If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again. This is especially true when it comes to the ground fighting element of Mixed Martial Arts where hanging out in a compromised position for too long can be seriously bad for your health. Just ask Jason Macdonald, Jim Miller and Fedor Emelianenko about their most recent fights where being on bottom or underneath their opponents was definitely to their detriment.
Another saying oft heard in the sports landscape is the best defense being a good offense. At the most recent Ultimate Fight Night in New Orleans this past weekend T.J. Waldburger had a strong top position which he gave up to go for an armbar attempt and opponent Mike Stumpf did his best to scramble to get out and take a stronger position. Instead of retreating to guard when the initial submission attempt failed, Waldburger did not give up on his offense and showed the value of being able to chain submission attempts together - more commonly known as lock-flows in the grappling arts - to eventually catch Stumpf in a fight ending triangle choke.
Using the lock-flow strategy of 'Attack, Attack, Attack' makes it very difficult for an opponent to cope as defending in one area can sometimes leave them vulnerable in another and as long as humans continue to only have two arms and two legs, defending everything at once is an impossibility.
After the jump Patrick Tenney looks at the classic submission chain from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu of going from an armbar to a triangle while on bottom with some form of open guard still in play.
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After exchanging a few strikes on the feet, T.J. is able to take Stumpf down and land in a dominant position. T.J. sets up a nearside arm-bar from side control by controlling Stumpf’s arm and isolating it as he begins to posture himself up, so that he can loop his legs over Stumpf to control the body/head and finish the lock.
If you notice T.J.’s right leg when he goes back for the arm-bar is below Stumpf’s head with his knee flared out to the right - this is usually a slight mistake. However, this leg position could also be caused by Stumpf realizing the submission attempt was coming and already beginning the roll/posture out (forcing T.J.’s leg down so that the foot and shin are not locked tight to the head and pinching the trapped arm with the other leg). This leg positioning allows Stumpf to rotate into T.J. because his head is not being controlled.
As Stumpf starts to come up, T.J. is able to loop his right leg back over the arm and in front of the neck of Stumpf. By doing so, he is locking in the arm-bar at a different orientation and forcing Stumpf into a "belly down" arm-bar. Stumpf reacts well in the situation at first, and attempts to roll through the arm-bar and then come up on top. He is able to force T.J.’s left leg over his head after he rolls through, which eliminates the possibility for the arm-bar or triangle.
Unfortunately for Stumpf, T.J. is able to push off of Stumpf’s body with his left hand to create space and get his left leg back over the shoulder of Stumpf. This allows T.J. to re-isolate the left arm of Stumpf. This could have been avoided by Stumpf by circling around to the head of Waldburger, instead of basing out with his feet back behind him and coming up into the guard of Waldburger. The unfortunate choice of base for Stumpf allows for T.J.'s left leg to come over the back of the head and lock the triangle submission in.
Once that triangle gets set in, it looks to be just about as perfectly locked in as you can get. The only additional detail missing would be Waldburger angling off further (he does angle slightly) towards his left side to cinch the choke in tighter.
This entire flow is an example of what I’ve always heard referred to as the "triple attack". It is done at the gym I train at as part of a warm up if we’re working guard techniques that day and involves the transition between the arm-bar/triangle/omoplata and how to transition between them from within the guard; each of these submissions rely on the isolation of a single arm of your opponent and can be linked together and chained repeatedly when/if one of them fails (barring certain situations where your opponent is able to de-isolate that arm or fundamentally alter the position/pass guard).
Being one of the first "chains" and a fundamental part of BJJ guard work there are quite a lot of detailed instructionals out there for this sequence, below are a few:
Andre Quiles & "Robynho" AKA Robin Williams teach 3 attacks from the closed guard. Armbar to triangle to omoplata back to armbar. Andre Quiles is a brown belt in BJJ and certified personal trainer. Robynho is a black belt and part of the Checkmat - Fight Zone USA team.
This situational drill involves learning how to chain attacks together when your opponent defends your initial attack. In this case your opponent stacks you during an armbar from the guard, you transition to an omoplata and he postures up, you can finish with a triangle.