Chael Sonnen shows how to land a spinning backfist properly

Chael Sonnen is a former UFC title contender who fought at both middleweight and light heavyweight throughout his career. He beat big names such as Shogun Rua, current champion Michael Bisping and was just a couple minutes away from beating all-time great Anderson Silva before getting caught in a triangle choke.

In this YouTube video from the iconic BlackBelt Magazine, Chael demonstrates how to land one of his favorite techniques – the spinning back fist, which he sets up with a rarely seen hook kick.

“I always like to know where my opponent is, it’s kind of like I’m going to stick my hand out. If I can’t touch him he’s too far away to attack. I need to make sure I can be able to touch him.” Chael then explains that landing a jab is a good way to gauge the distance before throwing the next technique – the hook kick.

Now the hook kick is rarely seen in MMA. It is much more of a traditional martial arts technique which is why this set up is quite interesting, especially from a guy like Chael Sonnen.

However, he is only using it to set up his big strike – the spinning back fist. He sets it up by purposely making himself off balance with the hook kick, which is more of a slap and not really to do damage.

Chael explains further “The key on this move is one, knowing where your opponent is. And two, understand the kick is just a set up. I am loading up the spinning back fist.”

ABOUT BLACK BELT MAGAZINE:

“Black Belt magazine is the world’s leading martial arts and self-defense magazine. After five decades in publication, Black Belt magazine continues to feature the best and most-respected coverage of martial arts techniques, theory and history from styles such as jeet kune do, jujitsu, karate, kung fu, reality-based self-defense, krav maga, kapap, taekwondo, aikido, ninjutsu, hwa rang do, iaido and silat.” [SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/user/BlackBeltLLC/about%5D