Matthew Burton Brown Stars in “The Devil’s Hellbow”
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Happy Holiday’s. No matter who or where you are, This is a time to be grateful. Grateful for family, friends & loved ones. OR… If you are anything like your boy Smoke you are grateful for Matt Brown AKA Muay Thai Matt. It should come as no surprise to the reader that I am a huge fan of Matt Brown & I think his “Coolness” factor is top 5 all time in mma. But that’s not why you read these, You read these for analysis and breakdowns on topics I deem interesting. I can’t for the life of me think of a fighter more deserving as being described as “Interesting”. The goal for this article is to highlight some of things Matt does and has done that should be apart of any Mixed Martial Artist’s game. If at times I ramble or go on tangents just try to bare with me. This is something I have been working on for awhile & I have never been more excited to unveil something to the fighting fandom.
The “sweep” is an integral part of the Muay Thai fighters game. A way to both establish control & destroy the psyche of the person fighting you. On top of that it’s pretty fucking cool. Like many of the things I talk about this is something not used by the majority of the roster although it should. The modern way to take someone down comes from 1 of 2 ways, Both of which involve the fence. Single leg attempt with Opponent ass to fence trying to pull the arms up and break grip. The double leg attempt with Opponents ass to fence trying to pull up on arms while also dipping hips down to get below the lock. However this is fucking boring & expected by everyone that is at least semi-understanding of wrestling basics. Matt Brown being the natural Nak Muay that he is determined this to be too uncool for his tool box & instead opt’s for the sweep. Lets take a look at some examples…
Here Matt Brown has forced the attack from Barberena with pressure. Barberena attempts to operate space with lead hand and use that to land the 2 almost like a “slappy” 3-2 combination. Matt dips to the inside and immediately does two crucial things. 1.- He immediately obtains “Double-Under” clinch position to control the exchange. 2.- He squares his hips to establish a neutral balance and force Bryan to mirror. With these two things in tow, Matt pushes Up with his right hand into the armpit & pulls with his left hand down to the ground while simultaneously “Sweeping” the shin of his left leg into the right leg of Bryan. When done in one motion this forces Bryan to “Fall over himself” which causes his left leg to go flying. Simple to demonstrate but difficult in execution… Unless your middle name is Burton.
Little bit of a different position here for Matt. Also thought this was a great highlight to demonstrate the clinch as an effective tool & not just an intermediary between Standing & Not Standing. You see Matt with a collar tie with his left hand and a bit of a modified underhook with the right that is also controlling the left wrist of his opponent. Heavy left knee to the liver causes opponent to Close distance & Pummel like his life depends on it. Matt being the expert that his intercepts by welcoming the closing of distance and obtaining the full underhook with the right arm. Pull down with the left and push up with the right. However in this exchange you can see the left shin sweeps the left leg of his opponent still causing a trip but not a full “drop” if you will. However you see Matt combat this by keeping the right under-hook and framing the head with the left. Simple stuff that could be adopted by everyone but wont be.
In this clip Matt Shows that the sheer effectiveness of foot sweeps. Its the first round. Nobody is exhausted yet. However Silva still falls like a sack of potatoes. On top of that Matt doesnt even have the ideal hand positioning for the trip. How? Look at the hips. “Its all in the hips”. Matt is square in prime position for the trip. Erick Silva is not square, He is orthodox with lots of pressure on the back foot. Matt has the underhook and notices this. Instead of wasting time going for the collar-tie Matt just sweeps the back leg. Once again Pulls down with left hand & Just “Shoves” with the right. Absolutely beautiful.
I really hope that last example highlighted the importance of sweeps in mixed martial arts. Think for a second about all the times Mid-Level guys get caught in 50/50 clinch positions against the fence essentially stalling for time… They could be doing this with less energy expenditure while simultaneously looking cool as fuck.
A key part of Matt’s game is his superior understanding of Clinch mechanics from the perspective of Muay Thai. In Muay Thai the clinch is a space where inflicting damage is required. Unlike in modern mma where the clinch is simply in the middle of a takedown. Matt’s entire game is built around this understanding. He can pressure because he isn’t afraid of someone smothering offence with a body lock off the fence for example. He knows he is dangerous there which in turn opens up the ranged attacks (Lol Dhiego Lima) Here’s some examples of Matt doing that dirty work son.
A common tactic in modern mma to avoid damage is to shell on the fence. It’s the last layer of defense. With most MMA fighters exclusively head hunting from this position, It is often viable defense. Not a good idea if you signed a contract to fight Matt Brown. The one clinch position in Muay Thai that people refer too is “The Plum” Essentially a double collar tie at the back of the neck. If you only learn one thing from this article please let it be this… The “Plum” is not inherently a Muay Thai clinch position. Lots of disciplines use it. However I digress. In this clip Matt has used his pressure to push Silva to the shell position on the fence. Most would swing wild 3,4’s but Matt immediately uses the knees. A trained eye can see that Matt is both bringing his knees up at an angle to utilize the pointy part, But he is also pulling Silva’s head left and right into the position of the knee. I’m surprised Silva’s forearms didn’t break trying to stop those knees holy hell.
The other aspect of Matt’s clinch game against the fence is the elbow. The elbow is one of the hardest parts of the body. If you kick one full bore with your shin you might fracture your leg. God forbid you kick one with your foot (Ask me about that one lol). What I mean is it makes for a great blunt object. However as we all know if one grazes the skin it will open up and bleed like a christmas Ham. I love this exchange because Silva is trying. He is really trying to find a spot to frame and find an angle to move away. Matt stuffs the frame attempt from Silva’s right hand by sneaking in a collar tie. This also helps him stay aligned with his shots. Also just like the knee he is pulling the head into the elbow. Also I love how Matt says fuck your guard and just tries to elbow through Silva’s arm. Unbelievably cool.
Just a quick example of what I mean by pressure. Matt gets wrist control on both arms. Continues to push back and almost jumps into an elbow. Right hand pulls down and uses the momentum to fall into the shot. Takes a lot of dexterity to do that which no doubt comes from years of clinch work, Pushing & Pulling into different positions.
The title of this article is deliberate. I spent quite a bit of time trying to come up with a title that would do Matt Justice. Finally I accepted that watching Matt is like a movie. A great movie at that. One with a great plot & amazing likeable characters the culminates in a crescendo scene leaving the audience absolutely bewildered and astonished. Here’s that film…
“The Devil’s Hellbow”
Matt Brown, Muay Thai, Reverence, Aggression, Legend. These are all words that are synonymous to me. I have had the utter pleasure to grow up watching Matt & he was an integral part in me starting to learn Muay Thai. One of the best guys to watch for a young fighter. So much to emulate. Hopefully you have enjoyed this article but most importantly… “I hope you learned a thing or two about a thing or two”
Author’s Note:
Sorry I took a month off from writing. Im not actually sorry of course I do this shit for fun but I would have liked to write more. That being said I have quite a few ideas for this coming year that will allow me to have more time to write. Ultimately I love combat sports & I will always be involved with it in some way. That being said here’s to one of the worst years in UFC history… ESPN Deal be damned.
Your’s Truly
-Smoke
