In a weekend positively riddled with exciting matchups between elite martial artists, Jose Also and Joanna Jedzrzejczyk stand out. Both of them face superb opponents, both of whom will attempt to use their top-notch wrestling and grappling to control, confuse, and clobber the elite kickboxers on the ground. Fortunately for Jose and Joanna, this is not an unprecedented type of threat--and not just because both of their fights are rematches. Two of MMA's most well-respected strikers--Aldo is very likely the greatest of all time in that regard--they are used to the threat of the takedown, and both have developed a variety of tactics for combating it.

DISTANCE

Distance is key. And, because all fights start on the feet with both fighters comfortably far apart, distance is the first line of defense. The surest way to avoid a takedown is to kill it before it starts. Without some sort of body contact and control, be it a waist cinch, an over-under clinch, or a firm grip at the knee, there is no takedown.

It is no accident that Aldo and Jedrzejczyk both possess superior jabs.

1. Aldo has Frankie Edgar at a comfortable distance.

2. Not content with that, Edgar bends his knees and tries to feint his way forward.

3. Aldo stings him with a long jab.

4. He takes a short step back with his right foot just after landing.

5. Edgar steps forward, and Aldo jabs again, stepping back with his left foot as he connects.

6. And then adjusting his right foot once again, reclaiming the distance.

This is the real key to distance management. As fighters like Stefan Struve have proven, a reach advantage and a willingness to jab do not an effective boxer make. The jab must be used. As the quickest, longest, and most efficient punch in Aldo's arsenal, the jab allows him to steal fractions of seconds from his opponent. As that jab is connecting, and the opponent is reacting to its impact--or working to avoid it--Aldo has a moment in which to adjust. He can take small steps with every jab, and consistently frustrate Edgar's efforts to slip in under and close the gap.

There is also a slight upward arc to the jab when thrown from its chambered position at Aldo's chest. Believe it or not, this makes the jab a surefire method of takedown defense. Notice, for instance, the change in Edgar's body position between frames two and three above. In frame two, Frankie is low, both knees bent, head inclined slightly forward. He slips back and forth, staying low and preparing to shoot. But in frame three, as Aldo's jab lands, Edgar is close to bolt upright. Head pulled back, hip unfolded, and just about one long, Brazilian arm away from Aldo's hips. Whether or not it makes contact, the threat of this jab is a barrier. Every time he starts to move forward and change levels, Edgar must be cognizant of that left hand, ever ready to snake upward toward his face.

The jab does not merely maintain distance, however: it controls it. With an educated jab, fighters like Jose Aldo and Joanna Jedrzejczyk can navigate the distance between themselves and their opponents, closing or opening the gap at will and forcing their foes to fight at their preferred range, on their terms. Note how Jedrzejczyk uses the jab to draw rangy attacks out of Valerie Letourneau below, only to close the distance and strike when her opponent is unable to shoot for a takedown.

1. Jedrzejczyk stands a step away from jabbing Valerie Letourneau.

2. She takes that step, piercing Letourneau's guard with a long left lead.

3. And then retreats, stepping back to her left.

4. Letourneau takes the bait and jabs back. Joanna catches the expected attack easily.

5. And follows with another jab of her own, stepping off to Letourneau's right as she throws it.

6. Still responding to the long range, Letourneau tries to keep Jedrzejczyk off with a teep, but it's already been circumvented.

7. Joanna lands another jab as she steps around to Letourneau's side.

8. And Jedrzejczyk's hard right hand catches Letourneau on the breastbone.

By jabbing with her opponents, Jedrzejczyk often compels them to fire back at long range, making it safe for her to step in with power shots. In this case, the jab serves as both distraction and bait. Keeping her left hand in the opponent's face, Jedrzejczyk can disguise her footwork and give herself time to move, just like Jose Aldo above; but she can also force her opponent to respond, opening them up for counters.

Against opponents who want to hit reactive takedowns, this is an extremely effective tactic. By drawing long range strikes from her opponents, Jedrzejczyk forces them to abandon the thought of the takedown, even if only for a moment. They cannot shoot while throwing a punch or kick, and it is only after Jedrzejczyk lands her counter and steps back out of range that they realize they have missed their chance. Valerie Letourneau didn't manage a single takedown after the first round despite the pleading of her corner. Maintaining the distance might prevent the takedown, but controlling the distance starts the process of taking the takedown away altogether.

ANGLES

After distance, angles are the most critical aspect of defense. At the most basic level, a fighter can stand too far away for his opponent to hit him--or, indeed, to grab him and take him down. Against opponents capable of rational thought, however, this bare-bones approach quickly falls apart. Straight lines are predictable. Not only do linear fighters run out of real estate fairly quickly (you'd be surprised how rapidly the fence sneaks up on you when desperately backpedaling), but they grant their opponents the chance to time their movements with counter strikes and takedowns. If a takedown is successfully initiated, a linear retreat does little to lessen the effect. Simply moving in the same direction as the attempt might take away some of the explosive drive, but only in the same way that running along the tracks might lessen the impact of a train. In the end, you still end up flattened.

