The purpose of this is to be able to utilize this underhook to come up and secure a single leg. Oleinik has an underhook on the side of his half guard and begins to scoot his hips out toward the same side (this being his left side). Seems like Lewis had been learning some Redneck Judo though, and he hits a throw eerily reminiscent of Tim Boetsch’s toss of David Heath, though there are some key differences. Oleinik is able to dig for underhooks and is able to get the fence, beginning to rotate toward Lewis. We see Lewis drive Oleinik back to the fence, and makes sure his neck is safe (we actually see Oleinik hint at the Ezekial choke) by driving his shoulder up into the armpit of Oleinik. Let’s see just how these exchanges went down. When he spoke about what he would do before the fight, he said he would “come out balls blazing”, and I guess when you’re fighting a guy who would have desperately wanted to lock up, that likely qualifies. Within seconds, Lewis closed the distance and initiated a clinch. Well what we got was a surprisingly back and forth grappling match, at least for the first round. If you’re Oleinik, get the big man down and submit him. If you’re Lewis, stay on the feet and knock the older gentleman out.
![black boa constrictor black boa constrictor](https://live.staticflickr.com/3382/3257390774_810656f69a_z.jpg)
The expectations for this fight were pretty simple really from either fighter’s perspective. My comrade Edward Gallo wrote about his mythical “just stand up” defense on the ground, and why we need to take a closer look at it.Īleksei Oleinik is basically on the opposite end of the spectrum of Lewis, a savvy grappler with a ridiculous 46 submission wins on his record.
![black boa constrictor black boa constrictor](https://live.staticflickr.com/8342/8253007578_f76127493e_z.jpg)
That being said, despite the common misconception, Lewis has been steadily showing some pretty decent work on the ground for a long time. Despite possessing some of the most devastating ground and pound we’ve ever seen in the sport, Lewis has always had issues utilizing and imposing what are arguably his best tools.
![black boa constrictor black boa constrictor](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/27/cf/8c/27cf8cfda94da816cb8a758affe95162.jpg)
When one thinks of Derrick Lewis, of the many things that come to mind, displays of grappling proficiency wouldn’t be one of them.