Apparently a bareknuckle MMA fight in the woods wasn’t extreme enough for the two men in this video, so they both equipped themselves with sticks too.
Essentially that’s the basis of Eskrima (aka Arnis / Kali), which is the traditional martial art of the Philippines and focuses on weapon-based fighting, but also includes elements of hand-to-hand combat, submission and grappling.
It quickly became evident that this was no exhibition bout, with Sean, the bald-headed fighter wearing camo shorts, and Mendez, his opponent in the black joggers and camo top, both going full force at each other with a relatively decent level of skill in both striking and grappling, despite having no padding or other protection.
After some early exchanges with their sticks, Sean was able to clinch up and execute a trip takedown, and then landed some punches on the ground. Mendez reversed the position, but Sean stayed offensive by working for an armbar submission several times, though he wasn’t able to lock it in.
Mendez began landing some solid ground and pound strikes to the head and body, while Sean used an assortment of strikes to the head, from heel kicks to bareknuckle punches and palm strikes, in addition to using his stick, which actually snapped after he jabbed it into his opponent’s neck at one point.
In general, Sean seemed the more comfortable of the two on the floor, despite being on his back, and when he attempted another armbar, Mendez decided it was time to just abandon grappling altogether and got back to his feet.
Mendez rushed to grab his weapon, but Sean clinched up and was able to take it back off him. Mendez backed up, now weaponless, and stood in a boxing stance, which allowed Sean to crack him on his bareknuckles several times with his stick. It looked painful, but Mendez didn’t flinch, apparently due to having conditioned his knuckles in the past.
Despite seeming to have the upper hand now, Sean was somewhat hesitant due to fatigue, and was content to just take a breather rather than press home his advantage.
That proved to be a costly mistake as it allowed Mendez to get his second wind and locate his own stick, backing Sean up with a punch to give him just enough time to grab it before his opponent came rushing back in to the clinch.
Sean landed a knee to the body and a punch to the head, but then lost his stick and that allowed Mendez to turn the screw, repeatedly hitting him with his own weapon, with two hard blows to the top of the head leading to Sean submitting and slumping to his knees exhausted.
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Despite the brutal nature of the battle they’d just had, Mendez then showed good sportsmanship by embracing his opponent and helping him back to his feet.
