If we are talking about street fights I think BJJ is part of the equation but not all of it.
For street fights your focus should be on:
- Being able to walk away from it.
- Boxing
- Clinch work, knees and elbows + Throws !
- Being able to walk away from it.
- Defending against a take down.
- If taken down being able to lock the guy up in your guard so he can't hit you -AND- being able to scape or reverse him.
- Chokes, Chokes, Chokes! ! !
- Being able to walk away from it.
You have to also be able to put it all together.... First off, you are not really going to find many MA guys picking fights at a club... Chances are that the guy who wants to fight you is a street punk that has never been humbled by getting his ass whooped in a good sparing session by somebody 20-30lbs lighter than him... Like all true fighters have at one point.
So... Most untrained tough guys will try to throw a looping haymaker with their dominant hand (probably a right) at your face... some will even cock back with their right and extend their left arm forward like they are throwing a baseball... You can see that shit coming from a mile away...
Your guard when not using boxing gloves should look different. You can block punches with your 14-16oz sparing gloves, but your bare fist gives you little protection. I'm really getting into a new guard that some guys from SBGi have been showing me. I think it is called "crazy monkey" or something... Quinton Jackson and Tito Ortiz (against Chuck Liddell) are a good example of what I'm talking about... Hands high and use a "comb your hair" motion to cover against punches...
Ok... so you are winning the stand up fight, guy tried a couple of haymakers and you ducked out and caught him but didn’t produce a knock out. Most guys in American have wrestled in HS at some point. Some guys did it for a couple of years, you might even run into an all county guy here or there... Once he feels nothing but air on his punches and gets clocked in the face a couple of times his next reaction will be to go in for a shot and try to take you down. Learning how to Sprawl (the right way) and break a guy's grip is KEY!
Even knowing how to fall into a good guard if taken down is key. The main thing is not to waste too much time trying to punch the guy while he is holding your leg and trying to take you down. Forget about punching for a second, stop his take down, kill his momentum and forward motion with a good Sprawl and head control, break his grip and when he is down on his knees and can't make any progress in his position then start raining down some elbows and punches, maybe even a soccer kick or two.
If he gets up quickly after the failed takedown attempt he will walk right into your clinch, with your bare hands just interlock your fingers behind his head in the clinch (better control than overlapping boxing cloves), 2-3 knees is all it should take.
PS: If you feel that you are fighting for your life, and you should not be fighting on the street unless you are. Try to put him away quickly, but if it turns into a ground war and you are in danger of getting pounded on… You got the guy’s arm locked up… Break that shit. You are fighting for your life, there is no tapping! Rip that shit right out of the joint… he would do it to you if he could.
Also look out for the bite, once he feels his fucking joint separating the sheer desperation of that feeling will make him try to bite and take a chunk right off you. If you catch him with an arm bar in a street fight see if you can plant the sole of your foot on the guy’s face or neck rather then leaving your leg exposed to his mouth… A little harder to do it that way but it is much safer. Also POP and GO, don’t lay there working his arm till it breaks. Pop your hips up hard then get the fuck up off the ground, and get the fuck out of there.
-BRR