Ronda Rousey is an Elite Judoka
Being the first woman from the US to ever medal at the Olympics is no small feat. Even as a pure judoka, her technique was very good. The mechanics of her main throws are perfect with no errors and she was not a crude “leg grabber”/wrestler type of judo stylist that tried to muscle through with pickups and counters but rather to chain attacks, constantly pressuring the weak plane.
Rousey uses combinations to target weak planes
Amazingly, Rousey has managed to apply uchimata/hip throws as her main takedown in MMA. In general giving your back is suicide but because of her combinations, trying to slip behind to suplex/drop for the legs/get back hooks is not easy.
Her uchimata/kouchi/ouchi combination attack was devastating at the elite judo level and at the MMA level where wrestling awareness is not so prevalent for women(at least so far), it simply bamboozles her opponents. Through her training , Rousey senses the weak plane moving about her even when her back is turned and so far any attempt to circle/replant once she locks on the clinch has been met with an immediate throw response to the correct plane. It’s hard to see, but in literally 1 second, she can “jab” you with kouchi/ouchi to probe where the weak plane is moving and commit to the required throw.
Head Control is a Major Weapon
One big thing she guns for the moment the bell rings is to secure a tie up of the head to mimic her left handed judo grips. Once she grabs the head, her right hand is quickly switching between knee pick/wrist control/underhook depending on her opponent’s reaction. Her cage awareness is excellent, and she expertly backs up the fleeing opponent into the cage where she can go for the best grip. When she gets to connect her hands (left hand head tie and underhook on the right) it’s pretty much game over as she can go right into her hip throw/kouchi setup.
Opponents have evolved their counters but she is evolving too
Her fights have been so fast, it’s hard to really see if anyone has tried anything different but they have. In fact, as her opponent’s have gotten tougher, so have their tactics, as brief as their battles are. Straight punches and circling away from her initial charge have been employed but to limited success so far. Time is running out though, her own striking is starting to catch up. She has gone from blocking shots with her face, to slipping jabs, to now throwing her own jabs as she closes the distance.
Do her judo matches hold the key?
To be honest, it does look like it would take an elite level wrestler/judoka to beat her in the takedown department. Assuming that one can be found, what tactics would they use? In her past judo matches, Rousey has been vulnerable to leg grabs/ankle picks and even power doubles (when these were still legal). Also good awareness by judoka in frustrating her head grabs with proper hand pummeling and circling has been seen.
Dig in and throw straights as she charges? Jab and circle? Accept the takedown and try take her back? Who in the UFC will finally bring down the queen (if ever)? Let me know below if you have any ideas! In the meantime enjoy the video.
A more updated version here on my Dailymotion channel:
26 comments On Ronda Rousey Takedown Study: Judo in MMA
Another outstanding analysis by BJJ Scout. You’ve established that zero distance standing against RR is a losing proposition. (As to the remainng takedown game, perhaps ankle picks or doubles. But even a successful shooter can wind up in her guard, and she has shown that she can hit armbars from a variety of angles.) A technical, very mobile striker, capable of preventing the tie, using jabs, straight rights, and teeps, would test her.
nice. thank you so much for your videos. i’m def going to donate after i get my next paycheck
Thanks! True, even if you could take her down what about the armbar. As for striking not many in her division have that kind of technical prowess (most are grapplers). But you never know, someone in the latest female TUF season could be a surprise….
Hey thanks! Glad you like them!
Another masterpiece. Not only the best analysis on the web for MMA/grappling, but heads and shoulders above the content found on the TV Networks.
The detail, the brevity.The sheer amount of data per minute is comparable to what professional analysts do for the major sports.
Sweet analysis, I kind of wish I had the expertise to cut videos myself because I’ve done some similar analysis on Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/judo/comments/195tt7/full_video_and_discussion_of_rousey_vs_carmouche/).
IMO, Rousey’s opponents need to learn how to threaten Rousey’s balance as a method of defence, rather than relinquishing all control of the clinch by backing out butt first and letting go of any sort of grip.
Wow nice write up, never seen that before (I didn’t even know about reddit till recently). Actually making videos isn’t that hard, you just need one program and cut and paste skills pretty much like microsoft word.
Yes, it would be interesting to see if someone could actually counter her, she just seems so good at reading reactions. Even vs judokas she hardly gets taken down. Maybe the best thing is to start circling the moment you feel her touching your head?
Thanks, these videos are a work in progress. I’m trying to make “Edu-lights”, though the pauses makes them pretty long IMO. Still trying to find a way to make them shorter by breaking up content into different video blocks.
Ronda’s armbar right now is unstoppable. if tate can stop it, then we have a VERY interesting fight. but right now ronda’s just plowing through everyone with it.
