Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement after an incredible win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. After the match, one of Khabib’s biggest rivals and one of the biggest UFC stars Conor McGregor reacts on Twitter : “Good performance @TeamKhabib. I will carry on. Respect and condolences on your father again also. To you and your family. Yours sincerely, The McGregors.”
Khabib and McGregor had a great rivalry, Their match from 2018 at UFC 229 is the biggest MMA match in history, which ended with Khabib winning in the fourth round. In the meantime, these two fighters were hostile, until the death of Khabib’s father Abdulmanap, when McGregor put the rivalry aside and expressed his condolences to the Nurmagomedov family.
Justin Gaethje showed how great a person and athlete he is immediately after his defeat in the main event of the UFC 254 event in Abu Dhabi, where he was defeated by Khabib Nurmagomedov by a triangle choke in the second round.
Khabib broke down immediately after the victory and cried, and the reason is the death of his father in June this year. He was his coach and leader throughout his career, but complications after heart surgery caused by coronavirus denied him the opportunity to be with his son for the rest of his career.
As soon as Gathje became conscious and saw Khabib crying on the ground Gaethje got up, came next to him, and tried to comfort him with a few words. Gathje revealed what he told to Khabib in those few seconds.
“I told him I didn’t have a chance so far, but that I was sorry for his father’s death. I told him he had made his father very proud,” the American fighter revealed.
After that, Khabib announced his retirement in a post-fight conversation with Jon Anik. He cited a promise to his mother, who does not want him to fight without the presence of his father, as the reason.
“I promised her and I have to keep my word,” Khabib said.
He retired as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. He was never defeated and ended his career with a perfect 29-0.
There’s being a rumor surfaced somewhere that his father’s wish was to retire at a 30-0 score, but Khabib never confirmed this.
29-0! Khabib Nurmagomedov is unstoppable! UFC champion in Abu Dhabi has defended his belt!
ROUND 1
What a fight! At the start of the round, there was great pressure from Khabib. Gaethje attacked low kick, defended one knockdown, and then at one point hit the champion with an uppercut and the hook. 40 seconds before the end Khabib moves the fight to the ground, trying to pull the armbar, but there wasn’t enough time.
ROUND 2
Gaethje has a nosebleed and he’s avoiding Khabib’s takedowns as much as he can, but Khabib’s pressure is just unstoppable. After only a minute Khabib managed to take Gaethje down and improve his position into a ‘full mount’ and was the beginning of the end for Gaethje as he got triangle choked and fall asleep.
Perhaps Khabib’s best performance of his entire career
Khabib has been putting incredible pressure on Gaethje since the start of the fight who has failed to follow for more than a round and a half. Already at the end of the first round, Gaethje was looking towards the traffic light, he was breathing hard and found himself on the ground.
At the start of the second round, Khabib knocked Justin down again, very quickly found and pulled out his arm, folded the triangle with his feet, and put him to sleep. Gaethje was tapping, the judge did not see at first, so Khabib had to say that his opponent had fallen asleep.
It was Khabib’s 29th career victory that came to an end. He said he didn’t want to fight anymore, especially not against the fighters he already defeated. The last thing he asked of the UFC was to put him first in the “pound for pound” rankings.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Announced Retirement
Immediately after the victory, Khabib announced the end of his career after he broke down and cried after a fight remembering his father and mentor who passed away this year. He says he promised his mother he would not fight again.
Phenomenal title fight, Whittaker won a rematch with Adesanya
We saw a great middleweight bout in the title fight of the evening. Robert Whittaker celebrated against Jared Cannonier by a unanimous referee decision, but the match could have ended in two of the three rounds we saw.
Whittaker was on the verge of finishing the match in the second, especially in the third round, but then found himself shaken in the last minute after one wild shot by Cannonier.
It would have been one of the craziest and biggest upheavals in UFC history if Cannonier had managed to knock out the Australian, but it didn’t happen.
Whittaker will thus once again get a chance to fight Israel Adesanya, who stripped him of his championship belt last year.
Alexander Volkov celebrated against Walt Harris
One of the best heavyweights of today, Alexander Volkov, celebrated against Walt Harris in the first of the three biggest fights of the evening. The Russian nicknamed “Drago” celebrated his birthday after a minute and 15 seconds of the second round by technical knockout.
