Looking to win his middleweight bout against Robson Ferreira on Aug. 23 at Future MMA 8, Caio Borralho has intensified his training. Working with him on his ground game is Demian Maia, leader of Vila da Luta — and the UFC legend made us a video showing one of his many tricks.
Demian and Caio show here how the passer can avoid an attack on their leg with a sneaky finish via kata-gatame. Demian stresses the importance of isolating his opponent’s hips so that the transition toward the leg can be completed. Then he slides his arm to his opponent’s shoulder, underhooking to get in underneath, making a hand-to-hand grip to then apply pressure and free the leg. Then he arrives on the side to squeeze the choke.
Check out this technique in the following video and don’t miss out on Future MMA 8, which will be livestreamed for free on the Future MMA app.
Translated transcript:
“I’ll ask him to get a knee bar from the bottom, and I’ll show how I counter the knee bar.
“I’m passing Caio’s guard here, and he has spun to my knee. His idea is to spin and stretch my knee.
“So once the guy spins to my knee, the first thing I have to do is shut down his hip here. With his hip here pressed against my body, I can’t do anything. So I’ll give it a little pull [0:43] and use my chest to shut down his hip. Push, Caio. It’s harder, right? I’ll make a base and get my hand in, to his shoulder, to defend. And here, nobody will notice the counterattack. Hand to hand. I’ll adjust, I’ll stretch my leg, crushing him, and arriving on the side. Right? He attacked me with a knee bar; I shut down his hip, spun and went to the kata-gatame.”
Future MMA 8
São Paulo, SP
Aug. 23, 2019
70 kg (title fight) – Jackson Tortora vs. Alex Canguru
66 kg – Marcos Babuíno vs. Cleiton Foguete
61 kg – Gustavo Erak vs. Rogério Carvalho
77 kg – Cleber Sousa vs. Vinicius Cruz
120 kg – Henrique Montanha vs. Hugo Cunha
70 kg – Augusto Abdias vs. Magnus Kelly
70 kg – Jack Godzilla vs. Rogério Karranca
61 kg – Luís Felipe Buda vs. Nilton Gavião
84 kg – Robson Ferreira vs. Caio Borralho
66 kg – Gabriel Oliveira vs. Alireza Noei
61 kg – Caionã Blade vs. Raul Baiano
57 kg (women) – Bruna Vargas vs. Alana Souza