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Dominant wins over ex-WWE star CM Punk and the promotion’s golden boy Sage Northcutt have propelled the New Jersey native into the limelight with just four professional fights to his name.

But the charismatic newcomer doesn’t look at all out of place under the bright lights of the Octagon.

He was cherry-picked by UFC bigwigs to travel to London, acting as an ambassador for the promotion during its now-yearly visit to the capital for Fight Night 107 earlier this month.

And Gall, 25, stopped by Fight City gym in east London to walk Daily Star Online through some basic MMA drills.

(Image: GETTY/DAILY STAR ONLINE)

Leg Kicks

A nightmare weapon to wield in the armoury of any fighter, leg kicks are an underrated facet of the MMA scene that can have huge influence on a fight.

Master practitioners of the skill include current featherweight champion Jose Aldo, former lightweight title contender Donald Cerrone and Edson Barboza – arguably the most dangerous of the bunch.

“Depending on your stance and also the stance of your opponent a leg kick can either attack the inside of your opponent’s thigh or the outer thigh, typically on the lead leg of your opponent,” explained one analyst.

“As for the person throwing the kick, you can use your lead leg, which gives you more speed and less commitment, or the rear leg, which delivers more power and far more commitment.”

For our first foray into the leg-kicking universe, Gall walked Daily Star Online through a basic conditioning drill in which fighters exchange blows on the thigh in order to condition both the area of impact and the shin itself.

After years of practice, the body becomes increasingly desensitised to the discomfort of both throwing and absorbing damage, allowing for maximum aggression during crunch time.

Wall wrestling and takedowns

Perfecting the art of wrestling against the wall is a necessity in the sport of MMA as battles most commonly take place inside the iconic caged ring.

In the UFC it is known as the Octagon, with other promotions using similar variations to accommodate their arenas of war.

Wrestling an opponent against the cage is an effective way of nullifying the threat posed by a dangerous striker – such as two-weight world champion Conor McGregor – opening up the possibility of taking the fight to the mat.

And the secret lies in the positioning of the head.

“What a lot of people don’t know is, I’m gonna take my head and control him [by pushing my head into his chin],” Gall explains.

“That way I always know where his head is if I wanna hit him.

“I can drop down, wrap my hands and pick him up to throw him to the floor.”

Submissions

All four of Gall’s professional wins have utilised his elite skills on the ground, securing four consecutive rear-naked chokeholds that proved too much for his opponents to handle.

But, as an accomplished brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he has plenty more tricks up his sleeve.

Damian Maia’s current rampage through the UFC’s welterweight division proves the art can be as effective in today’s modern MMA as it was when Royce Gracie secured a record 11-straight submissions from the UFC’s inception in 1993.

And so Daily Star Online volunteered our body in order to demonstrate the triangle choke – a version of which won Toby Imada the 2009 Submission of the Year award for his astonishing victory over Jorge Masvidal.

The move traps the stricken fighter’s head and arm between the crossed legs of an opponent lying prone on their back.

After just a couple of seconds of pressure, the force exerted should disrupt the flow of blood to the carotid artery – the passageway that supplies oxygenated blood to the brain – rendering the victim unconscious.

Striking

Arguably the most thrilling sight in all of MMA, a well-timed punch can be enough to write a fighter’s name in the history books – as Conor McGregor’s meteoric rise to superstardom shows.

The Irishman’s recent feud with Floyd Mayweather has reignited a pointless age-old rivalry between fans of boxing and MMA – two vastly different sports requiring wholly different approaches to the ancient artform.

Four-ounce gloves used in MMA are eclipsed by the 12-ounce gloves often used in boxing, for starters.

The ability to utilise other weapons in the cage – as demonstrated by the skills above – also means that the basic stance and technique differs from pure boxing.

(Image: GETTY)

Punches can be camouflaged among the other artillery used in an MMA fight, whereas in boxing it is the primary weapon.

One MMA analyst summarised: “It's sort of like a genius of the epee [a thin fencing sword] getting smashed by a guy with a shovel.

“The epee's great in a swordfight, but in a different kind of fight, the shovel might be just the thing. It doesn't make the epee any less beautiful, nor does it make high-level fencing any less sophisticated – and a guy with a shovel isn't going to last long in a straight swordfight.

So while MMA knockout artists like Chuck Liddell, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Britain’s own Jimi Manuwa might not be able to match the likes of Anthony Joshua – that was never the intention anyway.