Already at the end of the first round, the plump Harris was missing, and when a “front kick” of a tall Russian sat in the plexus at the beginning of the second, that was the end of the story.
He immediately had a painful reaction that Volkov recognized and moved forward towards the American. After a few more blows by Volkov, the referee stopped the duel and declared him the winner.
The second fastest knockout in middleweight history by Phil Hawes against Jacob Malkoun
Hawes pushed Malkoun to the wire and hit him in the ear with one right-handed direct shook the Australian and sent him to the floor. He tried to get up but in that attempt, Hawes placed a few more clean kicks from the crochet and sent Malkoun to sleep.
For Hawes, it was the ninth victory in his career in which he also has two defeats. Malkoun, on the other hand, suffered his first defeat in his professional career, in which he has only one victory.
Lauren Murphy destroyed Lilia Shakirova
In the only women’s fight, Lauren Murphy declassified Lilia Shakirova and took her back, and suffocated her in the second round. Only one real blow was allowed by Murphy towards herself, and she finally forced her rival to surrender, who made her UFC debut tonight.
Murphy reached her 4th consecutive victory in the flyweight category, after which she requested a fight for the championship belt, currently held by Valentina Shevchenko.
Fernando “Tererê” Augusto is a multiple world champion in BJJ at all belt levels. He’s also a coach who helped some of the most exciting fighters today, Andre Galvao, Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles, Michael Langi, Lucas Lepri, and others… to raise their game.
Fernando Terere is one of the most influential grapplers today who developed many techniques and concepts like Leg drag, Torreando pass, etc. Regardless of a lot of wins and world championships wins by Terere a lot of people think that his biggest achievement in Jiu-Jitsu competition is that he became a Black Belt world champion in 2000 at the age of 20.
His time as the top BJJ competitor was pretty short because he had an undiagnosed mental illness and he fell into drug abuse and became homeless. Fortunately, he managed to overcome problems and he came back to normal life but it wasn’t quick as he spent years overcoming everything preventing him from having a normal life.
In 2004 Terere was arrested on a plane to the USA and was jailed there. Soon after in 2005, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. That condition led him to drug addiction and kept him away from Jiu-Jitsu. In 2010 he came back starting a “new life” cleared of everything that affected his life in a negative way, so he started competing again in September of 2012 in Mexico.
Now, in 2020, there’s a movie about his life which will be released in early 2021. It’s called “O Faixa Preta” or “The Black Belt”. The character and life of Terere will be embodied by a very popular Brazilian actor Jonathan Azevedo who’s training with Fernando Terere for the past few weeks.
Here is a video of Jonathan Azevedo and Fernando Terere training:
Bella Mir successfully sailed into professional waters by winning the iKON promotion event.
17-year-old Bella Mir had a much more difficult task than originally expected, and she won her MMA debut at the iKON promotion event. All those who expected Danielle Wynn to be the opponent through whom the daughter of the former UFC champion should have an open path to an easy arrival to win her MMA debut were deceived. In the end, the exact opposite happened.
With bloody nose and face, Bella Mir managed to take the win at the expense of endurance in the last round, where her opponent went all or nothing. The fight started in such a way that “Lady Mir” responded to the attacks of her opponent with the demolition at the very beginning and started to control the fight on the ground floor. She did it successfully over the middle of the first round when the referee puts them back on their feet. There Wynn controls the clinch well and hits several significant punches. In the second round, Bella again took the fight to the ground very quickly, and this time she was active enough to keep the fight there and to get close to the break with a series of blows, but her opponent endured.
Right at the start of the third round, another good entry of Bella Mir into the demolition and taking the fight to the floor. The referee moves them to the middle of the ring where Bella makes a great transition and attacks the hand. Once again, her opponent showed great endurance. She pulled out her hand and even moved to the upper position. She tried her best to do as much damage as possible to Wynn, but she couldn’t. Peace eventually got out and grabbed the guillotine, but soon a sign came for the end of the fight.
All three judges scored 29-28 for Bella Mir, who convincingly took the second round, while in the first and third each fighter had her moments. Certainly, this is a gold-worthy experience for a young fighter, but many feel she has failed to present her true potential. She has been dominant for years within her generation in wrestling and grappling competitions in the state of Nevada.
