Issue 145

Priming hard-hitting fighters like Brendan Schaub and Shane Carwin for battle, Trevor Wittman is a stand-up specialist. Here he reveals how he prepares his fighters for war and glory.

There are certain moments in a coach’s career that stand out. It doesn’t take a UFC belt of leather and gold strapped around your pupil’s waist to make a fight special. Watching your fighters grow to a point that they don’t need you so much is priceless in itself.

Believe it or not, building a striking strategy for a fight is a mundane task that I revel in. A striking strategy is not only a key to a fighter’s success, it’s a pillar that will bring the house down if it cracks, because it only takes one moment to crumble the biggest warrior. 

The sport of MMA has evolved so much over the past few years that it is now a far cry from the formative days of UFC 1 when Royce Gracie dominated everybody with his singular dimension of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. As the years passed, we saw MMA greats like Chuck Liddell develop a second dimension: great takedown defense and ruthless power in his right hand.

Now we are at the point where we see guys like Cain Velasquez who has an impressive wrestling pedigree consistently winning by knockout. or Anthony Pettis slowly wearing you down, defending takedown after takedown, choke after choke and jumping off the cage to kick you in the head with just seconds remaining in the fight. What’s next? These are the ones who know how to build excellent striking strategies to use striking as a way to the ‘W’.

With such an array of fighting styles, building a strategic gameplan is a fine art. Here’s how I can ensure that through careful planning and analysis of their opponent, my pupils will be closer to a title belt while their opposition lies flat on the deck.

BUILDING A CHAMPION

As a coach I must adapt as fast as the sport does or it will leave me behind. I have to continue to out-think the fighters and coaches on the other side of cage. I must first break down the opposition and figure out all the skill sets that they bring to the table.

For instance, when Shane Carwin fought Frank Mir for the interim heavyweight title, I had to study both Mir’s strengths and weaknesses so I could structure a winning strategy against the former champion. For instance:

Mir’s Strengths:

> His stand-up is very good. He has good power, as we saw against Cheick Kongo.

> He has good footwork. 

> He has a very slick left hand. 

> He is a good leg kicker.

> On the mat his BJJ is at the top of the heavy-

weight division. 

> In the clinch he is very slick to roll to a leg and submit you in seconds, like he did in the first Lesnar fight.

> He is very experienced.

Mir’s Weaknesses:

> Weak wrestling. 

> He has a tendency to allow his opponents to dictate the fight or ‘lead the dance.’

> He was putting on more weight and constantly talking about Brock. That told me something about his mental state.

To correctly start structuring a gameplan I must first breakdown the opponent’s strengths as, in this case, Frank Mir’s excellent boxing caliber. Also taking it to the ground could be risky because of his strong BJJ. However, it is always a fighters’ weaknesses which are the key to the victory and because Mir lacks wrestling that was our opening.

It is also Shane’s strong point and when you combine this factor with Frank’s second weakness letting someone else dictate the pace I unearthed the key points to beating Mir. It also helped that he was overlooking Shane and focusing on his nemesis Brock. So much so that he was too relaxed. That and his lazy pace setting made our strategy clear. If Shane dictated the pace and found the right spots to open up on Frank when he was too relaxed or taking a break, then I knew we could walk away with the win.

BIG FIGHT GAMEPLAN

Bearing all this in mind, this was the gameplan for Carwin to defeat Mir:

First Round: Go out right at the bell and move your feet. Keep a relaxed body posture to put the vibe out that you want to start the fight slow. See if we can tempt Frank into a slow-paced striking event.

Mir shows lots of expressions on his face so he will be easy to read. As he starts to relax, shoot a standing double-leg and run him to the cage but do not take him down.

Instead, keep him pressed against the cage. Always keep an underhook to keep him from pulling guard. Dirty box him with bumps, uppercuts, and body shots on the cage and wear the legs down with knees and choppy punches to his hip sockets. 

Second Round: Use standing doubles to get him to the cage and again dirty box him. As Frank’s legs start to tire, bring the fight to center of the cage and open up on him with strikes.

Third Round: Press the fight forward with right-hand leads and level-changing feints, forcing Frank to fight off his heels. Finish him with strikes.

The fight and gameplan went better than I had planned as Shane was able to push the pace, run the standing double, dirty box him on the cage and take advantage of Frank getting too relaxed.

The best part about it was when I heard Frank’s corner tell him (as Shane had him against the cage), “You’re okay here. He isn’t doing nothing.” At that point you can here me calling for the bump. Immediately Shane bumps his right shoulder against Frank to create space for his left uppercut.

He lets go with a vicious assault of 10 uppercuts as Frank melts down the cage and the fight ends. That was a moment I will not forget; a combination we had worked over and over in the gym to see come out in perfect form and perfect timing.

It’s one of those moments which makes you proud to be a coach.

KEEP IT FLOWING

“Kinetic chain sequences” is a big term that simply means “to put together striking combinations that flow naturally from one another.”

If the left side of your body is extended from a jab, then it doesn’t make sense to throw another strike from the left.

Use the turning motion of the body to follow up the left with a right cross or hook. This may seem like a simple concept, but I have seen fighters and coaches put together combinations that made no sense at all and left the fighter unnecessarily exposed.

GOOD NIGHT VIENNA

Any shot can end the fight with four-ounce gloves so the power punch is a devastating component of any fighter’s arsenal.

Yet striking is more strategic than you might think. The power punch is often the last of a three-to-four set combination that sets up the big shot. For example, I like my guys to throw three hooks to the side of their opponent’s head so they raise their arms to protect their ears and cheeks. This posture leaves their nose and chin unprotected so a big right hand down the middle can end the fight.

Trevor Wittman is an acclaimed MMA coach to some of the sport’s finest. He is the owner of the Grudge Training Center, Denver, and has appeared on series 10 of The Ultimate Fighter as one of Rashad Evans’ coaches.