How to MMA: Clinch Striking with Leon Edwards
Welterweight's Former Bad Luck Brian and Current King Makes His Return
A true clash of opposites takes place this upcoming Saturday. In the red corner will be the English champion with some of the most aesthetically pleasing striking from the clinch in the sport who can become complacent. Covington is the American challenger with a relentless spirit and wrestling, ugly striking, and cardio for days. They are as close to stylistically opposed as you can get at the elite level.
I am a fan of both men but Rocky Edwards is much more interesting to dissect from an analytical perspective as the cornerstone of his game is an area which few dare venture: The Clinch.
On Jack Slack’s most recent podcast, he mentioned that clinch striking is “uncharted territory” for most MMA fighters as the wrestlers want to wrestle from there and the strikers want to avoid it entirely. When you try to avoid your opponent’s strong suit entirely you merely get swallowed up once you come face to face with it. Since his initial match with Kamaru Usman, Edwards became a savant in the clinch able to swiftly trip Usman into mount in their rematch.
Edwards is the premier example of a clinch fighter in MMA. While his outside striking gets attention, this is the true gem of his game. Let us use Edwards as an example of how you can become more dangerous in the clinch, and wade into uncharted waters prepared for the waves.
Set-Up
All fights begin at a distance. In order to initiate a clinch a fighter must have a plan for closing the distance. This cannot be done recklessly lest you get knocked out for rushing in head first.
A great way to initiate anything is to start punching. Whether or not anything lands cleanly is somewhat irrelevant as you can gauge an opponent’s reactions to your punches. In the case below Luque will often cover up in response to anything that is not a power shot.
While throwing his rear hand Edwards circles out to the side and is able to follow up with a lead hand punch from an incredibly dominant angle. As Luque continues to cover up and duck to catch punches on his forehead Edwards continues his combination with a loose grip on the back of Luque’s head to goad him into a powerful knee.
Edwards is more than capable from mid-range. While Luque gave Edwards an easy clinch entry Usman made Edwards’ job much harder. Exchanging with Edwards to ward him off, Edwards utilized his head movement to evade while staying within range. Edwards throws a lovely body shot which forces a frame from Usman, prompting Edwards to loosely grab the tricep and head. From here he can throw a knee, tighten his clinch, and throw an elbow on the break.
Though his grappling has improved by leaps and bounds Edwards still wants to minimize his time in the clinch against a grappler like Usman. Get in, attack, and get out.
The great thing about having so many offensive options from the clinch, feeling natural there, is that Edwards can turn an apparent slip-up into an advantage. Usman dips under Edwards’ lead hook and initiates the clinch himself. Edwards grabs what he can with a good underhook and loose over-tie to throw a knee on the exit.
While Usman was able to bully him and push him to the fence throughout their first title fight, Edwards’ slight uptick in offensive activity kept Usman much more wary of pushing his advantage there.
While a quick clinch attack is great to surprise an opponent and keep them honest, Leon is a wonderfully adept positional grappler while standing. As Nelson blitzed in Edwards quickly got an over-under, his hips back, and good head positioning with his forehead driving into Nelson’s chin. Once settled he kept an active frame on Nelson’s far shoulder/bicep and dug his overhook to frame off Nelson’s hip. From this position Nelson is essentially defenseless:
Edwards head position, driving into Nelson’s chin, ensures that he can drive forward and control Nelson’s posture. With his posture controlled, his upper body is frozen and Edwards can decide in what area of the octagon he wishes the fight to take place.
Deep overhook keeps Nelson’s near side underhook pinched to his side.
The hips frame off the overhook keeps pressure on Nelson’s hips to prevent him from closing the distance within the clinch. Edwards maintains the space between their hips with this frame.
Control of the far arm is hard. If he was to get an underhook, it would be too weak given the space between their hips. Having a post on Nelson’s shoulder/bicep allows him to easily adapt to how Nelson reacts to this post/frame.
With the space between their hips and no arms to block the midsection, Edwards is free to throw as many knees as he likes while maintaining this position.
In essence, Edwards has a near perfect clinch scenario to enact offense and prevent that of his opponents.
Head positioning is key when Edwards clinches up against the fence as well. Driving the head into the opponent’s chin keeps them pressed up agains the fence and from reversing position. When their head drops, Edwards can hold it in place to throw a knee.
