UFC’s Shavkat Rakhmonov: The Nomad and the Cowboy Killer, and proper guillotine technique
UFC welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov made a successful debut on Fight Island, Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The Kazakhstani fighter secured a violent guillotine to finish a very dangerous Alex Cowboy Oliveira at UFC 254.
After the fight, Rakhmonov made it clear that he is on the hunt to become the Cowboy Killer.
Impressive UFC Debut
Rakhmonov, the Kazakh Nomad, looked impressive against the experienced UFC veteran Cowboy Oliveira.
The Nomad looked comfortable on his feet in the first round, pressing forward, and backing Cowboy Oliveira up against the cage. However, after round one, it was still anyone’s fight.
In round two Rakhmonov and Cowboy Oliveira engaged in a back and forth battle on the feet. Cowboy Oliveira, who missed weight by 2 pounds on late notice, clinched up with the Rakhmonov, and forced him back up against the cage. It looked like the Nomad might be in a bad spot, and in some serious trouble.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Rahkmonov made a quick adjustment to circle off the cage. He wrapped up Cowboy’s neck and jumped guard.
Guillotine choke from the guard: rarely effective
In the UFC, it seems that the guillotine is a submission that many fighters do not know how to finish properly. Fighters are constantly popping their heads out of guillotine attempts and escaping, especially when the guillotine is applied from the guard.
It has become somewhat of a pet peeve of mine when UFC fighters attempt the guillotine from the guard. It seems like the guillotine is rarely successful from the guard.
At first, I was skeptical that Rakhmonov made the right decision to jump guard. However, as soon as the Nomad and the Cowboy hit the ground, I knew I was wrong. Why?
Shavkat Rakhmonov submits Cowboy Oliveira by guillotine choke
As you can see in this video of Shavkat Rakhmonov submitting Cowboy Oliveira, the Nomad utilized excellent technique to finish the guillotine. You can see that Rakhmonov’s shoulder on his choking arm is all the way forward and completely covering the back of Cowboy Oliveira’s head so that you can’t see Cowboy’s hair.
Instead of leaning back as I see so many UFC fighters do when trying to finish the guillotine choke, Nomad Rakhmonov crunches forward to lock up the guillotine and finish the fight.
The proper way to finish the guillotine choke
Here is a great guillotine instructional video from the man UFC Hall of Famer Georges St. Pierre calls Guillotine Man, Karel “Silver Fox” Pravec.
If you have trouble finishing the guillotine choke, do yourself a favor and watch this video from Firas Zahabi and Karel “Silver Fox” Pravec. Watching this video will improve your guillotine submission finishing rate, guaranteed.
The biggest take away from the Silver Fox is that you want to make the space, the hole, in your guillotine choke as small as possible. Just as important, the Silver Fox executes the guillotine from his side, and not from the guard.
All in all, Nomad Rakhmonov’s ability to finish an experienced veteran like Cowboy Oliveira from the guard was nothing short of spectacular.
Shavkat “Nomad” Rahkmonov is hunting for Cowboy Cerrone
Following his submission victory at UFC 254, Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov called out Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone to be his next opponent.
As you can tell, the Nomad is on the hunt for cowboys. I, for one, would love to see Shavkat Rahkmonov fight Donald Cowboy Cerrone in Las Vegas.
If Rahkmonov wins, he might have to change his name from the Nomad to the Cowboy Killer.
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