Abel Trujillo is a terrifying force of nature. Everything about him is intimidating: his menacing stare-downs, his dog-tag tattoo around his neck, his massive frame and sculpted musculature – even his movement is scary, how he stays light on his feet while threatening with unparalleled explosiveness and raw power. He can shut your lights out with one punch, one elbow, one knee. However, although he’s a devastating striker, he’s been out-grappled and has shown vulnerability to submissions. Prior to his impressive win over Tony Sims at UFC 195, he had lost his last two fights by rear naked choke (RNC), albeit to current top-10 lightweight Tony Ferguson and (prior to his suspension) former top-1o lightweight Gleison Tibau.
What we saw from Trujillo in the past was a classic sprawl-and-brawl style, using his wrestling to keep the fight standing, closing distance with his speed and footwork and landing bombs from inside the pocket. In his fight with Tony Sims, we saw a more varied attack, adding takedowns to his arsenal. We know Trujillo has power: anyone who saw the destruction of Jamie Varner at UFC 169 recognizes the kind of fight-ending KO ability he packs in his punches.
In his most recent fight one week ago at UFC 195, we saw a different kind of fighter. As soon as Tony Sims felt Trujillo’s power, he shot for a takedown. A good takedown attempt requires a set up, and Sims shot in from outside the pocket while leaving his neck exposed. As he hoisted Trujillo above his waist, he straightened his spine, allowing Trujillo to slip his arm under Sims’ neck, landing on the canvas with a guillotine choke locked up. This was no ordinary guillotine choke, however, and there were several pivotal moments in the grappling exchange on which Trujillo capitalized.
There are two steps to defending a guillotine choke after shooting a takedown. The first is to pass guard, often by hopping over to the opposite side of the attacking opponent such that the head and the lower body are on opposite sides of the bottom fighter. This relieves pressure on the neck, while also passing to the more dominant position of side control. The other defensive move is to hand fight, pulling on the fingers and/or wrist of the attacking fighter, which also relieves pressure on the neck. In order to pass guard to the opposite side, however, the top fighter must establish a strong base from which to push off the ground and hop the legs over to the other side. Trujillo recognized this position and wisely over-hooked Sims’ right arm with his left leg, pulling Sims’ weight down on his right side.
In addition to over-hooking the arm of Sims, Trujillo torqued the choke clockwise, such that his left elbow was pointing toward the ceiling while his right elbow pointed toward the ground. This effectively turned it into a high-elbow guillotine, but instead of pulling guard by wrapping his legs around Sims’ lower back, Trujillo elected to simply tilt onto his right hip, which looked more like an arm-out D’Arce choke. As Sims struggled to re-establish his base by getting his weight over both knees, Trujillo adjusted his grip and tightened the choke, getting the tap just seconds later. Because he was able to control Sims’ base, forcing Sims to lie on his right side, Trujillo didn’t have to worry about Sims passing guard to side control, thus enabling him to torque the neck clockwise. This eliminated the need for pulling full guard, while simultaneously angling his arms perpendicular to Tony Sims’ torso.
Abel Trujillo finished Tony Sims with a modified guillotine / arm-out D’Arce choke, which I’m choosing to call the “Trujillotine.” It was a brilliant finish and a much needed win for the Blackzilians trained lightweight, who immediately re-established himself as the terrifying force of nature who he always was. Until now, Trujillo wasn’t putting together the dangerous combination of explosiveness, power, athleticism, and striking ability that he’s known for because he was being out-grappled and controlled on the mat. With this adjustment in his game, by capitalizing on a mistake of his opponent, he was able to put that ridiculous strength of his to use by working a submission. If he continues to evolve his grappling, we could see a very different fighter in Abel Trujillo, and he very well may break into the top 15 of the incredibly stacked UFC lightweight division in 2016.