In regards to Edwards being “lazy”, he has a tendency to allow himself to be run onto the fence. Usman had a field day with this in their first title fight and has been a theme throughout his career. While so offensively potent in the clinch he can lack the fervor and urgency of some fighters to fully leverage his gifts. Thus, when the threat of offense isn’t high enough, the opponent is happy to push forward until his ass hits the cage.
Even in this position Edwards has more than enough craft to keep himself safe. While Luque is trying to work, Edwards’ strict grips on Luque’s wrist prevent him from advancing the position. Edwards is so annoyingly persistent with this that Luque is forced to put his hand behind his back for Edwards to relinquish control.
Once backed up, Edwards is capable of defending (though never getting in this position at all is the best possible defense), raising his knee to prevent Cerrone’s offense and maintain space. With this space Edwards swims his head to the opposite side while getting an underhook and pushes forward to throw an elbow. A great way to get off when he does find himself in this position.
Edwards finds his moments. During Usman’s own clinch work he is able to find the opportunity to under hook and push Usman off of him. Edwards is then able to find some nice offense as they break. All of this we predicated upon Leon getting a tight overhook as Usman established head position. Leon is ALWAYS looking for the right tools in any clinch situation.
Though Edwards (primarily before his latest title defense against Usman) can get complacent his technical brilliance in these positions is beautiful to watch.
In-Clinch Striking
Just as clinch striking is the cornerstone of Edwards’ game, the knee is the cornerstone of his clinching offense. Against wrestlers like Usman the knee is the perfect weapon to dissuade their level changes while in the clinch. Edwards only adds to its power by pulling their head into it with a double collar tie.
Edwards has executed many a destructive knee to the head during his fights, but a more consistent weapon is his knees to the body. I and many other analysts have waxed lyrical about why attritive work to the body and legs is so important.
With his ability to maintain space in a clinch for long periods of time Edwards affords himself numerous free knees to the body that go in hard and completely undefended. Against a smothering takedown artist like Covington, who can spend time adjusting to get a takedown, body knees will be an integral weapon to empty his gas tank.
Edwards flexibility is also a key to his knee offense. Edwards is not always able to get as much space as he would like when working in his over-under clinch (one overhook, one underhook). Throwing a body knee without ample space is much riskier as the leg can be grabbed and converted into a takedown.
Cowboy Cerrone was probably ready for this but Edwards instead throws his knee past his own shoulder to hit Cowboy in the temple. Leon’s crunch to bring Cerrone down and utilization of the turning momentum only add to the craft.
He even gets this with his back agains the fence and is able to defend the subsequent takedown attempt from Luque.
The body knee is still a staple here to keep his opponent busy and slowly wear them out. Grab any advantage when the fight is not occurring in your desired geography.
Edwards enacts his perfect clinch in open space yet again. A key here is the angle at which Edwards approaches the clinch with Cerrone. When they enter the clinch face-to-face Cerrone comes in with a knee of his own. Edwards immediately slips to the outside so he is perpendicular to Cerrone with his forehead pushing into the chin from the side. From this position Cerrone cannot enact any offense without losing his balance and Edwards can throw as many undefended knees to the body as he likes.
To complement the knee is the elbow. I love elbows and Edwards throws them in the clinch better than just about any other MMA fighter.
For a fighter who is often seen as patient he looks like an animal when tossing bows out. With a single collar tie Edwards leads Cerrone around in a circle while decimating his chin with hard elbows.
A knee requires space between the hips to execute safely but an elbow can be thrown from chest-to-chest. The technique of throwing an elbow from in close is often called “folding” the elbows as you simply need fold your arm by bringing your hand to your shoulder. Put some hip torque into it and you can easily produce enough force to down your opponent. If Edwards was a better finisher he likely could have finished Nelson right here.
Just as too few MMA fighters engage in clinch striking, too few throw elbows. As Gunnar blitzes into the clinch he is looking to begin grappling; his A-Game. Given Edwards’ focus on knees earlier in the bout and his own insistence to bring the fight to the ground, the elbow was almost a non-factor. Hitting an opponent who’s expecting to grapple with a hard bow that they don’t see coming, that will do damage.
Loose single collar tie, chest-to-chest, or from a bicep tie, Edwards knows the value in throwing elbows from every position. They are low risk move (especially from in close) that can yield incredibly high returns. While Edwards has a bicep tie, Cerrone’s arm is forced back and against his own body. With a defenseless Cerrone, Edwards pushes Cerrone’s head to the attacking side to ensure a connection and hits a beautiful elbow that sends him reeling. All of the blood in that match was a result of Edwards’ elbows.