You should look into interacting with various subreddits. I know, for example, that Stephan Kesting and Jason Scully post youtube videos to r/BJJ every once in a while.
oh ok, I use mainly the blog/FB/youtube pages now. I tried to sign up for a MMA underground account but they took so many days to process it that if it ever got approved it got buried in my mail box…
yep seems so unthinkable right now, but then it’s MMA and anything can happen
awesome break down
Amazing breakdown, best MMA stuff I read in a while.
However it kinda takes away the magic of her victories 🙂
I think the person beating her should either somehow stop her clinch/takedowns, or be amazing on the ground.
So far I have never seen a single person shoot on her legs while she bullrushes them, I am curious what will happen if a good wrestler would try something like this (Sara Mcmann).
It is to bad a fight with the wrestler Mcmann or BJJ specialist Alexis Davis is so far away. I would really like to see them against Ronda.
It seems Tate her popularity won her the fight against Rousey.
In my opinion Tate should train really hard on using strikes to keep Ronda at distance, and use wrestling defensively.
Don,t get trapped against the cage, and avoid the over under as much as possible.
If she somehow gets on top of Ronda, I think Rousey might get in trouble, in both cases that Carmouche and Tate took her back, it was when she had ended underneath.
Also training specific unbalancing techniques from the over under, and counters to her throws might be a good idea.
We saw Ayaka Hamasaki being taken down twice, because her opponent countered her Uchi mata.
hey thanks for this! Good points. Seems to hard even think about wining a clinch battle with Rousey. She was fighting under 70kg girls in the olympics and I think even men before. So looks like “stopping” her takedown means either (1) run (2) straights. Shoot seems ok but if you fail then you are in trouble. Tricky….maybe we will get to see the first “Condit v Diaz” fight in the UFC for WMMA…
Hard to tell, perhaps Mcmann could defend her clinch atacks, if she trains specificly to stop Rousey her favorite grips.
I am doubtfull of Miesha her chances against Rousey. She did decently in their first fight, but Rousey has improved a lot in the main time.
(1) run (2) straights: Mcmann and Carmouche also tried to back away from the clinch but Rousey chased them down with her strikes and captured them against the fence.
I think someone should somehow be able to break the clinch, and neutralize her gripping.
Perhaps they can use your video/or a similair analysis as a guideline to figure out a strategy.
And I want to see someone go for a really hard double or single, when Rousey bullrushes them…
Either way great analysis. Look forward to read more of you.
I’m not a judoka, I’m just a white-belt bjj player 🙂 and I found your analysis super helpful, thanks!
I have heard people complain about athletes (mma, bjj, anything really) being “one-dimensional” a lot, but as long as they are able to get it to work over and over again against a range of opponents, it seems like a very efficient and skilled way to go about it imo. Clearly it is not as easy as it looks, and you really have to know all the possible ways it could not work out and have alternatives ready. Thanks again!
I think you’re on the right track with your analysis of RR’s attacking tactics, and I like how you emphasize the momentum and leverage involved in Judo strategy in your articles.
I think the ‘textbook’ answer to Rousey’s gameplan is to slip under and catch her with a kata guruma when she tries to secure the head clinch, but you might also consider flying armbars as a potential solution. I got to spar with Rousey a bit when she visited our Judo school and had a bit of success with tani otoshi, but that was a long time ago.
I have been studying Brazilian Jujitsu for 2 years and I’ve just recently become comfortable using judo. Your videos and analysis of the week planes and grip strategy have help me pull off more successful throws and put together natural combinations. Thanks for the great content, and I look forward to more
Noth sure, so far she has only hit the armbar from the guard once.
From the top she sets it up with strikes. However i think she is less crafty from her back. Against Tate she ended up in guard and went for a kimura/sweep and got her back taken.
What do you think??
A lower wrestlers base with good technical striking may give her a run, but she has a great armbar from anywhere.
Impressive and good stuff about judo you shared here.
Judo
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there is a world of top international judo and all forms of wrestling that would like to meet restless roussy .
they have so many many russian female wrestlers that could have a nice time with our little darling .
female sambo and greco and free style girls all hidden in russia and all them stans just dying for some more fun.
there sheltering there girl the cash cow .
rotten rousey`s stand up trainer ed-scum –tarr-babi-um will help her just like he did dochinian- his boxer, and get rotten knocked out.
rousey was third place . number ** 3 **..
WHAT ARE # 1 and 2 doing now, how did rotten lose ?.
i like her like i like rattle snakes !
If there are so many tough grapplers out there dying to match with Ronda, why don’t they strap on a pair of gloves and work themselves through the MMA ranks like Ronda did. If they are that good, they should blow through their competition call her out and get some attention from the UFC….