Wrestling

A wrestler's job is not really to take someone down. It is to make the other fighter spend the whole fight worrying about being taken down, which quietly deletes half of their striking. A fighter who cannot sit on their punches or commit to a kick is much easier to beat standing up.

The stance is lower, the hips are further back, and the hands are busier than they look — hand fighting is how a wrestler gets inside. Most takedowns in a cage happen against the fence, not in the open.

Chain wrestling

A shot that fails and immediately becomes a different attack. One attempt is an attempt; three in a row is a wrestler.

Level change off a punch

Throwing a hand to lift the other fighter's guard, then dropping under it. This is the entry that works at the highest level.

Cutting the cage

Stepping to the side the other fighter wants to escape toward rather than chasing them. Cage cutting is how a takedown gets set up a full ten seconds before it happens.

Riding versus advancing

On top, holding someone down scores a little; passing to a better position and striking from it scores a lot.

Getting up

Watch the bottom fighter's hips and feet, not their hands. A fighter who gets a foot on the fence and turns into their opponent is getting up; one who pushes with their arms is not.

• By taking rounds in the least contested way there is: control time with work on top.
• By making a striker tentative, then outstriking the tentative version of them.
• By choosing where every exchange happens, which is the closest thing to a cheat code in a sport scored round by round.

• Failed takedowns are expensive. A shot stuffed against the fence burns real energy, and a wrestler who is 0-for-6 is usually exhausted by round three.
• Against a dangerous guard, the reward for getting on top is a submission attempt. Some wrestlers simply decline to engage there, which puts them back in a striking fight.
• Knees and elbows in the clinch punish a fighter who stalls on a body lock without finishing it.

Takedown accuracy matters more than takedown volume. A fighter who lands two of three has a plan; one who lands four of fourteen has a habit.

Takedown Defense is the most valuable thing you can rate accurately, because it decides whether a striker's advantages ever get used. When you rate it, separate the first exchange from the fifth — a lot of fighters defend well for one round and not for three.