Dan Hardy on the new evolution in MMA striking

Mixed martial arts remains in a state of evolution. When it began, there was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and things that lost. Then wrestling came in. Then striking came in. Then hybrid fighting came in. All the while new techniques and strategies emerged.

In an interview with Gareth Davies for the UK’s The Telegraph, UFC welterweight and color analyst Dan Hardy details how the lines between Southpaw and Orthodox stances are starting to disappear, with the rise of advanced footwork.

“(Team Alpha Male) are so much more dynamic and agile than the rest,” said Hardy. “The next development will be with defense as well. There’s still this overconfidence with hands down. I still think there’s room for good boxing technique with the upper body, so long as the lower body is able to move and switch stance.”

“I’ve been showing people some of the footwork I’ve been working on recently. Being mobile, being on your toes, and just trying to get rid of this whole idea of there being stances – orthodox and southpaw.”

“As we’re seeing now in modern MMA, that’s being phased out gradually. Future MMA fighters will not have a particular stance. They may be dominant on one side, but the versatility of switching stance will eventually take over. I’m just showing them some of the footwork moves I’m doing and trying to pass it on to this younger generation of fighters.”

 “I think there are a few benefits to it, one of them being that you’re not so focused on your foot placement when you’re throwing shots. Basically, training with the types of footwork I’ve been using, it effectively trains your body to place your feet in the right places to keep your balance all the time. It’s almost like your feet work independently.”

“(Bruce Lee) talked about it – when the time comes, I don’t hit, it hits all by itself. It’s allowing your feet to be where they need to be so that the body can be balanced to throw power shots from any angle at any time. We’re seeing it, it’s a modern development in the sport now. Guys are constantly switching stance and constantly on their toes. It makes them far more dynamic. They’ve got so many more tools at their disposal. They can switch from one stance to another, they can strike with their backhands from both stances.”

“They’ve got two power straights, a good left hook and a good right hook from a lead stance and a rear stance. It effectively doubles their arsenal. And the ability to have constant balance wherever your feet are allows you to forget about your footwork and stance. It allows you to focus on your opponent and what they’re doing. The movement and the agility opens up so many doors and creates an air of unpredictability as well.”

“If you’ve got a southpaw boxer, there are certain things you do against him. You keep your lead foot on the outside of theirs and you control their jabbing hand. If I’m facing a southpaw, I know what tools he’s got to work with.

“If, all of a sudden, he changes to orthodox, I have to reset my brain to all of the techniques that an orthodox fighter would generally use. If he’s constantly switching back and forth, I can never settle. I can never prepare for the techniques of a southpaw or the techniques of an orthodox.

“He might be a southpaw one minute and hit me and then all of a sudden he’s orthodox. From a defensive perspective, it gives you so much more to think about, which obviously makes you hesitant in your own attack.”

“The Alpha Male guys are really nailing it. I think part of that is down to Ludwig. He has a good understanding of footwork and of the benefits of constantly switching and constantly moving.

“If you go back to someone like Matt Hughes, if he came out southpaw, you knew he was going to wrestle. If he came out orthodox, you knew he was going to strike. We’ve now got a lot of guys coming from a wrestling background – guys like Dillashaw – and if they feel more comfortable shooting from one particular stance, yet they’re striking from another stance, you can almost read their game plan based on what stance they’re in.

“Dominick Cruz is another great example of this movement and also Chico Camus against Brad Pickett.

“He was always on his toes and constantly switching stance. It just seems to be the movement of the sport at the moment. I think people are realizing that we’re not boxers, we’re not kickboxers, we’re mixed martial artists. We have to be able to do it all. You can’t say you’re a mixed martial artist and only fight from an orthodox stance.”

So what do you think UG? Everyone here tranes of course – do you practice striking from both stances?