Dustin Poirier was slotted to face three different opponents at several points in the lead up to UFC 143. Finally after a rash of injuries, UFC rookie Max Holloway was the man across the cage from Poirier. Holloway, while an interesting prospect and exciting striker, is fairly inexperienced on the ground. On the other had, Poirier is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under TUF veteran Tim Credeur. While that might not sound impressive to the modern MMA fan, who is used every fighter sporting a black belt, the purple belt is the first of the ‘upper’ belts. The gap between a purple belt and a black belt is in the details, but the difference between a white belt and a purple can be a chasm.
More Bloody Elbow UFC 143 Judo Chops
The Striking And Grappling Technique Of Nick Diaz | Fabricio Werdum Striking Analysis
The Instep Roundhouse Kick Of Stephen Thompson | Carlos Condit Lands A Flying Knee KO
That chasm is mainly due to the fact that purple belts have learned to think two or three moves ahead, while white belts are thinking in the moment, putting them at a disadvantage. Anticipating submission openings in transitions is a skilled acquired by years of grappling, and this includes transitions that come after escaping a submission. Known as chaining, experienced grapplers often can make one submission flow into another by taking full advantage of the transition created by escaping from one submission attack.
Dustin Poirier attacked transitions to perfection against Max Holloway and the result was something akin of quick sand. Each time Holloway made an
