At UFC Fight Night 77 Thomas Almeida hit Anthony Birchak with a shot that left the American crumpled on the mat in a tangle the likes of which were not seen since ‘Tank’ Abbott vs. Steve Nelmark at the Ultimate Ultimate in 1996.
Below is the action, and below that, a list of some of the techniques that have acquired a person’s name, and why.
Nelmark made his MMA debut at UFC 9 on 17 May 17 1996. The sport is now regulated, with many thousands of eager amateurs. But back then, everyone who stepped into the Octagon was a badass just for trying. Nelmark beat Tai “The Punisher” Bowden at 7:25.
That success got Nelmark in a tournament at The Ultimate Ultimate ’96. In an alternate bout for the eight-man, he defeated Marcus “The Grasshopper” Bossett. That put him into the semi finals, when Ken Shamrock was unable to continue.
Facing the 600-lbs bench pressing brawler David ‘Tank’ Abbot, Steve Nelmark got , well, Nelmarked – he suddenly crumpled directly downwards, with he legs so awkwardly twisted beneath him that multiple audience members shouted “HE’S DEAD.”
Overhead view of Anthony Birchak.
Thus The Nelmark (n) and the verb to nelmark have entered the combat sports vocabulary. Other moves in mixed martial arts that have acquired a person’s name include:
The “Darse” or D’Arce Choke – Named for Renzo Gracie black belt Joe D’Arce.
The Kimura – Masahiko Kimura vs. Helio Gracie. – 10/23/1951
The Monson Choke – a North/South variation used to great effect by Monson in countless grappling matches.
The Pace Choke – Nick Pace vs. Will Campuzano – 12/04/2010
The Peruvian Necktie – Developed by the Peruvian Tony DeSouza.
The Von Flue Choke – Jason Von Flue vs Alex Karalexis – 1/16/2006
The list of individuals who have a move named after them is short indeed. Perhaps the most humble is Joe D’Arce. It isn’t even pronounced like his name. The black belt’s surname is pronounced D-R-C, said sort of quickly. The choke is pronounced Darse, rhymes with farce.
“It’s odd that the choke is named after me because I never claimed to invent the choke, and I never claimed that I’m the only one who does it,” said D’Arce to MMAFighting. “But when anyone gets good at a certain move, other people associate that move with him. So people started using my name when talking about it. But I didn’t invent the move. I was shown that move by one of the instructors at the Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy named John Danaher. He showed me the move, and I really liked it. So I worked hard at it, tried it from all different angles, and became known for using it, and it kind of snowballed to where people started using my name with it.”
“The person who really made that choke popular on the West Coast was a jiu jitsu coach named Marc Laimon. He knows how to pronounce my last name, but he said, ‘It’s too many syllables.’ So he shortened it to ‘Darse’ so when he’s coaching someone in a fight or a jiu jitsu match he can yell out, ‘Darse’ quickly. … No one ever says ‘dee-R-see choke.’ Everyone just says ‘darse.’ People often call me ‘Darce’ because they don’t know how to pronounce my name when they see an apostrophe. People say ‘Hey, Joe Darse’ and I don’t correct them, even though it is pronounced ‘dee-R-see’.”
The choke (which you can see illustrated here or in an instructional video here) is also referred to as the Brabo choke, but Joe D’Arce doesn’t use either name.
“I don’t even call it the D’Arce when I’m teaching jiu jitsu classes,” he said. “I just call it a head arm triangle variation. I just call it the D’Arce when my students say to me, ‘Can you show me the Darse choke?’ Some people call it the Brabo, some people call it the D’Arce. I don’t really care. It’s just personal preference.”
“Marc Laimon is the one who really made this choke popular. He teaches a lot of fighters on the West Coast, he’s a well-known jiu jitsu coach, and what he calls the choke becomes what other people call it. He’s the one who made the Darse choke the Darse choke.”
“It’s flattering, but I hope people don’t think I’m trying to take credit for the D’Arce choke, or claiming I invented it. Everyone has certain moves they’re good at, and I was good at the D’Arce choke, but the person who really made the move popular is Marc Laimon.”
Come to think of it, Steve Nelmark would probably just as soon the twisted leg collapse go by “Tank.” But history moves sometimes according to its own rules, and all we can do it remember what happened.
