MMA Gospel’s Technique of the Week returns after the Thanksgiving holiday to deliver an early Christmas present in the form of another jumbo set of four chained techniques. Ed Perdomo and Johnny Rodriguez have chosen to start this arc with a deep Hip Escape and Underhook Sweep from the Mount. Being trapped in an opponent’s mount is never a good thing, but it also isn’t the end of the fight. MMA fighters in particular tend to be fairly desperate when it comes to being mounted, turtling behind their guard, giving up their back, or expending tons of energy just trying to pull a leg out into half guard. This week, Technique of the Week focuses on using good form and hip movement to not only escape the mount, but to flip the opponent over into top position head and arm control.
Johnny has Ed mounted and has postured up to start throwing punches. Ed has to escape now or risk taking serious damage from the ground-and-pound. He starts by blocking Johnny’s hips with his forearm and framing off that arm by grabbing his own wrist. Next, he quickly bridges and turns onto his hip while pressing both hands into Johhny’s hip to create space and prevent Johhny from forcing him back to the mat (LEFT).
Obviously, Ed cannot stay in this position for long as Johnny still has a hand free to pummel him. Ed presses hard into Johnny’s hip as he hip scoots as far back as possible (RIGHT). This pulls Ed’s hips clear of Johnny’s and disrupts Johnny’s base. As soon as his hips are clear, Ed will use his top leg to block Johnny’s outside knee by bracing his shin against Johnny’s inner thigh.
Next, Ed moves for the sweep. He begins by further disrupting Johnny’s base by using his bottom hand to control Johnny’s wrist as he secures anunderhook with his top arm (LEFT). Ed makes sure to keep Johnny’s leg blocked with his own shin the entire time during this transition to prevent him from adjusting forward and back into the mount.
Once he has the underhook, Ed posts up onto his bottom elbow, releasing Johnny’s wrist if necessary, then he feeds the underhook deeper under Johnny’s arm (RIGHT).
When Ed begins to turn into Johnny, he continues to feed the underhook deeper as if he is trying to put his hand on the mat in front of Johnny’s face (LEFT). This forces Johnny’s weight forward and causes him to roll over Ed’s hip onto his back.
From here, Ed has control of Johnny’s outside arm and his head (RIGHT). He can easily move into side mount, scarfhold, or the crucifix positions and work to finish the fight from there.
Recap:
- Brace your forearm against your opponent’s hip as if making a Kimura frame.
- Bridge hard to your hip on the same side as your hands and press hard into your opponent’s hip.
- Scoot your hips as far back as possible, clearing your opponent’s mount.
- Block your opponent’s outside leg with your top shin.
- Switch your top hand to an underhook and control your opponent’s inside wrist with your bottom hand.
- Post to your elbow and drive the underhook deeper under your opponent’s arm as you turn into them, sweeping them over your hip.
This escape will set up a trio of fight-ending submissions that MMA Gospel will cover in the weeks to come. It is an escape that takes practice to become natural, but it is certainly a far superior response when compared to giving up one’s back or fighting hard for half guard. Next week, Ed will move directly from the head and arm control that ended this sweep, into a clock choke to finish the fight.
*Ed Perdomo is a 4th degree black belt in the Korean grappling art of Hapkido and is head instructor of the Hapkido Institute in Morris, IL.
