Some don't know that post UFC he kept on fighting and became a true MASTER at nullifying the Guard, doing things BJJ guys would call mistakes, like not posturing and sprawling your legs out.
Been watching a bunch of his Post UFC fights (smaller shows admittedly, but the guy is almost 60) and no one can do anything with him in their guard. They are helpless. He hits them with a couple hundred short elbows, palms & hammers and it's usually enough to win. The guy has had some really long win streaks.
For a guy who started out famously getting Triangled, he learned his lesson and then some.
Some don't know that post UFC he kept on fighting and became a true MASTER at nullifying the Guard, doing things BJJ guys would call mistakes, like not posturing and sprawling your legs out.
Been watching a bunch of his Post UFC fights (smaller shows admittedly, but the guy is almost 60) and no one can do anything with him in their guard. They are helpless. He hits them with a couple hundred short elbows, palms & hammers and it's usually enough to win. The guy has had some really long win streaks.
For a guy who started out famously getting Triangled, he learned his lesson and then some.
what sort of non traditional things do you see him do? can you go into more detail? i'm interested
his physical attributes and girth allow him to do what a lot of others will never be able to do. For the smaller person; however, there is no other choice but the guard if caught on the bottom.<br />Yeah, Dan fought in lower tier events for years after dropping off the radar. But he's not into winning by KO or submission , it's by throwing hundreds of shots to get the win.
There is a youtube channel called "ThePinkMan" that has a number of these fights --and a lot of other good, old MMA videos. I also found a few randomly on youtube.
I am not preparred to do a BJJ Scout type breakdown, but very obviously... Severn sprawls with his butt up high, driving forward, pushing off his toes and "pinning" his opponent who has him in the guard. Sort of an A-Frame position. Very wrestler type stuff, BUT --from a BJJ mindset-- often considered a "mistake". However, you can see that Severn is very systematic and disciplined at keeping things within certain parameters, but those parameter are very differnt from the standard BJJ parameters of how to behave inside somone's guard. He knows exactly what works for him. He just shuts down the offensive possibilities the guard player has with a ton of pressure, but there is a lot more going on than just mere pressure.
The normal go-to stuff one generally thinks of to counter someone who sprawls in your guard --like elevator sweeps-- are just NOT going to happen.
He doesn't pass guard because he is completely safe there. If he takes opponenent down and lands in side control, he beats them up from side control, or sometimes does a submission from there. He doesn't seek to change positions when he gets to one of those.
I can see he has a "system" which is not covered in the old instructional videos he made. I'm sure the system has evolved a throught quite a LOT of fighting time over the last couple decades. He has a lot of ring time.
Anyway, I'd love to hear him talk about it very specifically, though I'm sure a lot of it i just sheer "feel" and probably stuff he wouldn't really articulate.
"He doesn't pass guard because he is completely safe there. If he takes opponenent down and lands in side control, he beats them up from side control, or sometimes does a submission from there. He doesn't seek to change positions when he gets to one of those."
There is noneed to pass. Likewise your point about beating opponennt up from side control. Posture is another point that changes in the case of VT v. pure grappling. On rare occasion when I teacch vale tudo, I emphasize this to bjjers.....but a lot of what i see beong taight in bjjis purely about grappling rather than fighting and empahsis on provraming people to score points rather than pressure and control (and pain ;p ), which provides the opportunity to do damage via striking. And that applies also from the bottom.
disagree. He's probably fighting low level opponents that have no clue what to do on their back from guard. Once Severn faces someone who is competent off their back and the same size as him, all of his base and tricks will not work.
Like someone said, his size and girth of his body will allow that on someone smaller than himself.
disagree. He's probably fighting low level opponents that have no clue what to do on their back from guard. Once Severn faces someone who is competent off their back and the same size as him, all of his base and tricks will not work.
Like someone said, his size and girth of his body will allow that on someone smaller than himself.
Oh I see... so nearly 130 pro MMA fights (UFC, PRIDE, RINGS, WEC, KING of theCage, etc) and he hasn't faced anyone who knows what they were doing, yet...?
You can go to youtube and watch him shut down the guard & half guard of people like Conan Silveria & Pat Miletich people who very much know what they are doing from the Guard.
disagree. He's probably fighting low level opponents that have no clue what to do on their back from guard. Once Severn faces someone who is competent off their back and the same size as him, all of his base and tricks will not work.
Like someone said, his size and girth of his body will allow that on someone smaller than himself.
Oh I see... so nearly 130 pro fights (UFC, PRIDE, RINGS, WEC, KING of theCage, etc) and he hasn't faced anyone who knows what they were doing, yet...?
You can watch him shut down the guard & half guard of people like Conan Silveria & Pat Miletich people who very much know what they are doing from the Guard.
Really interesting timing on this, I actually was thinking of Severn the other night after class.
We had a young, really athletic wrestler in class who had probably 20 lb on me.
I've been training long enough that I could predict with high accuracy how an MMA fight would go between us, just from our rolling.
Do I have better striking? Yeah, but how often can you count on getting a clean shot to end the fight right away.
Have I trained in the clinch? Sure. This kid went 171-0 for takedowns his senior yr in high school, and is 20 yr younger. Guess who is probably going to be on his back? lol
So, we're back to old school closed guard vs GnP. I am confident I would triangle him at some point, but it would take some work. I have done this to 100s of people over the years, so I could catch him in some trick most likely...he knows ZERO BJJ as of now.
But...I couldn't help but think while we are training, with this kid's ability to pressure, control space, etc. I really feel like I could teach him to be safe in my guard in a short time frame. If he was really serious about having a clear game plan and being very disciplined and only doing GnP for MMA he could be virtually impossible for me to catch pretty soon, and be a handful for some really good guys.
Now, add a higher level of wrestling skill, a higher level of attributes, and discipline to pay attention and develop a game plan...I can see where I guy like Severn could be a (relatively boring) nightmare!
Hell, I'd like to play around with trying to figure out how to approach the guard like this a little bit instead of only going at it with a BJJ style approach to passing.
disagree. He's probably fighting low level opponents that have no clue what to do on their back from guard. Once Severn faces someone who is competent off their back and the same size as him, all of his base and tricks will not work.
Like someone said, his size and girth of his body will allow that on someone smaller than himself.
disagree. He's probably fighting low level opponents that have no clue what to do on their back from guard. Once Severn faces someone who is competent off their back and the same size as him, all of his base and tricks will not work.
Like someone said, his size and girth of his body will allow that on someone smaller than himself.
Grappling Central Podcast (I think) did a few very interesting episodes with Severn. He's a very humble guy with a great sense of self-depricating humor. Good storyteller too.
disagree. He's probably fighting low level opponents that have no clue what to do on their back from guard. Once Severn faces someone who is competent off their back and the same size as him, all of his base and tricks will not work.
Like someone said, his size and girth of his body will allow that on someone smaller than himself.
Holy shit I had to come back and laugh at this some more this is fucking HILARIOUS lol I found myself at the gym today thinking of this and cracked myself up thank you for this gif and using it for this