Fitch's plan for Palhares: Keep calm and don't get to point where you're screwed

WSOF welterweight title challenger Jon Fitch (26-6-1) is fighting champ Rousimar Palhares (16-6) – finally – and that means he has to answer questions about leglocks.

Namely, how he’ll stop them.

Fitch has one thing to say about his upcoming opponent, whom he meets on Dec. 27 at WSOF 16, eight months after they were originally scheduled to meet at WSOF 11.

“The No. 1 thing I learned about leglock defense from (American Kickboxing Academy coach) ‘Crazy’ Bob Cook was a long time ago was be calm,” he told MMAjunkie Radio.

A lot of Palhares opponents say the same things: I won’t get in a bad position, I’ll keep the fight on its feet, I’ll keep the Brazilian at bay. Only a few can say they’ve done that.

The rest? They’ve all wound up on the mat, frantically slapping their legs as the referee scrambles to keep Palhares from injuring yet another leg.

Fitch is not easily rattled, and it’s no wonder why. He’s faced a laundry list of world-class welterweights and held his own against them. He’s about as high-level as you can get, and so the odds of him stopping a quick heel hook appear to be better than others the Brazilian has faced, including Steve Carl, whom he quickly tapped to take the WSOF welterweight title.

But then again, Palhares’ specialty is such a fast and unpredictable thing that it won’t become clear whether Fitch is just like the rest, or an exception to the rule, until the end of the first round.

Palhares typically waits a tad before diving to the mat, but he almost always winds up diving to the mat.

That brings Fitch to another thing about leglocks, whether it’s a submission specialist or average Joe applying them: it’s about leverage. And that’s where Cook’s training comes in again.

“He showed me the positions where you’re screwed,” Fitch said. “He said once you get to here, you’re screwed. It’s over. So as long as you understood those positions, you can stay calm from that position. A lot of guys tap to leglocks because they freak out.

“I use the (Brock) Lesnar (vs. Frank) Mir kneebar (as an example). I don’t think that was applied very well. I think that was more of a panic tap rather than he felt real pain. If you look at (the hold), it was pretty far down the leg. It was past the knee; it shouldn’t have put on that much pressure on anything.

“When you mess with somebody’s legs, there’s no leeway like with an arm or a shoulder. You’re fine, you’re fine, you’re fine, and then it pops. Guys know that, and once it gets tight or straight, it’s probably going to pop, so they freak out and they tap from that.”

Fitch, of course, believes he’s got the experience and wherewithal to stay the course if he gets caught in a bad position. And, of course, he’ll try not to get in those positions at all, being at his best when he’s on top of an opponent, grinding away with ground and pound.

But as even he points out, the leg is always fine until it’s not, and the moment when it crosses from the former to the latter is such a quick one that even the best fighters can bet wrong on where they stand. It’s seen in their faces – calm and placid, then pained, then grimacing.

Fitch is betting he knows exactly where he’ll stand. For the fans, they’ll be watching his expression when the two inevitably hit the mat.

For more on WSOF 16, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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