The Subtle Guard Passing Technique Glover Teixeira Used To Become Champion At UFC 267
What an amazing fight
Glover Teixeira is now the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion after dreaming of the belt for 20 years, securing the victory against “Polish Power” Jan Blachowicz at 3:02 into the second round of their fight at UFC 267.
Many headlines are raving about how impressive it is that Teixeira was able to become a champion at 42 years of age.
As Teixeira puts it, “The pain of the discipline is better than the pain of regret.”
A victory for Jiu-Jitsu, and a demonstration of the power of technique
One of the things I really loved about this fight, like many of the fights at UFC 267, is that grappling is making a comeback.
In fact, Teixeira’s victory is an incredible showcase for the power of Jiu-Jitsu technique.
Jiu-Jitsu is all about how to use things like leverage, timing, weight distribution, and connection - which are principles I teach to my students to defeat opponents who are bigger, stronger, faster, or have any physical advantage over you.
Jiu-Jitsu allows you to neutralize any of those advantages and, as Glover Teixeira has proven now for 20 years, if you focus purely on the technique, you can improve your Jiu-Jitsu and even perform at the championship level your whole life.
A Hidden Jiu-Jitsu Fight Breakdown
Glover Teixeira’s victory at UFC 267 was actually a great example of just how subtle Jiu-Jitsu can be, and I wanted to show you how Teixeira secured his victory with a fight breakdown.
Because it actually takes very well-trained eyes to see how Teixeira was able to secure the mount, and what he was doing with his knees and legs in order to pass what a lot of people would call a z-guard that Blachowicz had him in.
It was also an unusual choice to go to mount as he passed the guard from a Jiu-Jitsu perspective, but there was a very important reason why he did this, that is very relevant to MMA strategy.
The transition to the mount was key
Normally in Jiu-Jitsu, we would pass the guard and move to the cross side (side control). But Teixeira wisely advanced to the mount instead, and was able to pressure Blachowicz into turning and giving up his back, a classic Gracie Jiu-Jitsu strategy, which allowed him to secure the Rear Naked Choke.
Age is just a number
Congratulations to Glover Teixeira for your amazing championship performance and 20 years of dedication to your dream, and thank you for showing the world just how reliable Jiu-Jitsu is once again.
I’ve always said that if you want to train Jiu-Jitsu your whole life like Helio Gracie, who was rolling into his 90s, then you need to focus on purely the technique.
And if you can learn from someone who has a deep understanding of the technique, then your Jiu-Jitsu will only get better as time goes on and you will be able to rely on it more and more, regardless of the physical advantages of your opponent.
Do you want to learn the secrets of guard passing at the world-champion level?
I actually wrote something on guard passing not long ago, and how you really only need two things to pass any guard.
The best part is, once you learn these two things, you will never need to memorize another guard passing technique again because you’ll be able to deconstruct and pass any guard your opponent uses as they happen.
Click here to learn the only two things you need to pass any guard now.
-Henry
P.S. I really enjoyed watching Glover Teixeira’s post-fight interview, which you can see below. Such a great story.
P.P.S. When you watch how he trains and works out, you can see why his Twitter quote is “The pain of the discipline is better than the pain of regret.”
Check him out: