Bread 'n' Butter: Pros help us understand Chad Mendes' level-change uppercut
Once upon a time, high quality wrestlers like Mark Coleman came onto the MMA scene and they dominated. Very few had answers for their excellent takedowns and, as a result, top wrestlers were able to easily decide where a fight was contested.
When you can choose your battlefield (in this case, on the ground or on the feet), you've often gone a long way towards winning the battle. Eventually, some top strikers like Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic developed good timing with their sprawls and used the same hips that made their kicks deadly, to defend takedown shots from wrestlers like Coleman.
All of the sudden, it was a striker like Cro Cop who could decide where the fight was fought. At this point, some wrestlers like Coleman hit a wall.
Sure, his shots were good, but without strikes to set up the takedown attempts, his advances could be predicted. Take a look at Coleman's loss to Cro Cop in 2005, as an example of how things can go bad for a wrestler who's takedowns get predictable.
Some other wrestlers, who had become more comfortable with throwing their own strikes on the feet, began to mix things up and set their takedowns up with punches. The first wrestler-punch of choice was historically the overhand right.
If one of those ham hocks connected, with a wrestler's strong core and legs behind it, dudes would fall. Even if the punch didn't land cleanly, however, the distance was closed for the grappler and he or she could then work for a takedown from a closer distance.
Former Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson used his overhand right in this way for years, as did Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor would whip those looping punches and, often, they'd hit and hurt an opponent, but in any case he'd be in a position to work a Judo or Sambo toss afterwards.
In this way, wrestlers developed a relatively accessible way for them to be feared on the feet while also setting up their bread and butter takedowns in a more unpredictable mannner than simply shooting from half way across the ring or cage. To this day, in modern MMA, many wrestling-based fighters have strong overhand rights which are dangerous in and of themselves, but which also help them set up ankle picks or simply work to the clinch.
Two-time world title challenger and UFC Fight Night: Fairfax headliner Chad Mendes certainly developed a dangerous overhand right punch, early on. However, as retired former top contender and UFC Tonight co-host Kenny Florian explains in this week's Bread N Butter technique video (above), Mendes has further diversified his punching techniques, making him even more dangerous.
"This was on full dsiplay against [featherweight champion] Jose Aldo in his last fight," Kenny says.
"[Chad] really tested him on the feet...and he was keeping him very honest and hurt him a few times in that fight."
Indeed, Mendes was only able to push Aldo the closest he's been to defeat since becoming world champion because he mixed in strikes with his takedown attempts. In fact, Aldo was able to mostly defend all of Mendes' takedowns, so it was the Team Alpha Male's striking that got him within arm's reach of UFC gold.
One of Mendes' biggest weapons in that fight was his level-change uppercut. As Kenny explains, most wrestlers throw in some strikes (ala Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell I) to get inside and set up their takedowns.
Mendes, on the other hand, often "utilizes his takedown threats to set up his striking. A lot of people use their striking to set up their takedowns. He just does it in reverse," KenFlo details.
Here's how it works. Because every opponent of Mendes is already worried about being taken down, their mind is on defending that, a lot of the times.
A good takedown shot will include a fighter changing their levels, with good posture, and driving forward into their opponent to put them on the mat. Mendes knows opponents are worried about those shots so he hits people with the unexpected by punching them off of level changes, in addition to shooting for takedowns.
If an opponent backs away from Mendes as he changes levels, with their head up, they will often be open for an overhand punch. Many opponents have caught on to that attack from Mendes, however, so these days they will often be more conservative and technical by changing levels with him, with their hips out, to defend the takedown, while also getting out of the way of a possible overhand right.
When opponents do that, like Aldo did against Mendes, "Money" now has another answer and attack - uppercuts. "The hips are back [defending the takedown]," Florian explains, "but what's available? The chin."
This level-change into either the lead or rear uppercut has become a Bread N Butter technique for Mendes. "It's an excellent technique," Florian closes.
"It's a double-pronged attack. It's a double threat and Chad Mendes is a double threat because of it."
Keep an eye out for Mendes' multi-faceted attack Saturday, when he faces Ricardo Lamas in the main event of UFC Fight Night.
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