On the night of September 10 at the UFC 293 tournament, Russian fighter Alexander Volkov defeated Australian Tai Tuivasa with a spectacular choke. This was notable for two reasons. First of all, Volkov had never won by tricks in the UFC before. Secondly, Drago performed a very weird choke on Ezekiel.
After the fight, Alexander, of course, was asked about such an unusual submission: “I didn’t train this particular choke, but I want to thank Alexey Oleynik and say hello. It was he who taught me this technique a long time ago, 10-15 years ago.
Summary of Volkov’s sure victory over Tuivasa:
A unique victory for Volkov in the UFC! The real Drago is tough and cold-blooded.
The reference to Oleinik is not at all coincidental. It was he who became the first fighter in UFC history to obtain the victory of “Ezekiel.” In January 2017, Alexey had a duel with the Czech Viktor Peshta and already in the middle of the first round he forced his opponent to hit. The following May, Oleinik performed the same trick on Brazilian Junior Albini. What’s more, the Russian stated after the fight that his opponent should have known how to defend herself against this technique, since he is good at jiu-jitsu. On both occasions Oleinik received a bonus of 50 thousand dollars for this victory.
An important point is that some sources, such as the Sherdog portal, believe that the first performer of “Ezekiel” in the UFC was not Oleinik, but Remco Pardul, who won in this way in 1995 against Ryan Parker. In this case, the Russian should be considered the first fighter in only the recent history of the promotion to use this choke. And Volkov came second today.
So, it’s time to find out what Ezekiel’s chokehold is. The technique is named after the Brazilian judoka Ezekiel Paraguaçu, who began to actively use it in 1988. In the fight with the nervous ones, he could not overcome the guard and simply began to strangle them from this position. In the original version, strangling Ezekiel requires wearing his own kimono. One hand goes behind the opponent’s neck, the other needs to grab his sleeve and use his elbow or forearm to press on the neck.
Oleinik also explained how this can be adapted to MMA, where the torso is bare. You should hug your opponent as much as possible, put your hand behind his neck, fix him in a position such that he cannot get out, and insert your fist or the edge of your front palm into the area. of his neck.
Oleinik shows how Ezequiel is strangled. Phase 1
Photo: Video frame
Oleinik shows how Ezequiel is strangled. Phase 2
Photo: Video frame
Alexey also described the mechanics of strangulation itself: “There is a structure in a person’s neck: there is a group of muscles on the sides, there is an Adam’s apple. The mistake people make is that they put pressure on the Adam’s apple or a muscle group; some press the jaw from bottom to top. The point is to apply pressure between the Adam’s apple and this muscle group. There is free space here that is never filled. You can inflate a huge neck, the muscles can support a lot of weight. But this place is not protected in any way.”
In general, Oleinik can be safely called a specialist in “Ezekiel”. During his professional career, Uncle Lyosha performed this type of choke 14 times. There was even a four-fight winning streak, where he won exclusively with “Ezekiel.”
After Oleinik won with this technique against Albini, he had a fight with Mark Hunt. He, of course, was asked if he wasn’t afraid of getting caught in a chokehold if he met Boa: “Now I’m in sixth place in the ranking. Oleinik is below me in the ranking, although, to be honest, I don’t remember his place. Fighting with him makes no sense to me. Ezekiel’s strangulation? Is this something from the Bible? I haven’t seen him fight, but he seems like a good guy. If in the end they give it to me, why not? Russia? Good place for a fight. “Some of the best MMA fighters came from Russia.”
By the way, Hunt got caught in a technique, but a simple choke from behind.
By the way, there is one person on whom not even Oleinik could perform the “Ezekiel”: “I fought Jeff Monson, I tried it, I tried it and I realized that this choke does not work. Monson has such a neck and trapezius structure that it is very difficult to do “Ezekiel.”
At the age of 46, Oleinik decided to try his hand at boxing:
Uncle Lyosha, why? The elderly Oleinik signed up for the “slavery” of boxing
“Ezekiel” is a difficult and rare move that is rarely achieved by both experienced and nervous fighters. It is even more surprising that Volkov, who last won by technical in M-1, managed to do this. However, Drago was not given any bonus for this, which angered him: “Why didn’t they give me a bonus? This is my first submission in the UFC and I fought a big striker on his territory, so I don’t understand why they didn’t give me a bonus. This is a question for whoever gives these bonuses.”
In an interview with Match TV, Volkov also added details about this unusual technique: “Oleynik and I trained for some time in Moscow. He showed me this technique and now when I did it, I directly remembered all the elements: so this is here, this is here. And when they grabbed Tuivasa I felt how he was trying to get out, but I understood that he had grabbed him well and needed to hold him for 10 seconds. This technique does not work immediately, it is not a pure suffocation, there is an element of combat impact. And I knew I had to wait a little. Tuivasa was prepared for a lot because I tried to do a triangle with my arms, he escaped and then I tried a guillotine. I prepared these techniques, but it was clear that he also did the work in the field. Also, he is quite strong, slippery, his neck and shoulders are strong, it was difficult to grasp these techniques and he was not prepared for “Ezekiel”. For some reason, people don’t feel danger if you put your hand under their head, and Tuivasa didn’t feel it either.
Alexey could explain this better, but how I feel about it: if you put your opponent’s hand under his head, take his hand with that hand, and he opens his neck, then this is practically a “point of no return.” All that remains is to put your fist on your neck and use force.”
Oleinik is no longer in the UFC, but his work continues. We expect even more spectacular victories from Russian fighters.
