Sage Northcutt was once ridiculed for tapping the same way Charles Oliveira did at UFC 280

Benny A. King

There was a lot of build up in lead up to UFC 280 thanks to the long standing rivalry between sambo and bjj. Many UFC vets out there vouched for the now former lightweight champion including bjj champion Gilbert Burns who ended up losing $50,000 in a wager with his manager.

While there are a lot of people admiring Makhachev’s quick submission of Oliveira not many people out there are discussing some finer points.

 

The submission Makhachev applied is an interesting one – an arm triangle. But even more interesting is the fact that Makhachev finished it from half-guard and the so called ‘wrong-side’.

For the sake of comparison here’s how Sage Northcutt was criticized after tapping from the same position.

Northcutt was forced to tap out to the unknown Bryan Barberena in the second round at UFC on Fox 18.

And Gracie family piled on, posting a Gracie breakdown of the situation in which Rener Gracie details:

“There was a lot of controversy,” said Rener. “People thought he tapped too quickly, this was an arm-triangle, it was improperly applied. Many things are being said here. Number 1: this is more of a modified Von Flue choke than a modified arm-triangle”.

And in Oliveira’s case you can see the arms clasp under the back as well – resembling a von flue choke.

Not to mention Makhachev managed to sub Drew Dober with the same sub in a similar manner.