Issue 078
August 2011
It may well be frowned upon in the ring, but dirty boxing can be devastating in the cage. Fighters Only provides the lowdown on a style synonymous with ‘Captain America’.
Randy Couture is a mixed martial arts legend. UFC champion in two weight divisions, joint holder of the highest number of Octagon appearances and star of Hollywood action movies like The Expendables, it’s hard to imagine him being an unknown underdog. But back in 1997 at UFC 15 that’s exactly how he was considered. His opponent, a young Vitor Belfort, was on a hot streak of knockout victories and came into the cage widely predicted to walk straight through Couture.
Eight minutes later, Randy’s hand was raised and fans were talking about something relatively new in MMA – dirty boxing.
Dirty boxing is basically hit-and-hold. Illegal in boxing but devastating in MMA, it is a loose term used to describe controlling the clinch, especially up against the cage, and landing punishing strikes.
It would go on to become Couture’s signature style and bring him huge success in the Octagon, but what was it about Randy that made him so effective? Fighters Only spoke to Greg Nelson of The Academy in Minnesota for the inside track. Not only is Greg the author of the four-DVD series, Greg Nelson’s Clinch, but he also coached Brock Lesnar to his UFC heavyweight championship victory over Couture at UFC 91 and was faced with the task of analyzing Randy’s fighting style.
“Randy was such a great dirty boxer for three primary reasons,” explains Greg. “First, he was a world-class Greco-Roman wrestler and understood the dynamics of the clinch and controlling the shoulders and upper body. Second, with his wrestling background he could maintain proper pressure and dominate on the cage and in the clinch for the entire fight. Lastly, he had a boxing background from his days in the Army.
“When we were training Brock to fight Randy, we knew that Randy favored his left underhook and predominately used his right hand to hit. We worked a lot on countering his underhook and using Brocks size and wrestling pressure to come out on top.”
Clinch moves such as underhooks and collar ties aren’t unique to Greco-Roman wrestling; they are common in Muay Thai as well. So why have fighters with Thai boxing backgrounds been less effective than wrestlers like Couture at adapting their game for MMA dirty boxing? From the clinch, strikes are technically simple, though often sneaky, hence the term ‘dirty boxing.’ The difference between winning and losing is the ability to control the clinch while defending takedowns.
Nelson explains: “The single collar tie is usually a transitional position in wrestling. It allows you to control the head and neck while allowing your free hand to hit or control your opponent’s other hand to counter takedowns. Considering the takedown is always a factor, which is why wrestlers have the advantage in the collar tie. Muay Thai fighters or other strikers don’t have to worry about the takedown. In Muay Thai, hip throws, hooking leg sweeps, body lock takedowns and any leg attack takedowns, such as single-leg, double-leg, ankle picks or knee taps, are illegal. Because of that, Muay Thai fighters do not develop the defenses and positional considerations when they train and fight.
“Muay Thai allows you to set up knees and elbows better, but the tighter clinch associated with Greco-Roman is better for control, takedowns and the short hits associated with dirty boxing. The MMA clinch is an entirely unique art that is 100% necessary to compete in high-level MMA. Muay Thai and Greco-Roman clinch work are totally complimentary and shifting between the two creates the MMA clinch.”
Randy is one of the best Greco-Roman fighters to ever set foot inside the Octagon and it was this technical advantage that elevated his dirty boxing above the more basic level of his competitors. Randy may have been almost Olympic-level in his Greco-Roman but he was no slouch at adapting other styles of wrestling for MMA, a point Greg is keen to emphasize: “The Greco-Roman clinch allows you to set up upper-body throws, but more than that the upper-body control and pressure developed through pummeling allows fighters to control opponents on the cage. What is also key is the fact that most Greco-Roman wrestlers also have folkstyle and freestyle backgrounds and have the ability and technical proficiency to take opponents to the mat with a variety of upper-body and lower-body takedowns. The MMA clinch is a combination of all of the above, making it unique.”
Nelson believes that the key to success is to begin with breaking down the different aspects of the MMA clinch. “The Thai clinch is grappling for the knee. Staying within the rules, the goal is to land knees and continually off-balance your opponent. In Greco-Roman you have pummeling. Pummeling is often mistaken for the ‘pummeling drill’ in which both people continually and cooperatively dig for underhooks. Live pummeling is where both people are fighting to get the takedown. In Greco-Roman only upper-body takedowns are allowed. Now we will do the same drill, but allow all takedowns, upper body and lower body. Next, there is hand fighting, which is the Freestyle and Folkstyle drill to fight for position to get a takedown. Once you have developed each one of these you can then combine them all, adding or modifying for the specific variable you want to develop. Then you add different dirty boxing strikes, knees and all takedowns making a MMA-style clinch drill. You can do all of these drills in the open mat or against the wall or cage, which changes things due to the balance gained.”
Not everyone can be an Olympic alternate-standard Greco-Roman wrestler like Randy but the next best thing is to find training partners with similar backgrounds.
“The best advice I can give is to work with Greco-Roman guys, folk and freestyle wrestlers and Muay Thai guys good in the clinch. You have to learn what works for you and then develop the drills to build the skills to functionalize the clinch for your body type and fighting style.” Once your clinch game is solid, you can work to add strikes on your way in and out as well as while holding. Dirty boxing strikes are usually short and while it is rare to see knockouts as a result, the cumulative pain and damage can demoralize your opponent and create opportunities for takedowns. Constantly dominating the clinch and hurting your opponent with dirty boxing can crush his confidence and – as Randy Couture always put it – allow you to further impose your will.
DIRTY BOXING 101
1 Both fighters are digging for underhooks.
2 Mike (blue T-shirt) underhooks with his left and steps in to block Mauri’s hip and trap his leg against the wall.
3 Mike throws a short right hook causing Mauri to cover...
4 ...which leaves a gap for a short dirty boxing strike to the leg.
STRIKING DRILL
1 Both fighters are digging for underhooks.
2 Mike (blue T-shirt) scoops Mauri’s arm and fakes going for underhook.
3 Mike steps in with short elbow strike on his way to clinch.
PRO TIP
Live, collar-tie sparring is essential to learning the nuances of dirty boxing. Just as with grappling, make time to test your skills against partners.
