Fighting a southpaw

[Ehsan_Karam]

^^^Awesome, will do!

[Sean Marshall]

If he is a bit more advanced he could circle mostly into your power hand knowing that you cant help but to throw the right then slip your punch and throw strikes over and your thrown power shot like Anderson Silva.

Another trick is to throw jabs to the right side of someones head not meaning to land any of them, but to make them go into the southpaws power hand like Jeremy was explaining. Takanori Gomi use to do that a lot in his Pride FC fights. As soon as they stepped towards his power hand he would throw a hard stepping in body shot. Once their hands linger downward, in come the head punches for free.

Chuck Liddell would get the angle on people a lot while they were distracted chasing him with punches

Just some tricks I got from trying to study the most dangerous southpaws. I wanted to know why they were knocking so many people out

[theweapon]

First and most important thing is to circle to your left and keep your foot on the outside. this will be a constant battle as he will need to do the same thing to you. Your combinations need to be lead with more right attacks vs starting with the jab. Your cross and right kick now become the main weapons of choice. Use your right kick alot and make sure you mix it up with inside leg kick, body kick, and head kick. This will always keep him guessing and since its your power leg he has to respect it. If he keeps his left hand lower than his eye then you will have more openings with your left hand punches. for example your left hook and left uppercut will land more so use combinations that incorporate them. Make sure when your foot hits the outside you are drilling him with the cross. and remember to throw things in combinations. If you start with a kick, follow with a punch. If you start with a punch, follow with a kick.

[La'akea Sanborn]

First and most important thing is to circle to your left and keep your foot on the outside. this will be a constant battle as he will need to do the same thing to you. Your combinations need to be lead with more right attacks vs starting with the jab. Your cross and right kick now become the main weapons of choice. Use your right kick alot and make sure you mix it up with inside leg kick, body kick, and head kick. This will always keep him guessing and since its your power leg he has to respect it. If he keeps his left hand lower than his eye then you will have more openings with your left hand punches. for example your left hook and left uppercut will land more so use combinations that incorporate them. Make sure when your foot hits the outside you are drilling him with the cross. and remember to throw things in combinations. If you start with a kick, follow with a punch. If you start with a punch, follow with a kick.

I think you mean if his left hand is low your right sided attacks have more openings..? IMO those strikes will be pretty difficult to lead with unless you got your opponent flinching. Both leave you wide open on a south paw, and straighter strikes will jam the middle push him back and be more successful. Straight rights followed with a quick double jab, or over hands from starting position (drop your level) to a lead hook are smarter attacks that will lead to longer more fluid combos.

if your gonna battle for outside position you need to give a little space, and know that he's really gonna move you to your left and more than likely he's gonna push you to that back 45. This is why I say turn your shoulders in which will leave you feeling a bit wide but your hips only have one direction to turn at that point any way. His lead hook should worry more than the jab so don't try to parry (that's what he's hoping you'll do). Step out and totally commit with the strikes and combos i suggested changing your level and keeping your left elbow rather than your hand tight to his face. Because our shoulders and hips are already loaded there shouldn't be much of a telegraph and the level change will lead you into another aggressive strike with your lead hook, or recover the outside with a double jab which will be a chain that is quite comfortable for you as an orthodox striker.

depending on how good your left leg is, and your comfort with jabbing with your right; a lot of lateral movement will open up the possibility of j stepping to his power side but leading south paw as well. I'm right handed and left footed so if I feel like the momentum is pulling too aggressively to my left I'll take like a j step to my right and switch stance. I'll really pump my jab with my power hand and finish with my power foot. How lateral or circular that movement is something you should feel and the timing is sudden. Make sure your chin is hidden to your right shoulder and that you use your left elbow to guard your face. The distance and angle you cut will tell you which leg to kick cause often you'll find that you may kick his back leg rather than his lead when this is implemented. Going high is a great idea too but I'll leave that to you to decide. This will feel most natural when your getting pushed to the cage. Try it on a heavy bag... Start on the right of the bag to simulate inside position, shuffle to your left by pushing off with your right foot, and as soon as your left foot plants (outside) push off like your cutting and pivot on your right foot starting the combo, notice the angle of the kick? Distance wise it's tighter but angle wise it's a lot more open. Just think of yin and yang to the flow of his movement.

[Ehsan_Karam]

Damn...that's a lot right there my friend. Thank you for taking the time.