The marriage of both techniques is where Edwards’ game within the clinch goes from good to great. Head position, collar tie, wrist control. All of these tools allow Edwards to open up avenues for his offense and control his opponent before throwing. This calculated approach is essential to his offensive and defensive strength in the clinch and to his apparent lack of drive in certain situations.
These 3 tools open the body to knees with subsequent elbows thrown to attack the head. Another great quirk of elbows is shown in the beginning of the clip. Whether they land or not, using the elbow to change the clinch from an over-under into a collar tie is a great way to morph your offensive options while receiving less resistance from your opponent. Met with the prospect of an elbow to the chin a change in position is not all that pressing in the immediate.
Punching can achieve a similar effect from the outside. Keeping a punch “stuck” to your opponent after throwing is a great way to initiate the clinch and sneaky double collar tie. Elbows and punches as clinch changers/starters are great ways to throw extended combinations with a pause. Elbow —> grab + pause —> knee or punch —> punch —> grab + pause —> knee flow naturally from a shot selection perspective, and gives the attacker a moment to achieve control and prevent a return.
While Edwards can do big damage in the clinch his most successful and consistent work has always been that directed to the body. The opportunity to do real DAMAGE comes upon disengaging from the clinch.
Clinch Breaks
Edwards improvement in his grappling allows him to control clinch positions and maneuver his opponent’s body. His ability to control an opponent’s arms and head means that he can prevent the opponent from defending and attack at will. After attacking he can either clinch again or break away.
For someone that is regarded as a “striker”, the ability to break from the clinch on your own terms is incredibly valuable. Strikes on the clinch break are some of the most damaging as they can take an opponent by surprise, and you do not need to worry about maintaining control of the clinch. Most MMA fighters will simply separate from the clinch and use it as a “reset”. Attacking during this reset points is how Edwards is able to confound his opponents and produce a steady stream of damage.
Edwards keeps control of Cerrone with his head positioning and clears a path to the chin by keeping Cerrone preoccupied with a perceived underhook attempt. As Cerrone is focused on defending the underhook Edwards folds an elbow right to the side of his head and creates distance between them.
Thankfully Edwards has the ability to produce offense when in a sticky situation. Edwards keep a shin between their hips to keep space and brings it down when he is ready to enter the clinch on his terms with space between their hips. Edwards narrowly avoids a knee from Cerrone, and throws an elbow while circling out.
Elbows while circling out of the clinch get his back off the fence, put more force into the strike, and allow Edwards to continue striking from a dominant angle.
Edwards makes the best of every standing grappling scenario. As usual Edwards looks for proper head positioning and a dominant angle to turn Luque into the cage off of an overhook. Edwards then separates with some nice body punches and a combination. He did not see the path for his usual knees and elbows so he opted for one that would land with effect instead. If something is working, hammer it to death. If something isn’t, change course.
This is one of my favorite ways fighters break clinches. Benson Henderson used this technique all the time to break away from grappling situations as his opponents stood up along the fence. As Edwards has the back body lock RDA is looking to fight the hands and turn into Edwards. While doing this, his head is free to be hit. Rather than break his body lock to land some wimpy punches Edwards opts to land a strike with high damage potential.
RDA gets his hand up in time, but a single arm is rarely enough to block all the damage from a high kick. High kicks from the back body lock are a great way to take advantage of an opponent when you have a completely dominant angle on them.
Transitional Work
While strikes off the break are a great way to catch an opponent unawares, strikes that come while transitioning between striking and grappling are just as effective. Many MMA fighters don’t see MMA as its own entity. They see it as a patchwork sport of different disciplines. When grappling, you’re grappling, when striking, you’re striking. Fighters like Edwards, Khabib, Benson Henderson, Oliveira, Fluffy Hernandez and others are much more of the mind that transitioning between these phases, allowing them to play off each-other, is what makes MMA unique and special.
Though Leon circles himself into the fence during this sequence, he is able to off-balance Nelson and exchange his weak underhook for a strong collar tie. He throws a beautiful knee form this position and stands Nelson up. As Nelson’s posture straightens, Edwards is able to get a tight overhook and better head positioning. He throws a strong elbow while circling out to escape the fence.
Edwards wasn’t able to capitalize here but following trips with strikes is a perfect way to hit your opponent while they are unbalanced. If an opponent does not have their feet under them they are not able to withstand strikes well.
