Beautiful Anaconda choke entry by Rafa Mendes at ADCC 2009!!!

[Mike Nall]

Mendes is amazing at front flipping out of top 1/2 guard and locking in the Anaconda. He almost finished with the same entry against Leo Vieira and hit a couple Anconda choke attempts off odd entries against Cobrinha. Beautiful stuff.



Hew tries it on Leo Vieira at 4 minutes in:

[matthewgustavetessner]

Best on the Planet Right now, my opinion.

[Mike Nall]

Best on the Planet Right now, my opinion.

I have him right behind Roger Gracie. Mendes is definitely the best grappler in the toughest division... gi and no-gi. So amazing! I have Roger in the lead just because of is Absolute performances, but they're neck and neck for sure! Mendes is a beast! It's crazy too because I don't even think he's 21 yet, and his performance at ADCC 2009 was at 19...

[Brandon Mccaghren]

good eye and a great setup.

i like the way he uses his top side leg to adjust and add pressure to his opponent's trapped arm. that's the way i encourage our guys to do it. it drives the shoulder deeper against the neck, i feel, and it gives you a chance to sink your choke more securely because it makes the space you are trying to squeeze smaller.

[Mike Nall]

good eye and a great setup.

i like the way he uses his top side leg to adjust and add pressure to his opponent's trapped arm. that's the way i encourage our guys to do it. it drives the shoulder deeper against the neck, i feel, and it gives you a chance to sink your choke more securely because it makes the space you are trying to squeeze smaller.

Yeah I forgot to mention the thigh squeeze to close the arm towards the neck. He really emphasizes that at seminars when teaching the Anaconda choke. He also attempted it on Leo Vieira, but Leo was too good at keeping space between his shoulder and neck. One of the reasons I posted the full mount Darce thread was because when you step over, you can use your stepped-over leg to squeeze their shoulder close to their neck. Cobrinha does this with the Darce, and he doesn't even have to drop to both knees for the full mount. He just steps over and squeezes his thigh into the shoulder as he cinches the Darce/

[Tyler Timmermans]

i wish i was half as fast as them ,do you guys know of any drills to improve your movement off your back and but?

[KrisGallagher]

i think i learned more about that technique from the failed attempts than in the one he succeeded with. Maybe that's just me though...

[Mike Nall]

i think i learned more about that technique from the failed attempts than in the one he succeeded with. Maybe that's just me though...

Can you expand? It's certainly not for everyone. Mendes is the best featherweight in the world.

The only time Rafa attempted the front-flip Anaconda choke from half-guard without finishing it was against Leo Vieira. When he fought Cobrinha, he had 2 very tight attempts. His first attempt was as he fell back when Cobrinha took him down with a single-leg. His second attempt was when Cobrinha had a single leg, but Rafa rolled forward into the choke, tried to spin under, but Cobrinha got out.

[KrisGallagher]

No,i just think i saw more of how he was setting it up from the failed attempts than the successful one. It's an amazing technique,and one I'd love to have in my arsenal at some point

[Mike Nall]

No,i just think i saw more of how he was setting it up from the failed attempts than the successful one. It's an amazing technique,and one I'd love to have in my arsenal at some point

Ah I see. If you can do a seminar with the Mendes brothers do it man. They usually cover this as well as a Darce re-counter if it goes wrong. It's almost like the DDT entry that Denny Prokopos showed on MTS but backwards, so instead of flipping them you're the one that's flipping. Glad you like it.