Add This Weapon To Your MMA Arsenal

Ciryl Gane has never been known as a power puncher, yet at the white house this past weekend, he got a very impressive knockout victory with his hands.

The controversy surrounding the blows to the back of the head is a completely valid one. Gane specifically has a tendency to disregard the rules as he purses finishes, his Tai Tuivasa win being another prime example of it.

There was no other target here other than, the back of Tuivasa’s head

For a rather mild-mannered guy, Gane’s propensity to strike the back of his opponents head doesn’t suit the nature he presents. But this article is not to moan about an issue in the rules, where fouls are not addressed immediately and intent is evaluated apart of whether a foul was committed or not. That would be a big bummer of a read. Today we are breaking down what started the finishing sequence in the bout, Gane’s intercepting Jab.

So often when thinking about the best counter punches, we think of the left hook or the cross-counter, but this style of intercepting jab from Gane is extremely under appreciated. It seems in every video I speak about how important the jab is, but it can’t be overstated. We saw how effective it was in the main event for Justin Gaethje.

Did this really occur?

Why wouldn’t you, for a counter punch, want the quickest weapon, the jab? Well perhaps you are thinking it lacks power. If that is the case, why when it was used by someone not known for punching power whatsoever (Ciryl Gane) it resulted in a huge knockdown? The answer: timing.

Gane perfectly timed this intercepting jab, countering Pereira’s attack before Pereira could even throw it. The more you watch the sequence, the better it gets, Gane doesn’t load the jab whatsoever, just placing it on Pereira’s chin and allowing Alex to create the power but using his forward movement against him.

Another fantastic part about the shot is how defensively responsible Gane is afterwards. Right as the jab is reaching its target, Gane’s chin is firmly tucked behind his lead shoulder, with his rear hand up by his eyes covering on that side. Then after the jab lands, Gane goes straight into a defensive reaction, shelling hard, ducking, and presenting very few openings if Pereira would have been able to throw offence afterwards.

When you contrast that to left hook counters or cross counters, the intercepting jab Gane throws here is by far the most defensively sound after the fact, flipping the usual risk-reward correlation. An attack that offers very little risk but presents a ton of reward, now that is a weapon we should all be adding into our arsenal.

One last time cause damn that was beautiful