During a recent podcast appearance on Joe Rogan Companion podcast for UFC London, Gordon Ryan revealed that leglocks shouldn’t be dismissed in MMA.
A detailed technical discussion about leg locks in MMA emerged between Gordon Ryan and Eddie Bravo. Rogan asked Ryan:
“In your opinion, what’s the best leg lock for MMA? Best leg lock position? You’re training someone, he wants to learn leg locks, what do you think?”
Ryan responded:
“Well for you guys it’d be called the honey hole, but for us cross ashi garami or inside sankaku.”
When asked about putting the leg on the outside and utilizing the Z-lock, Ryan confirmed:
“That’s great too.”
Ryan explained why certain leg entanglements are superior in MMA:
“The number one determining factor is… can I keep this guy’s head. If you’re attacking and you’re trying to punch the guy, if you can get your head over his head, you can hit with power. So any leg locking position which doesn’t allow your opponent to get head over head is what’s going to keep you safe.”
Eddie Bravo noted that
“50/50, I think everyone agrees… you see 50/50 in MMA and it works, but you can still reach the guy’s face. But you can’t really hit him that hard.”
Ryan added that with certain positions:
“Anytime you reap… which is that left leg going on the inside makes it hard for the guy to hit. So most people think ‘Oh all leg locks don’t work in MMA you’re going to get smashed.’ That’s not true. Some leg locks will save your ass.”