Josh Barnett was convincing in the main fight of the Genesis event held on Friday night in Lodz, Poland.
The famous MMA fighter in an interesting ‘bare-knuckle’ fight completely dominated Marcin Rozalski, who could not continue the fight after the end of the second round. Barnett showed excellent defense in boxing without gloves, and he skillfully used the elbows that are allowed at Genesis events.
Already in the first round, the American veteran made a cut to his opponent, and in the same section he was sent to the knockdown, but Rozalski recovered.
The rest of the fight brought Barnett’s dangerous attacks again, there were some Marcin’s blows, especially while they were in the clinch, but Josh once again showed that he is more ready and skilled, and in the second round he seriously shook the Pole and made the referee count. Rozalski, whose right eye was almost completely closed, still continues the fight once again and manages to endure until the end of the round.
But during the break, the Polish fighter could be heard telling his corner that he could not see with one eye, and this soon resulted in the interruption of a very interesting duel.
The Russian Republic of Dagestan is very well known in the martial arts world for a large number of wrestlers, boxers, and MMA fighters who come from that Caucasian country in the Russian Federation. The most famous son of Dagestan today is the UFC’s undefeated lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is fighting tonight to defend his belt.
One of a large number of less successful fighters is Shamil Abdulmuslimov, a 25-year-old who has fought in predominantly Russian martial arts organizations. He was killed these days in the city of Khasavyurt, according to Russian media, which published a video of the killers arriving at the restaurant where it all happened.
Local media report that a certain Murgamudin Muradisov with his son and another attacker arrived at a restaurant and shot at an MMA fighter with a semi-automatic rifle. After they shot their victim, a bizarre fight ensued with people who were in a restaurant with the victim.
The killers did not even want to flee after their act but waited for the police. It all allegedly happened due to a dispute over some part of the land, Russian media wrote.
The murder itself is not seen in the attached footage, but we warn readers of the explicit content.
The UFC allowed us to see the main stars of the new martial arts event UFC 254 from a different angle as well.
We finally got to Saturday, the day reserved for the new UFC event in Abu Dhabi, and on the eve of the start of UFC 254 new episodes of the ‘Embedded’ series brought us new footage from Yas Island.
In the fifth sequel, we could see how UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov lost weight before the controversial weigh-in, but also how his challenger Justin Gaethje is doing the final preparations before tonight’s entry into the Octagon.
The sixth episode opens with footage of Robert Whittaker awaiting a fight with Jared Cannonier at the Flash Forum, and below the video, we can see what the weighing and confrontations looked like from a different angle.
Mr. Bernardo Faria is the face of digital BJJ, no dispute about it. He is also one of the people that have released more BJJ DVD instructionals than anyone else out there. While all BJJ instructionals are more than welcome, having so much material from a 5 x BJJ World Champion is beyond priceless. Especially as Bernardo is born for teaching. His latest instructional covers an unusual subject that is mostly unknown – “The Single Strap Back Take”. Let’s dwell a bit deeper into what this is and what you can expect to learn from this latest Bernardo Faria DVD.
A Bernardo Faria DVD is now considered a household item for grapplers around the world. Just about everyone has at least one. This is to be expected, as there are so many of them that everyone will find an area of interest they want to expand upon using Bernardo’s knowledge. “The Single Strap Back Take Encyclopedia” is an unusual one, though, even by Faria standards. He usually coves stuff that is fundamental and known to people, but it is not like he hasn’t innovated, or shared original material before. The fact of the matter is, we’ve been waiting for something like this from Bernardo, and he delivered, and then some!
A Different Back Attack System
The back mount or back control n Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a position that has been held in high regard since the inception of the sport. One reason for this is that it has developed, evolved, and morphed throughout the years to adapt to the ever-changing demands of high-level grappling. We’ve come a long way from the seat belt and hooks, back control that had “a strong side” for choking people out. Danaher helped a lot, with his straight jacket system, but others have added in a lot too, most notably Edie Bravo.
Now, Bernardo Faria approaches the back from a different perceptive to all the others. While we’ve been experimenting a lot with hooks, body triangles, and different other methods of controlling the hips, we’ve held on to the seatbelt when it comes to torso control. And why wouldn’t we, when it is so effective at both stabilizing the back and opening up chokes? Well, there’s just one problem – you can’t always get to it easily, or sometimes at all. That’s where “The Single Strap Back Take Encyclopedia” comes into play.
