Look Back: The Art of Ground and Pound Striking

Fighters who prefer to strike as opposed to engage in grappling scrambles often have a favored style they want to use... but even wrestlers have their own type of striking category in which they tend to dominate. Look no further than ground and pound, which is a striking style that elite top control wrestlers tend to truly excel in. 

Obviously, Mark Coleman, the Godfather of GnP style, put it on full display when he proved he could just use his physical control to land down hammer fists and other strikes from top control.

If those options weren't available to him, he would use dominant head control and land brutal knees while on the ground with an opponent - and to demonstrate how effective he was mixing GnP strikes into submissions, or just battering an opponent, here is every Coleman victory from his professional career:

Look Back: The Last Emperor's Sambo and Judo Masterclass in MMA

Fedor Emelianenko, one of the best heavyweight fighters in mixed martial arts history, was recently linked to a return to combat sports at age 50, sometime next year. The news made me begin thinking about some of The Last Emperor's top-tier fight moments during his dominant run through the PRIDE heavyweight days - and how his technical ability allowed him to persevere against larger heavyweight foes. 

There have been very few fighters able to blend powerful striking with great grappling, as well as Fedor, with that explosive speed and elite sambo, who have been able to neutralize size differences for most of his career. Something I believe made Fedor especially notable was his quick hands and strong hips against bigger opponents, with that speed matched with sneaky strength. 

He was just so effective and clean, mixing his judo and sambo background into his overwhelming submissions or ground-and-pound. He also had a mad scramble that proved difficult for the larger, slower heavyweights to keep up with. The Russian sambo practitioner used those ankle picks with crazy efficiency, for example, with slick setups off the clinch or when an opponent slipped or overcommitted. 

AI Explores Soccer Kicks and Other Fun Strikes Allowed in PRIDE

MY NOTE: I turned to artificial intelligence to help explore the topic of soccer kicks I spoke of yesterday, in an attempt to have the AI offer a different perspective to new MMA fans. Here is the first iteration, and I plan to tinker with it to get the AI to generate different perspectives on topics. 

This content was created by Google Gemini.

The PRIDE Difference: Why "Stomps and Soccer Kicks" Changed the Ground Game

If you just watched Mauricio "Shogun" Rua’s legendary run in the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix, you saw a version of MMA that looks like a completely different sport than today’s UFC. In the Unified Rules of MMA (which the UFC follows), a "grounded opponent" is protected from kicks and knees to the head. But in the PRIDE ring? If you were on the ground, you were in the "danger zone."

Look Back: Shogun Rua Was a Savage With the Soccer Kicks

In the current unified rules followed by the UFC, there is a fighter safety rule that prohibits kicks to the head of a downed opponent - I understand why the rule exists, though it's hard not to desire moments from those old PRIDE rules. There were some fighters able to use soccer kicks to punish opponents - or finish the fight - and no one can be mentioned before we talk about former Brazilian champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. 

Many fighters tended to throw soccer kicks rather wildly when the opportunity arose, but Shogun had a methodical, almost clinical approach to the strike. During his prime, he trained at the famed Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil.

The gym was known for developing absolute MMA monsters, including Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva, a former PRIDE and UFC champion also known for his knees, soccer kicks, and stomps to grounded opponents back in PRIDE. As part of their Vale Tudo-style fight teachings in the academy, they honed an intense, pressure-heavy style that led to knees, stomps, and soccer kicks.

Look Back: Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson Dismantles Chuck Liddell in UFC

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is one of the most iconic fighters in both the UFC and Japan's famed PRIDE FC MMA organization. 

Rampage is the only fighter to officially unify the PRIDE title (middleweight championship) with a UFC title (light heavyweight championship), a tremendous feat, as he was only taking high-profile fights against top-tier competition.

During their rematch in the main event of UFC 71 in 2007, Liddell attempted a body shot, a technique that made Rampage audibly grunt in pain during their first fight, but the story didn't reach the same conclusion a second time.

Instead, Rampage learned from the lead hook to the body, a natural setup for his overhand right that popped him during their PRIDE encounter. Apparently, it was a lesson learned, as  Rampage looked out for the specific level change and had a taller posture. Throughout his career, Jackson was a reactive striker, and it was proven when his intended uppercut seamlessly became a hook. 

Intro to Look Back Series, Focused on Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

 

With my "Look Back" series, I want to help introduce the new school fans to some of the old school MMA fights that they might not be aware of - and I think some of these moments should absolutely be known about. I have no idea how frequently I will publish these blog posts - especially here to kick things off at the beginning - and only want to really share things I find interesting that can be somewhat educational. 

Truthfully, I sometimes mindlessly scroll around YouTube, where the algorithm shows me quite a bit of MMA highlights and discussions. Before I knew it, I was down the proverbial combat sports rabbit hole, with my mind running after watching both new and older clips. Realistically, I'm not interested in a lot of the clickbaity drama content that blows up on the socials - and would rather focus on the fights and technical discussions. As such, I thought about my brief tenure as a blogger covering MMA, with content published on Bleacher Report, Heavy, Concede MMA, and more, with a lot of fun times at regional and major MMA/grappling events.