Issue 145
Kenny Johnson is one of the most esteemed wrestling coaches in MMA. Noted for his work with BJ Penn, he’s also taught Anderson Silva and was Team Nogueira’s wrestling guru on The Ultimate Fighter. He and tipped 135lb’er Pedro Munhoz present THFE’s wrestling techniques for MMA.
- Pedro (right) has Kenny in a front headlock.
- Kenny lowers his level and establishes a solid, wide base to prevent Pedro from dragging him down to the mat. Kenny begins fighting the hands and securing Pedro’s deep arm at the elbow.
- Kenny reaches up and grabs Pedro’s arm just above the elbow and pulls it hard towards him, keeping space around his neck. At the same time, Kenny is securing Pedro’s right hand that’s on Kenny’s chin with his own right hand. NOTE: Kenny keeps his head up as much as possible.
- Kenny steps his left leg up and out to start creating an angle on Pedro. While creating the angle, Kenny also bends Pedro’s hand towards his forearm creating a lot of tension on Pedro’s wrist.
- Kenny continues to circle towards Pedro’s back while keeping the arm tight and bending the wrist as much as possible while trying to rotate his head up and out from under Pedro.
- Kenny rotates out fully while controlling Pedro’s arm, that in turn controls Pedro’s body.
- Kenny takes Pedro’s back and looks to take Pedro for a ride with a suplex or bring Pedro to the mat with a hip crush or heel trip.
