Analyzing the Grappling of Conor McGregor at UFC 196

UFC 246 is just around the corner, and with Conor McGregor fighting, it's inevitable that his grappling abilities will be brought up, usually by detractors who place him roughly around the Pat Barry level of grappling ability. McTapper is a stupid nickname bandied about by some of the less knowledgeable fans, and it all stems from the UFC 196 main event.

Rafael dos Anjos had to pull out from the main event due to a broken foot, and Nate Diaz stepped in on short notice to fight at 170. We all know what happened, Conor gassed out, Nate came on strong, and Conor shot an ill-advised reactive takedown attempt that led to his eventual submission at the hands of Stockton's finest (yes, Nate is a better fighter than Nick).

With his first UFC loss, cries of McGregor being a quitter with shitty grappling exploded into the MMA sphere. I'm here to break down that sequence, explain exactly how good Nate is, and address why questions about Conor's grappling ability from this sequence are almost entirely coming a place of ignorance. Piece by piece, you'll see how Nate perfectly countered Conor at every turn, closing the doors that could lead to his escape, eventually eliciting the tap that allowed Nate to become a millionaire.

UFC 196: Breaking down the finishing sequence

With 1:14 left in the second round, Nate flings out a jab-cross which Conor ducks under, shooting a double leg. He's gassed, and while the timing wasn't bad, his technique was clearly that of a tired man. His head positioning was off, his level change was relatively shallow to start, and his drive ended fairly quickly, making it difficult to run it through and or turn the corner. All of this meant Nate was able to sprawl relatively easily.

However, while Nate was working to establish a front headlock, Conor attempted to build his base up by sliding his right leg through, and would then look to come out off Nate’s right side. Nate was wise to this, and immediately locked up a guillotine on the gassed and hurt McGregor. While Conor tried passing to Nate's right, Nate caught Conor's leg with his own crossed legs, and used the pressure of the choke to reverse Conor and get on top.

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Something to note here, Nate used his right hand to add pressure on the face to turn Conor over by pushing up on the choking hand, which is something simple that most people may miss.

Conor tried to use the momentum of the reversal to roll through, but again, Nate stopped his escape, posting with his head to stop the momentum, bringing his right arm back to control Conor's right arm/side, digging his arm deep under and closing the space with his own hip, preventing Conor from being able to free his arm.

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He also placed his knee and thigh under Conor’s lower back to prevent him from bringing his hips back to the mat. Finally, Nate placed his left elbow across Conor's chin, preventing him from being able to turn into Nate to create space for his hips and re-guard. With this combination of his knee/thigh and elbow on the face, Nate is forcing Conor to stay facing to his left. With this secure spot, Nate, knowing Conor cannot turn into him, begins to work into mount, bringing his right leg over into a knee on side belly/hip. At the same time, he removes the elbow from Conor’s face to post for balance. Finally, he windshield wipers his right leg over the top. You’ll notice Conor is facing entirely to his left, and there’s some space still remaining in between the legs, which Nate closes instantly by shifting into S mount, shutting down any potential hip escape by Conor to create a frame. With his control nearly secure, Nate releases Conor’s right arm and begins to punch him, forcing Conor flat on his back, and securely mounted.

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He was now in deep trouble, flat on his back with Nate beginning to rain down punches. Conor then made his next costly, but expected mistake. He turned his back, as most anyone does when they are that tired, hurt, mounted, and getting punched. Nate was able to easily transition to the back, slide his legs through, and flatten out Conor's hips. As he does this, Nate uses his right hand to force Conor's chin up. Conor's last desperate defense is to use both his hands to begin working to peel the hand off, or at least stall Nate’s choke a bit, but Nate is again wise to that. He slams a left hand to the side of Conor's head, forcing Conor's chin/face to open up and giving Nate the bit of extra space needed to slide all the way through.

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Conor's defenses were broken piece by piece, he was physically spent, and he knew he would lose. He tapped. He did what every single person who walks onto a mat is told to do when you're in a submission and can't get out, what countless fighters have done before him, and what countless others will continue to do.

Now, I want to compare this sequence to how Conor handled the grappling exchange with Nate in round 1, which began when Nate caught a kick by Conor and sat him on his ass with a single leg.

The prevailing “wisdom” is that Nate let Conor sweep him to land some strikes, and it’s ridiculous. The moment Conor was taken down, he immediately began working on sweeping Nate.

Upon hitting the floor, and with Nate releasing the leg, Conor places his right foot behind Nate’s left, with his Conor’s left leg already in between Nate’s. He uses his foot to elevate Nate’s left leg and bring himself under Nate’s hips, making it difficult for Nate to balance or land any punches on Conor. Conor then grabs Nate’s left ankle and pulling it into his armpit.

An important note, Conor keeps his hips elevated off the mat through the entire sequence, an important detail that many less experienced grapplers make a mistake in not doing while working single leg x-guard/x-guard sweeps, which allows for the guy on top to pass or escape the sweet attempts.

Once he has the foot secure, Conor works to place his right foot back inside of Nate’s hips, while holding on to Nate’s right ankle. With both feet completely secured by Conor, Nate gets elevated as Conor starts to extend with his legs, completing the (admittedly not perfectly done) x-guard sweep. Nate is fully aware he’s not stopping this sweep and is forced to accept the position, and chooses to land a few shots while going over.

Conor proceeds to get on top into Nate’s guard, keeping his base wide and making sure to keep himself as safe as possible. He is wise to Nate’s attempts at wrist control to set up triangles, and spends the remainder of the round stopping Nate’s attempts to utilize any offense from his back.

The contrast between these two sequences should really impress upon us the following:

1) Conor is actually a good grappler. He is not an elite grappler, he is not some hidden talent, but he is good. He displayed positional awareness, knowledge of how to defend himself in bad spots, and clearly has spent a good amount time off his back in training. Which makes sense, as he would be well aware that most fighters he would face in his career will want to put him there.

2) Nate is a really good grappler. His top game is something we see much less of than his bottom game, but the smoothness of his transitions, and his strategic use of ground and pound to force reactions he wanted from Conor, really should make it clear the high level at which he is operating, and why Conor’s submission loss to Nate is nothing to be ashamed of.

Fighters like Conor McGregor bring out….well, a lot of opinions from fans, let’s just leave it at that. Because of this, Conor’s grappling has been a massive talking point in every single fight he’s had, even before the Nate fight. Next time you have a conversation about Conor, and someone calls him a quitter or tap machine, or nonsense along those lines, show them this piece so they can understand just how much can be gleaned from just a few sequences of grappling, especially in MMA with so many other variables involved.