Vinny reiterating what they've already said about how the fight will go.
In the dressing room before the fight Vinny confesses he had a dream where Jules subbed him with an omoplata, yeah that's not happening. And in a strange continuity issue Vinny no longer has the bleached blonde hair he had while rolling on the mat a couple scenes ago. The editing so far has me deducing we'll see a quick Vinny win and that later in the season he'll bleach his hair.
Hey there's Dana! I guess this must have been a busy week for him as this is the first he's shown this episode, ring announcing the fight.
Vinny Magalhaes (2-2) vs. Jules Bruchez (0-0)
Round One
Vinny paws with a half-jab and throws two right high kicks that are blocked and a right inside leg kick that lands, Jules doesn't look too concerned as his hands are low to start and he's making no attempt to circle away for counter-strike. Jules lands an inside leg kick of his own but still hasn't let his hands go. A minute and a half in Jules throws his first punches, a 1-2 where the straight left lands. Vinny lands another of the right body kicks he had success with in the preliminary round. And another. Three minutes in Jules lands his second strike, as the two mostly just stare at each other. Jules looks to open up but makes the mistake of stepping into clinching range with Vinny. Vinny throws a knee to the body from the Thai plumb and when Jules raises an arm to break Vinnys' grip Vinny grabs the arm and looks for the flying armbar that was foreshadowed throughout the show. Vinny loses it as the two tumble to the mat, but uses the scramble to sweep Jules and end up on top in mount. Vinny has a great base and is very heavy when on top. This gets shown as Jules fails to kick off the cage and free himself. Vinny steps a leg over securing Jules left arm, he could be setting up either an armbar or a mounted gogoplata if he chooses. Vinny rolls to the left takes the armbar and Jules shows absolutely no ground defense, making no attempt to escape but instead, tapping out.
Well that's another fight that went essentially exactly as you'd imagine. Except for the part where no one does anything for three minutes. Mir was also wondering if Vinny was going to look for the gogo. Dana was also bored and questions Vinnys' standup. The questions about Vinny remain, if he fights someone who can standup and has even skill to avoid guard pulls and sweeps he'll probably get beat on until he gasses or gets hit with a big shot.
And that's that, not a good episode if you ask me. Had I no DVR there's no way I would've watched this over the World Series or my hometown basketball or hockey team. I don't expect next week to be much better as the preview promises food pranks and a matchup of either George Roop or Dave Kaplan from Team Mir against Phillipe Nover and John Polakowski from Team Nog. Were I Mir I would pick Roop against Polakowski, but I think Nog may have the edge in whatever matchup is made.
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