Trips are hard to execute successfully as is, but trip attempts will almost always off-balance the opponent. With almost no risk to the tripper it makes sense to trip whenever possible and then strike as the opponent gets their feet back under them.
Here we see this concept added to earlier in the same fight. Edwards is able to execute a beautiful trip on Cerrone. He stays on top of his opponent and is able to threaten a front headlock which Cerrone defends. As Cerrone defends, his head his open for the knee. Once it lands Edwards resets and creates distance between them.
Another low-risk maneuver is to drop on the takedown. If you get them down? Great. If not? Then Edwards takes a free shot to the body while Nelson tries to establish his underhooks. As Nelson struggles to get off the fence Edwards grabs the head and throws an elbow on the break. The more you change the geography at which the fight is taking place, the longer the opponent needs to process how to defend. It is why you always hear “mix in the strikes with the takedowns”. Its simple in concept and yields huge returns when used consistently.
Even if a strike is not thrown WHILE the opponent is off-balance, the opponent is wholly committed to regaining their balance when being taken down. Cerrone does a great job of defending the takedown threat by Edwards but need a beat to reset, get his feet under him and face Edwards. Edwards nails him with a knee to the body on the reset.
It is only because of Edwards’ grappling improvements that he can leverage a grappling offense that intertwines with his striking offense in the clinch. While this is “Clinch Striking” with Leon Edwards, some of his crafty grappling from the clinch deserves a shout out as well.
Wrestling
Love the way Edwards just crunches Luque down here. He has the angle for a trip from the back body lock, but Luque’s weak uchimata attempt allows Edwards to simply lift him up, turn back in, and crush him down. Sinple.
Edwards beautifully flows some grappling attacks together against Nelson. After kneeing the body and reversing the position, Edwards throws a lovely little inside trip that takes Nelson’s foot off the ground. With this attack he can inch his way to the back, pick Nelson up, and bring him down. I think Edwards is a deceptively strong fighter in the Welterweight division. Man-handling Welterweights (and former Lightweights) in this stage of his career and hanging with Usman in the clinch is no small feat.
This is just craft. Such a nice takedown reversal, something only possible with the cage at his back. Luque is really selling out on his takedown attempt here and his posture is breaking. Ass up head down is never a good position to be in and Edwards keeps pressure on Luque’s head. He gets a far-side tricep grip to keep Luque on the single, and swims his free arm under Luque’s leg while doing a psuedo-peek out. This lets Edwards come up on top and bring Luque to the cage. I really love this move.
Even when Luque gets really deep on a single leg attempt Edwards has a bag of reversals up his sleeve. It truly appears as though Edwards hits the “Oniguruma”
to break Luque down. Luque’s insistence on the single without maintaining enough contact with the leg allows Edwards to easily take the back from here. Another wonderful sequence.
Finally is just a nice little shuck to the back that Edwards is able to complete by keeping control of the far arm. Edwards isn’t always the most exciting fighter and he has a tendency to let his opponents back into a fight (See: Nate Diaz), but he is crafty as all hell.
Edwards is one of the craftiest fighters in the game right now. After his run of back between his fight with RDA and his title win, I was happy to see such an under looked fighter finally be appreciated for how good he was.
Edwards affinity in the clinch was no doubt wrought from training a lot of wrestling while standing, allowing him to be comfortable enough to enter the clinch from any position and defensive enough to ward off takedowns.
Striking in the clinch is a great way to wear opponents down, minimize the chances of being countered, and marry offensive striking and grappling. If any MMA fighter wants to have a truly “well-rounded” game, I believe the clinch is one of the best places to begin working. Striking-focused fighters need relish in being comfortable here, and grapplers need to learn how to do more damage when their takedowns are not yielding significant gains. Edwards is the model on how to stay safe, maintain control, and slowly accrue damage. With the activity and intensity notched up a tad, it can be a truly devastating area to build one’s game around (Charles Oliveira vs. Poirer & Gaethje are good examples of a more offensive version of this approach).
I wish the Brummy Mumbler luck on this title defense. Covington has the chance to wear him out over 5, but I have a hard time seeing Colby deal with the striking from the outside and in the clinch. If anything, I hope Edwards can get a bit more shine for how crafty his game truly is. What is your favorite aspect of Edwards’ game, and what can you most easily see yourself implementing? Let us know below, on Twitter, or in our Substack chat. Thank you for the support.
-Kick