Technique Spotlight: The Gogoplata

For this week’s Technique Spotlight I will be highlighting incredible gogoplata or as I like to call it, the “Holy Grail of submission.”

To date it has only been successfully utilized in MMA by a handful of fighters. Most recently Nick Diaz submitted former Pride legend with this back at Pride 33 in 2007, causing the jiu-jitsu community to simultaneously ‘gasp’ and applaud in amazement.

In order to use the technique a fighter must be incredibly flexible as it requires slipping ones foot in front of their opponents head while simultaneously using your either your other leg or both hands to push the back of their head down. This results in their opponent’s throat being pressed against the raised shin in front of them, forcing them to either tap or blackout from the lack of oxygen.

It’s a beautiful thing to witness. Too bad it’s also incredibly easy to block as there are simply too many steps involved and an experienced grappler who can recognize what it taking place will almost immediately counter. When world class submission specialist B.J. Penn appeared to have one locked in against Georges St. Pierre, another jiu-jitsu black belt, the Canadian superstar almost immediately countered by sliding past Penn’s shin. Similarly, Diaz looked to be going for one against St. Pierre. But once again St. Pierre was out before Diaz even got past step one.

Essentially, if we have any hope of seeing one successfully used inside the Octagon, there has to be a gross mismatch in terms of grappling involved. So unless someone like Demian Maia faces an amateur inside the cage, don’t expect to witness this history anytime soon.