Angles are the solution. Pivots and sidesteps enhance a fighter's distance management, but they also help to kill takedowns in progress. By turning as their opponents shoot, Aldo and Jedrzejczyk can redirect the force of their opponents' takedowns, essentially stepping down off of the tracks and ushering the train past.

1. Jedrzejczyk has Carla Esparza backed up against the fence.

2. Esparza changes levels and starts to shoot.

3. First, Jedrzejczyk changes levels with her and takes a few shuffling steps backward, moving with the takedown attempt.

4. Quickly, however, she pivots left, turning her body perpendicular to Esparza's. This dissipates the energy of the shot, and also takes Jedrzejczyk's right hip out of Esparza's reach.

5. Esparza sneaks her right leg behind Jedrzejczyk's left, trying to pull her hips back in close in order to finish.

6. Jedrzejczyk is wise to it, however. She hips down to kill the grip of Esparza's right hand.

7. And then she knee slides to escape Esparza's leglace. This does bring her closer to Esparza's far hand, which might recreate the opening for a double leg finish.

8. Except that Jedrzejczyk has control of Esparza's head. She frames with her right hand and prevents Carla from turning into her.

Strikers like Jedrzejczyk (there aren't many) take to angles on the ground very quickly. The beauty of grappling is that positions can be secured. At range on the feet, angles disappear the moment the other fighter adjusts. The advantageous positions are so fleeting that fighters usually must strike the opponent as they turn. But on the ground, body contact and pressure prevent the opponent from taking the angles away so quickly. And so Jedrzejczyk happily frames and posts on her opponent's body as she works her way back to her feet. Not only does this kind of enforced angling keep the opponent from turning into Joanna to finish the takedown, but it saps her energy as well. Like a Thai clinch, the kind of pressure Jedrzejczyk keeps on her adversary's head and neck make each successive takedown attempt a little more difficult.

Aldo's angles are much the same, but even smoother. Jose rarely ends up actually sprawling on his opponent's shot. So well schooled is he that he usually stops the takedown without ever having to drop down. Using the same footwork and head control, Aldo stops takedowns on the fly, and makes it look easy.

1. Aldo stands at jabbing range with Frankie Edgar.

2. His left hand connects, but glances off as Edgar slips and changes levels.

3. Well-timed. Edgar gets in on Aldo's hips, but Aldo is already working to kill the shot. He gets his right hand under Edgar's left arm.

4. As he steps back, he turns his body to the right, moving his right hip away from that arm as he uses his underhook to lift it up. Edgar's hand ends up over Aldo's shoulder, where he thinks about a knee tap finish.

5. But Aldo uses his free hand first. He posts on Frankie's head and shoves him away as he continues to turn, peeling himself out of danger.

6. Angle achieved, Aldo has only to limp leg and he's free.

Aldo's brand of takedown defense is often called "feeding the single." Because he is so comfortable limp-legging his way out of a single leg, Aldo downright gives his left leg to the opponent. All that matters to him is protecting the right leg, the one farther from the opponent's reach. So long as he can turn and pull that hip away from his opponent's free hand, Aldo is more than happy to work his way out of a single.

DAMAGE

An experienced striker knows that defense is not enough to win against a determined opponent. It is one of boxing's most time-honored rules: when you make them miss, you must also make them pay.

This philosophy is doubly valuable in the unpredictable arena of MMA, where well-rounded opponents have a multitude of options at their disposal, a wide array of techniques with which to adapt to their opponent's defenses. Punishment is the key to successful takedown defense. Some wrestlers might falter after having a few of their tackles stopped, but the truly elite persevere, chaining takedown attempt after takedown attempt until their goal is achieved. By not only stuffing the takedowns but scoring damaging strikes after each one, Jose and Joanna condition their opponents. Rather than being forced to outwrestle their opponents (although they are often capable), Aldo and Jedrzejczyk bring their striking expertise into the grappling phase. "I don't want to do this anymore," is the Pavlovian response to this kind of disincentivization, and that suits our kickboxers just fine.

These are also the sequences in which we get to see our subjects put it all together. In punishing takedowns, Aldo and Jedrzejczyk must control distance, take angles, and then use those defensive advantages to do damage. First, watch the master at work.

1. Aldo finds himself backed against the fence with Kenny Florian controlling a single leg, using head pressure to keep Aldo in place.

