Hey guys,
A while ago I wrote a piece called Fight Like Dos Santos: The Right Straight. I've finally got around to doing the second part of the series, focusing on Cigano's left hook. If you enjoy this one please share it and make some noise, I really want to start doing some magazine pieces and need all the attention I can get!
Hope you don't mind clicking the link and as always, all feedback is welcomed.
Cheers,
Jack
Several months ago I wrote a piece called Fight Like Dos Santos: The Right Body Straight which was supposed to be part of a series breaking down the key techniques of MMA's only true boxer-puncher. This was my last piece at Head Kick Legend and since then I have failed to go back to the series. That changes today as we delve back in to the striking techniques of Junior Dos Santos.
Many may ask what the point of this series is, obviously not everyone can be a 240lbs fighter that moves like a middleweight. The purpose of this series is firstly to shed light on some of Cigano's techniques for the layman, and secondly to give the MMA / boxing / kickboxing trainee some insights on techniques which they might struggle to land. This won't be my personal philosophies but rather the techniques that Dos Santos has proven in action.
One of the reasons that Dos Santos has hypnotized the MMA fan base is that he is not just a slugger who throws one punch or wades in swinging - like almost everyone in MMA, even the strikers. Cigano is a boxer-puncher, using long punches such as the jab and the right body straight to set up his power punches. He rarely throws combinations outside of 2 or 3 punches in length (except when he is swarming on a hurt opponent), but he works the entire upper body and head throughout his combinations. Not everyone can be Dos Santos, but his strategies are so sound that they are often imitable.
Today we will focus our attention on the toughest punch to learn, the left hook (G). Dos Santos tends to use this is one of several ways:
- As a Lead
- After a Faked Right
- As a Counter
- On the Retreat
As a Lead
Junior dos Santos is one of the few fighters in MMA who can actually lead well with a left hook from a natural, correct boxing stance. Many men such as Paul Daley and Quinton Jackson lead with left hooks, but because they stand so square on it is obvious that they plan to. Dos Santos' lead left hook comes right out of his stance, doesn't carry huge power, but provides a nice alternate to his jab.
Against Shane Carwin many touted Dos Santos' ability to land his jab so often. Shane Carwin is not a dumb fighter, and his boxing is very solid, no amount of a speed advantage would allow Junior to simply repeatedly throw the straight jab and land it over and over. Dos Santos' secret to success was mixing between the strong left jab and the long left hook right out of his stance.
Dos Santos' ability to seamlessly mix the jab and lead hook comes from his performing what in the bare knuckle boxing days was referred to as "milling". This is the act of circling the hands as you often see in old movies when gentlemen are about to engage in fisticuffs. Dos Santos' motion is not as exaggerated but it is the same principle - he constantly circles his lead hand between the neutral position in the top left still and the coiled position in the top right still. Every time he circles his hand out again the opponent worries it is a punch, and every time he comes back to coil he brings his lead hand outside of his lead shoulder, allowing him to lead with a left hook or a jab. In the bottom left still Junior leads with a left hook, catching Carwin's arm from the outside. Seconds later he leads with a jab and lands inside of Carwin's hand as Carwin is clearly trying to play catch up with his defence.
This milling motion is as old as pugilism itself, but it is continually forgotten or under-rated by fighters and coaches. Here is a nice clip of the Boston Strong Boy, John L. Sullivan - first heavyweight champion of the world - demonstrating milling to set up a jab or left swing.
It looks silly and outdated, but watch the Shane Carwin fight again and see how well this seemingly primitive technique baffles a top level UFC heavyweight over and over again. Dos Santos' ability to lead with a left hook gives him two fast options right out of his stance where most fighters only have the jab.
After a Faked Right
One classical way of landing an offensive left hook is to set it up with the right hand. Against Cain Velasquez, Dos Santos opened with three powerful right hands in a row - two to the head and one to the body. Then he moved his head and faked a right straight before jumping in with a left hook to Cain's body.
The top two stills are instances of Dos Santos landing his right hand on Velasquez, or at least passing Cain's defence and flustering him - as his left hook did to carwin in the first storyboard. In the bottom left still Dos Santos fakes a right and steps in with a left hook to the body. Cain succeeds in landing a left hook on Dos Santos' shoulder, and Dos Santos' chin is up, showing that even the best make mistakes - but this stepping left hook is something that can be seen over and over in his padwork with Dorea before each UFC event. The act of faking the right hand also squares the hips, allowing a powerful left hook to be thrown.
As a Counter
