Fight Analysis: The Overhand Right in MMA

I have a friend at work who really follows the UFC and he's always bugging me to watch the fights so we can talk about them. I finally got around to it and we started talking about the Bader v. Jardine fight and the overhand right in MMA fights. Jardine was ahead on points and controlled the match until Bader desperately rushed in and forced an exchange and landed a lucky overhand right that turned Jardine off. There was certainly a bit of luck involved and it feels like the overhand right takes advantage of sloppy boxing in MMA more than anything. It got me thinking, why is the overhand right so effective in MMA. So here are my thoughts on the subject:

As an Effective Counter - The overhand right is an effective counter when thrown as a simultaneous counter and from a low angle. Slipping the jab to the inside (assuming no southpaws) and throwing the right over the their left can be an effective counter if your opponent is lazy about keeping their chin tucked or bring their hand back low. It's especially effective if the opponent is punching downward as a lot of panicked fighters have the bad habit of doing against an opponent who's ducked his way to the inside. Generally, good boxers keep the punch straight and tight, or if necessary they vertically hook the punch at the end but still keep their punch tight.

As an Effective Combination - The overhand right can also be used as an attack from below. You still need to slip to the inside and stay low but you first draw your opponent's attention with body blows then throw the overhand catching the opponent trying to punch downward. I would do this all the time and it's one of my favorite combination, I would slip the jab to the inside, throw a left hook to the body and then throw the overhand right.

In MMA - Unfortunately most MMA fighters have some sloppy boxing. It's a strange phenomenon, I'm sure lots of MMA fighters have competent boxing coaches (though I'm sure that's not always the case) and show proper technique in the gym. Yet a lot of MMA fighters get in the octagon or cage and slug it out. They swing their arms with wide arcs in their punches and they swim with their punches. (They drop their hands after they punch) Certainly fatigue factors in to an extent, tired fighters become complacent or too tired to maintain their technique. Still, boxers go twelve rounds with good technique and generally throw far more punches than MMA fighters do, there really is no excuse for MMA fighters. To be fair, a lot of MMA fighters start out as wrestlers who pick up boxing and its evident that their level of boxing is amateur at best and that's not to be faulted on lack of effort just lack of practice. Stubbornness is a possible factor as well, machismo seems to run rampant with a lot of MMA fighters and the pressure to perform and answer the blood lusting crowd with a knockout drives smart fighters to engage in stupid slug outs.

Sloppy Boxing as a Factor - When MMA fighters engage in those slug fests, they aren't throwing straight punches, they're swinging for the fences with wide swimming hooks which leaves them vulnerably open during punching. It's no wonder really to consider a punch landing when there are such gaping holes in the offensive defense of MMA fighters. So why is it the overhand that lands? It's instinctive I suppose, when a punch is coming at your head your natural reaction is to duck away. You're still punching and swinging though and as you're ducking away you're pulling one shoulder back and the other shoulder goes forward and it's only a matter of training that forward shoulder into a punch. The overhand can loop up and over the mess of arms and connect, thus the high success rate of the punch.

Countering the Overhand Right - The overhand right as it's often thrown in MMA is very wide arcing, rarely tight like a boxer's. Compared to straighter punches, it's actually a slow punch, don't get me wrong it still has a lot of acceleration behind that punch, but comparatively it's slow. As such it can be countered and guarded against. The most fundamental defensive technique is to tighten up your punching. No more swimming, no more wild arcing punches. No more crazy slug fests essentially. The second fundamental guard is to keep the chin tucked. As I mentioned first, an overhand right can be an instant counter to the jab so even a tight straight punch can be countered if timed correctly. The way you defend this is by keeping the chin tucked tight against the shoulder as the jab is extended to cut back on the possible damage and keep the chin protected. When countering the overhand right, use footwork, step away and circle off, get some room between you so that the overhand right whiffs. Then as you're stepping away, stick the jab in your opponents eye. Since your opponent is ducking and slipping he might be able to slip the first jab so double or even triple up on the jab. This is a particularly effective strategy for taller fighters with long reach. If backed up against the cage or if you prefer to try and stay in the pocket (risky) and fight on the inside, the trick is not to punch downwards as that'll leave you open. Instead get low and match the level of your opponent first. Or since it's MMA, set up a knee as your opponent is ducking away.

The overhand right can be somewhat deceptive due to the arcing nature of the punch. Yet I honestly believe that the effectiveness of the punch would be drastically reduced if more technical boxers existed in MMA. It's an effective punch don't get me wrong but its use in MMA is often so egregious that while exciting makes me cringe. There is certainly hope for striking in MMA, there are definitely fighters who understand how to use a jab but they seem few and far between on the UFC undercards.