2. Florian changes levels to finish, momentarily freeing Aldo from his head control.

3. Aldo seizes the opportunity, using the tiny amount of space created to scurry away, his right leg skirting the fence and avoiding Florian's free hand.

4. Another limp leg escape.

5. And Aldo finds himself back at range, now with Kenflo's back to the fence.

6. Without hesitating, Aldo steps in behind a long right hand, catching Florian as he tries to teep.

7. The punch drives Florian back even farther, but Aldo isn't done.

8. This time he leads with a feint--a sort of double bluff--as he feints low with his left.

9. And then attacks low with his right, nailing Florian in the ribs.

10. Florian skips along the fence, but Aldo is on him.

11. So he shoots for another takedown but, back at Aldo's preferred range, the Brazilian is ready for it. He steps outside Florian's lead foot.

12. Pivots away from the shot.

13. And cracks Florian with a left hook on the ear.

Jose Aldo is a master of sending messages. When he fought Chad Mendes at UFC 179, for example, he stymied the aggressive power puncher's assault with a few choice bursts of reckless aggression. Despite being knocked down and staggered early on, Aldo ended up winning the first round, and scared Mendes off in the process. Though Chad had his moments throughout the rest of the fight, he was not able to make himself pressure the way he did at first.

Likewise, Aldo thwarts his opponents' takedowns with mental warfare. Kenny Florian controlled Aldo through much of the first round, doing little damage but using his size to wear Jose down in the clinch. So when Florian continued to attack Aldo's legs and pin him to the cage, Jose knew he needed to change Kenny's mind. He did so by opening up the moment he had escaped a takedown attempt. Defending Florian's shot wasn't enough; he had to also punish him for his effort, and therefore convince him not to try again.

Aldo tends to ramp up his pressure in response to an opponent's attacks, but Jedrzejczyk's brand of punishment is even more immediate. Extremely comfortable in the clinch, Joanna doesn't even let her opponents return to long range before clubbing them with a hard elbow or short punch, and even then she often follows with a kick or other roundhouse attack just to make sure they feel pressured throughout the whole process. After failing to take Jedrzejczyk down once or twice, Jessica Penne's escapes became rather . . . harrowing.

1. Jedrzejczyk has Jessica Penne at long range.

2. She leads with an inside low kick.

3. Knowing that she is too far away for Penne to counter.

4. Jedrzejczyk steps back to plan her next attack.

5. And Penne moves forward, before being scared off by a simple feint from Joanna.

6. Now Jedrzejczyk steps forward, testing the range.

7. Only to slide out of the way when Penne leads with a long right hand.

8. Back at long range once again, Jedrzejczyk calculates Penne's likely response to her next attack.

9. As she leads with a straight right, Penne dips underneath and moves in for a takedown.

10. Fortunately, Jedrzejczyk is ready, and perfectly positioned to react. She gets a quick left underhook.

11. And then pivots to her right, dissipating Penne's drive and creating space between her right and Penne's left.

12. Rather than disengaging, Jedrzejczyk immediately fills that space with a short right uppercut, which smashes into Penne's jaw.

13. Penne goes down.

As noted above, this sequence see Jedrzejczyk putting all of our concepts together. The sequence begins with a display of Jedrzejczyk's distance management. Having already touched Penne up with the jab at this point, she is comfortable enough in her reckoning of the distance to lead with other strikes and slide effortlessly out of the way when Penne tries to counter. This sensitivity also allows her to throw a crisp right hand without overcommitting. Had Jedrzejczyk's cross in frame nine landed, it would have done significant damage; but because she has learned her distance, the fact that Penne evades it is no problem. Jedrzejczyk is still perfectly balanced, perfectly capable of responding to Penne's reactive takedown.

Like Aldo in the previous example, Jedrzejczyk first fights Penne's grip, preventing the leg attack with a quick underhook, and then takes her angle. Unlike Aldo, she does not allow Penne to back out of the clinch unscathed, nor does she give the impression that the clinch is a place Penne in which Penne can afford to hang out. Her short right hand (which looks like it was intended to be an elbow) cracks Penne during a tiny moment of hesitation. Hovering in the space between boxing range and the clinch, she is busy processing Jedrzejczyk's takedown defense when the blow connects.

Distance, angles, and damage. These are the key ingredients of successful takedown defense, and the elements that make Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jose Aldo such masterful strikers. Faced with a whole host of challengers determined to take them down, Jose and Joanna fit their striking expertise into every aspect of the MMA game, whether using footwork to prevent shots or landing strikes in the midst of scrambles. They might be specialists, but Jose Aldo and Joanna Jedrzejczyk are mixed martial artists, without a doubt.

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For more on Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jose Aldo--as well as their opponents--check out the latest episode of Heavy Hands, the only podcast dedicated to the finer points of face-punching.