No Seatbelt? No Problem!
Why bother if you can’t get a seatbelt? Gi or no-Gi, there’s a great innovative solution by the one and only Bernardo Faria. The seatbelt still remains a priority, and that is something Bernardo strongly reiterates throughout this DVD. However, in all those situations where you can’t get it. There’s a different solution to the problem, especially with the Gi on.
The seatbelt has two key roles: preventing the opponent from rotating their upper body and keeping you attached to their back. At the same time, though, you need to know how to hold with your elbows, so that you can use the palms to grip fight and eventually, set up chokes. The Bernardo Faria alternative, called The Single Strap Back Take, will allow you to hold a modified seatbelt of sorts, suing one or both hands while being able to achieve both the key goals of the regular seatbelt position. Moreover, his single strap system is easier to get to, and dopes open up all the same submission options.
The Single Strap Back Take Encyclopedia Bernardo Faria DVD Review
What do you get in this Bernardo Faria DVD? Four volumes (as usual) of pristine instruction (as usual) organized in an efficient and entertaining manner (as usual). The unusual part is the subject matter, with Bernardo exploring one of his original creations that are far from the orthodox stuff we’re used to. While the Singe Strap Back takes is not that crazy, it is not the norm and is something that you need to learn from an instructional or a private with Faria to really understand it and start looking for it when you roll. Well, this DVD is pretty much a private class that will answer all your questions on the Single Strap Back Take.
Volume 1
Of course, such an innovative instructional has to open up with an introduction to the subject, and a detailed explanation of the concept of the Single Strap Back Take. The fundamentals are not complicated at all, but they do require you to hear out Faria’s idea behind the entire system. It is logical and easy to follow and there’s really nothing too fancy about this concept, which is why it works so well.
The chapters he covers here have lots to do with staying on the back using the single strap. They include options without ankle hooks, against opponents that use hip escape motions, and the wrestling Peterson roll. In fact, the Peterson roll is gaining lots of momentum in terms of turtle escapes that break the seatbelt, and Berardo offers several and roll preventions in this opening volume.
Volume 2
The second volume of “The Single Strap Back Take Encyclopedia” Bernardo Faria DVD goes over ways in which you can actually obtain the back when you get the single strap. The first step is off-balancing or the now-famous Kuzushi. The second step is countering rolling escapes, from the Peterson roll (again) to simple shoulder rolls. The “spread chicken” comes next, taking this already nutty back take system into new heights, before Faria wraps it up with the most important chapter in this volume – the four-point stance.
Volume 3
Speaking of turtle defenses Bernardo Faria will have none of it. The third volume of his “Single Strap Back Take” DVD focuses on breaking down the turtle. Given that the signal strap changes the mechanics of holding from the back, this also opens up new avenues of turtle breakdowns. Faria offers a couple of options before moving on to controlling the actual back mount with the strap.
The chapter on controlling the back I probably the most important one in the entire DVD set. Unless you understand how to control the back with the single strap, learning all the entries and counters won’t’ do you much good. Focus on this one more than anything else.
In terms of entries, a couple of options from the Over under pass (surprise, surprise) wrap up the third volume of this instructional.
Volume 4
The final volume simply picks up where the previous one stopped. Torreando pass, double under pass, X pass and folding pass are just some of the passing options Faria uses to set up his innovative single strap back take. Combined with the previous over under pass options, this really does provide you with a different dimension to your passing game.
Passing the dreaded butterfly guard straight into back control is where Faria spends several chapters of his DVD. All the options tie in perfectly with all the stuff shown before, in case the opponent decides to change guards midway. And, even if you end up in side control, there’s a way of getting the single strap, which is how Faria concludes his instructional.
All in All
Bernardo Faria is on to something with this one. “The Single Strap Back Take Encyclopedia” is an awesome option for all back takers to widen their horizons. I love the fact that it covers alternatives to the seatbelt, which nobody really focuses on. As people become more and more successful at defending the straight jacket and grip fighting, letting go of the seatbelt really makes sense in providing unusual attacking options from the back.
Justin Gathje vs Khabib Nurmagomedov, the main event at the UFC 254. The fight for the UFC lightweight title. On the one side, we have Justin Gaethje who has been 17 seconds on the ground in his entire UFC career. On the other side, we have Khabib Nurmagomedov, the best grappler in the UFC, and one of the best grapplers in MMA ever.
