Issue 039

July 2008

The elbow strike has become quite fashionable in recent times, with fighters such as Anderson Silva and Kenny Florian showing their effectiveness. Elbow strikes, when used correctly, can be instant fight finishers, either by KO’ing your opponent or opening up a cut.  

Here are a few methods of landing elbows from the clinch.  

1 Elbow from Thai clinch

1a. Anthony (left) has Griff in a Muay Thai-style clinch, with both hands on the back of the head and the elbows on the chest. 

1b. He jerks Griff’s head down as if to throw a knee to the face. 

1c. Griff automatically responds to the pulling movement by trying to force back upright. Anthony lets him travel back but keeps hold with one hand while lining up his shot.

1d. He delivers a round elbow to the jaw, using the blade of the forearm to land the strike.  

2 Rising elbow from clinch

2a. Anthony holds Griff in the Thai clinch.  

2b. Griff tries to escape from the clinch by removing Anthony’s arms. Anthony feels this and sharply draws his elbow back to his ribs…

2c. …and fires it up the middle in a rising motion, striking with the point of the elbow and aiming for the jaw.  

3 Elbow from against the fence

3a. Griff has a bodylock and has Anthony pushed up against the fence. 

3b. Keeping his back pressed against the fence so as not to get taken down, Anthony brings his arms up and puts both palms on Anthony’s head. 

3c. Anthony makes space by pushing on Griff’s head. Rather than try to completely push his opponent away, he only needs a few inches of space. 

3d. He lets his hand slip off the face and smashes his forearm into the face, aiming for the bridge of the nose or the eyebrow in the hope of causing a cut.