Tales From The Cage

An MMA fighter in England is going viral after pulling off a submission straight out of a WWE ring at Full Contact Contender two weeks ago. Grabbing both of his opponent's legs, Jonno Mears applied what in wrestling terms is known as a Boston Crab, the more generic name for The Walls of Jericho. A move made famous by Chris Jericho, in theory, it applies pressure to the recipients back until they're forced to tap out. Seeing this seemingly fictional maneuver actually work has brought questions of what other wrestling moves may be able to work in MMA. Here's five that seemingly have the best chance of success. 5. The Figure Four  Another submission maneuver starts off the list. The Figure Four is probably most famous by wrestling legend Ric Flair. The move involves intertwining your legs with your opponents in a way that puts immense pressure on one of their knees. You're also able to apply more pressure by leveraging your own body in different ways, c...

Mark Hunt and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva engage in a brutal war at UFC 193 in November of 2015. Combat sports are inherently dangerous. The entire point of the sport is to render your opponent unable to continue before he can do the same to you. So it's no surprise that many fighters don't have long careers, at least at the top of the sport, and those that do tend to show the effects of their brutal craft. But when should a fighter decide enough is enough and walk away? Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva has been fighting professionally since 2005 and has a record of 19-12-1. His claim to fame is being the first man to defeat the legendary Fedor Emelianenko when he submitted the Russian in 2011. After entering the UFC in 2012, Silva only managed three wins from 2012 to 2016. He's lost eight of his last ten fights and has been knocked out in all but one of those losses after only being knocked out twice in his career previously. In recent fights, Silva has lo...

When it comes to MMA, everyone loves a finish, whether it comes by KO/TKO or submission. But if given the option, how would you prefer to see a fight end? Obviously, a one-punch knockout or a head kick finish is highly entertaining and can make fans jump out of their seats in reaction. That's what I believe most fans would choose if they had to pick  how a fight should end. The act of rendering an opponent unconscious with a single strike or a combination of strikes draws people back to the gladiator days (luckily without the death and dismemberment). It's made more exciting by the fact that a knockout can come out of nowhere (see Uriah Hall's  finish  in UFC Pittsburgh). Submissions though, there's something to be said for forcing your opponent to quit in a fight. Whether it's a case of prolonged grappling leading to an eventual submission or sinking something like a guillotine choke in when the opponent goes for a takedown, giving your opponen...

A lot of kids grow up watching sports, and many of those kids choose a favorite athlete in the sports they watch. I had a Mario Lemieux poster on my wall growing up, my friends had posters of Michael Jordan, Emmitt Smith, John Elway and countless others on theirs. They seemed larger than life and for myself and my friends, those athletes were who we wanted to be growing up. With that fame, there seemingly comes a level of responsibility as an athlete. If you know that kids are looking up to you, then it only makes sense that you should behave in a way that makes you worthy of being looked up to. But is that fair? And if it is fair, how far does it extend? Do we limit it to "mainstream" athletes? Those in the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, etc? What about MMA fighters? Does it extend to them? This comes to mind recently because of the actions, both inside and outside of the cage, of one of the sports most popular fighters. Jon "Bones" Jones may be the greatest combat...