Will Justin Gaethje be able to stop Khabibs wrestling? This is a question that we hear a lot these days.
Justin Gaethje Wrestling Career
Many people don’t know that Gaethje is training wrestling for almost 26 years. Before his professional mixed martial arts career, Gaethje was a collegiate wrestler. He was put into the university of Northern Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame for his wrestling achievements. Also, he attains Division 1 All-American status.
Justin Gaethje collegiate wrestling
Gaethje’s Wrestling in MMA
MMA wrestling is a lot different than amateur wrestling and that’s a fact that is going to matter the most because Gaethje is wrestling against Khabib, the best wrestler in the history of MMA.
Early, in Gaethje’s MMA career, he was wrestling a lot, but he talked about how it gasses him out, and how energy expanding his style is. Even in college, he was a defensive wrestler who was just stopping takedowns and going for counters. He exerts himself when he wrestles the opponent, so, even in MMA, he’s used to stopping the takedowns entirely and make it a stand-up game.
What we can expect of Gathje in a fight against Khabib is what he usually does in his MMA fights. Lighting quick explosive sprawls, many variations of rolls, like the Granby and Peterson rolls, flip overs to get the opponent to roll over them in an explosive movement. All kinds of rolls allowing him to stand up or completely reverse the position where he will end up on top.
If Gaethje gets into the position, where the opponent is going for submission or he’s on the ground, and he can not scramble up to his way out he’s used to going for standing up with his opponents followed by powerful slams. The other thing he does when he finds himself on the ground is that he gives up his back. He shows this in his fight against Michael Johnson, and he’s been doing this for his entire MMA career. That’s an instinct he was developing for years because in wrestling you don’t want to ever put your back on the ground. That can be a huge problem when he’ll fight Khabib becauseKhabib absolutely capitalizes on position when his opponents are giving their back in any position.
Different Wrestling Styles
A few days ago Khabib explained that there is a great difference between American and Dagestan wrestling.He’s training and wrestling in America for the last 9 years, and he knows the difference very well.
Khabib is a chain wrestler, so that could be a problem for Gathje. Everybody who wrestled Gaethje only shoots one takedown, which he defends. Nobody shoots again, and this is a great difference between Dagestan and American Wrestling which Khabib is talking about.
Prediction
The first phase of the takedown defense is distance, footwork, framing, and Gaethje is pretty good at it. He is the only guy who is going to be able to counter one of Khabib’s takedowns, with a punch or a knee. So the first round is going to be dangerous for Khabib. His first takedown attempts are going to be defended because Gaethje will have a full tank. He can keep defending the entire first round, but what’s with the other four?Maybe Khabibwill not be able to take him down the entire first round. But he will definitely going to try, and test his cardio.
The main problem Gathje is going to face is wrestling against the cage. Khabib loves this position because he’s able to work on you and push you up against the cage. Gathje talked about that he can not put his back to the cage because he is not so experienced against the cage, while Khabib is the best against the cage in UFC history.Gathje’s takedown defense takes a lot of energy and it is almost impossible to wrestle like this for a long period of time.
The main problem for Gaethje is that he doesn’t have enough time to make the adjustments to adapt to the wrestling style that Khabib poses cause it’s a mix of wrestling, Judo, BJJ, Sambo, and other sports. I think it’s only a matter of time when Khabib will be able to take Gathje down and keep him there.
Now, Bernardo Faria approaches the back from a different perceptive to all the others. While we’ve been experimenting a lot with hooks, body triangles, and different other methods of controlling the hips, we’ve held on to the seatbelt when it comes to torso control. And why wouldn’t we, when it is so effective at both stabilizing the back and opening up chokes? Well, there’s just one problem – you can’t always get to it easily, or sometimes at all. That’s where “The Single Strap Back Take Encyclopedia” comes into play.
Speaking of turtle defenses Bernardo Faria will have none of it. The third volume of his “Single Strap Back Take” DVD focuses on breaking down the turtle. Given that the signal strap changes the mechanics of holding from the back, this also opens up new avenues of turtle breakdowns. Faria offers a couple of options before moving on to controlling the actual back mount with the strap.
