My Border Wars Grappling Match from 7/11/15

[stan myaskovskiy]

Attached is my match video for Border Wars 4:

I want to first start by thanking the promotion for having me, and I have nothing but kind words for them. Also, thanks for allowing me to be on what sounds like their last card with grappling. Although I lost, I did my best to put on an exciting show and finish in submission.

Thank you to my opponent, fans, ALL MY MANY training partners, coaches and everyone else involved in my career. Watched my fight again, and overall I'm not as disappointed as I was originally with my performance.

Opinion of match (fighter standpoint):

I went to a points match with a submission only mentality and it didn't pay off this time. This match, I was going against a seasoned MMA amateur who is regularly main event for our local cards and jiu jitsu blue belt. I got a little bit excited and rushed into some positions that I could have avoided. I also rushed my kimura at the end and instead of staying tight and technical, the rush is what lost the position altogether.. It was a Hail Mary as I had no idea how much time was left. Had I known it was 30 seconds, I would have taken my normal path of kimura to reverse spider web instead of bailing for a kneebar. It may have very well cost me the match. You win some. You learn some. My opponent is an animal, and deserves mad respect. I underestimated him a bit, and thats always bad to do. He was absolutely the better man today, no excuses. Congrats!

Although I never felt in danger of being submitted, I did lose 8-2 on points. My hat is off to my opponent. He came in with a game plan and executed it very well. Also, to be 100% honest. Had I won 8-2 on points, that would still be a loss in my mind. I always do my best for my fans to finish fights and keep jiu jitsu exciting. I had one of my weaknesses exploited, and that's just good ole' wrestling and very solid pressure with minimal submission attempts.

I did my best, and I am excited to get back in the gym and work on correcting my game... Tightening everything up and putting in reps. Adding more wrestling to my JJ. This is just a small road bump, but I'll be back stronger than ever. I also need to slow the game down because I made mistakes that I never make in the practice room.

My Electric chair was fully sunk in, and I had a few other good moments to end it. I just didn't play my game and got sucked into his. I have a long way to go, but there's no quit here. Any help and critique for improvement would be appreciated as always.

Thanks again for all the support.
Hopefully next time I bring home the W!
10p4l

[Ross Davidson]

Nice match dude! Never quit fighting. Love it.

Thought you gave up position to drop into a leg lock when you finally had him in a semi-open guard position, which i don't think is a bad play, just maybe too quick and should have sold the pass a bit more first. But you recovered to lockdown beautifully. And that kimura grip sweep was great to watch as well. I def think that that armbar should be an easy win right there, but I guess you didn't have the proper control. That knee bar looked like all you had to do was hip in a bit more to get it, but the vid doesn't have the best angle so I dunno.

Overall a good match man! And you gotta give that guy props, he had great flower sweeps and recoveries as well. Definitely two warriors in there.

[Greg W]

Stan the man!!!!

[stan myaskovskiy]

Nice match dude! Never quit fighting. Love it.

Thought you gave up position to drop into a leg lock when you finally had him in a semi-open guard position, which i don't think is a bad play, just maybe too quick and should have sold the pass a bit more first. But you recovered to lockdown beautifully. And that kimura grip sweep was great to watch as well. I def think that that armbar should be an easy win right there, but I guess you didn't have the proper control. That knee bar looked like all you had to do was hip in a bit more to get it, but the vid doesn't have the best angle so I dunno.

Overall a good match man! And you gotta give that guy props, he had great flower sweeps and recoveries as well. Definitely two warriors in there.

Thanks Ross for the feedback! I really appreciate it. I'm really hard on myself sometimes so its hard to just see a match for what it is instead of constantly working on the ways I could improve.

I do agree with the leg lock. Although that's a big part of my game usually, he was against the cage and I could have used it to my advantage to pass.

The kimura grip sweep i use all the time. However the rest I rushed and it fell apart. I thought there was no time left. My mind rushed through stepping over to reverse spider web, sitting down into the kimura, going to the armbar, etc. And halfway between going reverse spider web I ditched for the armbar. He brought his legs up and I bailed on a kneebar. In hindsight I probably should have tried to finish one instead of chaining so much together. I feel i needed to commit to one submission. In the end I lost a great position as well that I worked hard to get and ended up on the bottom.

Thanks again for the feedback. I definitely did my best and feel like it showed me areas where I should improve. Can't wait to get back in there and get some more wins again!