Managed to get this together and publish it the morning after UFC On FX 3. If it goes down well I'll do it after every event.
Cheers,
Jack
UFC on FX 3 brought little in the way of striking clinics, but one of the stand out performances on the feet of the event was Eddie Wineland's masterful dismantling of the dangerous wrestler and one time top contender,Scott Jorgensen. Of course Wineland benefited from a height, reach and experience advantage in the striking exchanges, but he also benefited greatly from Jorgensen trying to jab his way forward technically rather than just running in swinging. Of course no coach is ever going to tell his fighter to abandon the jab and swing, but Jorgensen's misplaced discipline in sticking to the clearly ineffectual jab even when he was being countered violently was severely damaging to his performance in this match.
As a general rule, technical fighting is entirely based on the jab. Good offensive fighters tighten up their methods of landing it cleanly and following up on it. Good counter fighters work specifically on ways to counter the jab more than any other punch. If the jab, as it is taught today, were anywhere near as safe as coaches lead their charges to believe it is, counter punchers would not have such success dropping and stopping their opponents off of the jab. Men like Anderson Silva would have half their game taken away from them if their opponents devoted as much time studying new ways to lead as Silva spends designing counter attacks for standard offenses.
Last night Scott Jorgensen was a victim of this cult of the jab. A short fighter, with a reach disadvantage, he plodded forward behind single jabs, with his body upright. It is fine to move in behind single jabs, but a certain form is required to do it successfully. If attacking with a jab it is important to dip to one's right, taking one's head offline of the opponent's straights, and dipping the head below the lead shoulder to prevent an overhand swing or "Cross Counter". Notice the difference in posture between Wineland while jabbing on the left side of the storyboard (moving his head off line), and Jorgensen on the right side (upright, lead shoulder low and lunging out of his stance to connect).
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