Is Fence Wrestling an Advanced Skill?

Oct 1

6 min read

Someone recently asked me whether wrestling against the cage is an advanced MMA tactic that isn't really as applicable to amateurs, or whether it should be learned right alongside the basics of grappling.

To me, the answer is pretty clearly the second one.

I don't think fence wrestling is some advanced skill that you learn after you've mastered wrestling, BJJ and striking. I think it's one of the fundamental skills of MMA.

That doesn't mean I think a brand-new student needs to learn elaborate cage-wrestling chains on their first week of training. Obviously, there is a progression to how you teach it. But I do think the fence should be part of an MMA fighter's education from the beginning, because the fence isn't an occasional feature of the sport. It's part of the environment.

And at the amateur level, it can completely change the fight.

The Cage Is Smaller Than You Think

One of the things I think gets overlooked when people talk about MMA is the size of the cage fighters are actually competing in.

A lot of local amateur shows use relatively small cages - 20'-22'. That matters a lot more than people realize.

A striker can have a very good understanding of distance and still have a difficult time maintaining that distance when there are only a few steps between the center of the cage and the fence. A pressure fighter doesn't necessarily have to be an incredible cage-cutting technician when the cage itself is doing some of the work for him. Take three strides forward and you're practically on top of somebody.

Now that beautiful open-space striking game has a different problem to solve.

The fighter who wants to maintain distance has to create space while simultaneously defending the possibility of a takedown. The pressure fighter doesn't necessarily need to land a huge punch. He just needs to keep closing the distance, get his hands on you and make you work.

That's one of the reasons I think the local amateur MMA scene can be such a good environment for wrestlers and pressure fighters. They don't have to give you much room.

You Don't Have to Be a Pressure Fighter

I think people sometimes misunderstand the importance of fence wrestling. I'm not saying everybody should become a pressure fighter. You don't have to build your entire MMA game around putting people against the fence. If you're a long-range striker, maybe you want to spend most of the fight in the center of the cage. If you're a counter fighter, you may have a completely different preferred way of fighting.

But if you're going to compete in MMA, you still have to understand what happens when someone decides that you're not going to get to fight your preferred fight.

What happens when they run you to the fence?
What happens when they get an underhook?
What happens when you defend the first takedown and they immediately attack again?
What happens when you finally get your hips away from the fence and they put you right back?

Those aren't advanced theoretical problems. They're problems that show up very quickly in an MMA fight. And if you haven't trained them, you're going to discover them in competition.

I've Seen This Beat Better Fighters

As a coach, I've watched less talented fighters completely destroy fighters with much better pedigrees in wrestling because they were willing to drag the fight into the clinch and stay there. I've seen guys who weren't as accomplished as their opponents in any individual discipline make the fight miserable simply because they loved that kind of fighting.

They get you to the fence.
They hold you there.
They hit you.
They knee you.
They trip you.
They ride you.
They mat return you.
And then they do it again.

There isn't always one spectacular technique that wins the exchange. It's the accumulation of pressure. Eventually the other fighter starts to break.

That's something you see in MMA that you don't necessarily get from training the individual components of the sport. A guy can have a very impressive wrestling background and still be uncomfortable in an MMA clinch. A very good kickboxer can be completely unprepared for what happens when every punch creates an opportunity for a takedown. A BJJ player can be excellent on the ground but have no experience trying to get back to his feet while another athlete is physically pinning him against a fence and hitting him.

The fighter who has spent hundreds of hours in that environment has an enormous advantage over someone who is experiencing it for the first time. And I've seen that advantage matter.

You Can't Assume the Pieces Will Connect Themselves

This is one of the things that has become increasingly important to me as I've thought more about how we teach MMA.

We can teach wrestling
We can teach BJJ
We can teach boxing
We can teach Muay Thai

But that doesn't automatically mean we've taught MMA. The fence is a perfect example.

A wrestler may know how to shoot a double leg. A BJJ player may know how to get up from bottom position. A striker may know how to throw knees in the clinch. But what happens when those things have to happen simultaneously? What happens when you're against the fence, your opponent is pummeling for an underhook, you're trying to defend a takedown, he's trying to hit you with a knee, and you have to decide whether to turn him, circle out, change levels, attack a takedown of your own or create enough separation to get back to striking range?

That's not something you automatically learn by taking three separate classes. It's an MMA problem. And MMA problems need to be trained.

This Isn't Just Wrestling With a Wall

Fence wrestling isn't simply wrestling with a wall behind the opponent. The fence changes the problem. In traditional wrestling, the boundaries eventually stop you. In MMA, the fence becomes something you can use offensively and something your opponent can use against you. It changes posture. It changes takedown mechanics. It changes the value of underhooks. It changes how you can escape. It changes what happens after a failed takedown. It changes the relationship between striking and grappling. And, perhaps most importantly, it changes the amount of space available to the person trying to escape.

That's why I don't think you can simply tell an MMA fighter, "You're a good wrestler, so you'll figure out the cage." Maybe they will. But I'd rather they figure it out in training.

That's Why We Spend Time There

At BLAST, I devote significant attention to fence wrestling offense and defense.

That's not because I expect every fighter to become a pressure wrestler. It's because I want every fighter to be comfortable in that environment. I want them to understand how to get someone to the fence and how to keep them there. I want them to understand how to defend it, how to create an underhook, how to get their hips off the fence, how to turn someone and how to get themselves back into open space.

More importantly, I want them to become comfortable with the physical and mental demands of that position. Because fence wrestling can be exhausting in a very particular way. You're fighting for position while carrying another person's weight. You're constantly hand fighting. You're trying to maintain posture. You're defending takedowns. You're worrying about strikes. You're trying to breathe while somebody is leaning into you and making you work. And then, just when you think you've finally escaped, they put you right back.

That experience matters. You need to know what it feels like before you have to deal with it in a fight.

Fundamental Doesn't Mean Easy

I think part of the confusion comes from the word fundamental. People sometimes hear "fundamental" and assume that means "simple." That's not what it means. A fundamental skill is a skill that is important enough and common enough that you can't afford to be deficient in it. Defending a single leg is fundamental. That doesn't mean defending a great wrestler's single leg is easy. Getting off the fence is fundamental.That doesn't mean getting off the fence against someone who can chain wrestle, strike and mat return you is easy.

The advanced part is becoming exceptionally good at solving the problem. The problem itself is fundamental.

Train the Environment

The longer I coach MMA, the more convinced I become that this is one of the biggest differences between training the individual martial arts and actually training MMA.

If all you do is train the individual pieces, you can become very good at the pieces.

But eventually you have to put them together in the environment where they're actually going to be used.

That's why I don't consider fence wrestling an advanced tactic. I consider it part of learning how to fight MMA.

You don't have to make it your style.
You don't have to become a pressure fighter.
You don't even have to particularly enjoy fighting against the fence.

But you need to understand it. Because sooner or later, somebody is going to put you there.

And when they do, I'd much rather have you think, I've been here a thousand times, than I guess we'll find out what happens.