Analysis: How Felipe Pena's Extraordinary Back-Attacks Won Him ADCC
Analysis: How Felipe Pena's Extraordinary Back-Attacks Won Him ADCC
Felipe Pena's dominant performance shocked the world when he subbed Buchecha and soundly beat Gordon Ryan for the second time.
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Though Felipe Pena was surely considered a frontrunner in the ADCC absolute division in 2017, he shocked the world with a dominant performance when he subbed Buchecha and soundly beat Gordon Ryan (for the second time) as he made his way to the top of the podium.
The Gracie Barra athlete displayed elite conditioning. Unlike other tournaments, ADCC runs the entire absolute division after the weight categories have run to completion, meaning that Felipe had already competed in two matches that day, including a 20-minute final with Yuri Simoes that he narrowly lost.
Not to be denied, Felipe Pena battled on for another 45 minutes to claim the absolute title.
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Watch the Supercut: Felipe Pena's 2017 ADCC Absolute Gold Medal Run
Key Stats From Felipe Pena
| Opponent | Method | Back Takes | Points | Guard Pulls | Takedowns Conc | Total Match Time |
| Celso Vinicius | Points | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Victor Honorio | Points | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Buchecha | Sub | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 6:44 |
| Gordon Ryan | Points | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| Totals | 6 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 46:44 |
Felipe's Greatest Weapon: Back Attacks
All of Felipe's 18 points were scored via taking his opponents back. His back attacks are manifold and extremely creative; you can see here that he employs kimura attack, a wrestling trip, and twister hook back take for his first three opponents of the day.
Perhaps the most famous back-take in the world, we'd be remiss to not include Felipe's legendary counter to Gordon Ryan's leg entanglement.
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Another key stat to note is that Felipe pulled guard in every match except the final, where he would have been penalized immediately for doing so.
It's debatable, but one could argue that he was happily taken down by Gordon Ryan at the nine-minute mark so he could get to his favored position. This meant that no points were awarded to the Death Squad member, and Felipe didn't concede any penalty points either (points are in effect only from the 10-minute mark in the final, but negative points are in effect the entire time).
Pena largely bucked the trend of other athletes at ADCC, opting to hunt for sweeps and backtakes instead of wrestling up for reversals.
The above GIF depicts Felipe's comfort investing from the reverse-de la riva — the move creates guard retention options, leg lock attacks, and scramble opportunities. He used this technique in nearly all of his matches at ADCC.
Watch all of Felipe's matches from ADCC 2017
Absolute
- Felipe Pena vs Celso Vinicius
- Felipe Pena vs Victor Honorio
- Felipe Pena vs Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida
- FINAL Felipe Pena vs Gordon Ryan
-99kg