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Jonathan Pearce and David Onama went to war last night, but both should be having nightmares about that fight -- and in particular the second round.
Repeatedly throughout the fight, Pearce took Onama down, then worked to take back mount. Onama showed fantastic defence, and repeatedly escaped Pearce's backmount in a fight reminiscent of Ray Borg vs Casey Kenney or Matt Arroyo vs Dan Cramer.
Yet, rather than disengage, Onama then repeatedly tried to take Pearce's back, only to immediately fall off and result in Pearce back in top position! Onama's back escapes were very high level, but his attempts to take Pearce's back were beyond sloppy.
Back mount is supposedly considered one of the most dominant positions in BJJ. The reality is, the position is just a tool, and the tool is only as good as the person using it. Some fighters clearly have elite back mounts, and should take the position. But the fact that Pearce kept going for it after losing it repeatedly was just horrible fight IQ.
Ryan Bader and Cain Velasquez made careers out of generally refusing to take back mount, instead preferring to ride their opponents from the top turtle. Bader's performance against Mitrione is a particularly good example of this, as he preferred to simply entangle Mitrione's near side leg from the top turtle, rendering Mitrione completely helpless (though creating a rolling kneebar risk). Watch at 15:08
Bottom line: Both Onama and Pearce are great fighters, but both need to rewatch that 2nd round badly.
Repeatedly throughout the fight, Pearce took Onama down, then worked to take back mount. Onama showed fantastic defence, and repeatedly escaped Pearce's backmount in a fight reminiscent of Ray Borg vs Casey Kenney or Matt Arroyo vs Dan Cramer.
Yet, rather than disengage, Onama then repeatedly tried to take Pearce's back, only to immediately fall off and result in Pearce back in top position! Onama's back escapes were very high level, but his attempts to take Pearce's back were beyond sloppy.
Back mount is supposedly considered one of the most dominant positions in BJJ. The reality is, the position is just a tool, and the tool is only as good as the person using it. Some fighters clearly have elite back mounts, and should take the position. But the fact that Pearce kept going for it after losing it repeatedly was just horrible fight IQ.
Ryan Bader and Cain Velasquez made careers out of generally refusing to take back mount, instead preferring to ride their opponents from the top turtle. Bader's performance against Mitrione is a particularly good example of this, as he preferred to simply entangle Mitrione's near side leg from the top turtle, rendering Mitrione completely helpless (though creating a rolling kneebar risk). Watch at 15:08
Bottom line: Both Onama and Pearce are great fighters, but both need to rewatch that 2nd round badly.