Your First Takedown
THE MMA FIELD GUIDEStriking · Wrestling · Ground fighting
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MMA integration

Get back to your feet against the cage

A fighter seated at the fence has less room to retreat, but a surface to work against. Mark Rowlett demonstrates how he uses the cage to get back to his feet and into position to strike.

Film notes by Your First TakedownSources checked
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Watch the lesson

FIELD GUIDE / EDITORIAL COVER
Instruction by Warrior Collective · Stuart Tomlinson, with Mark Rowlett. Loading the player connects to YouTube. Watch on YouTube · Publisher’s lesson

Look for this transition

An athlete near the fence, a curved arrow and departing arrows mark an example route away from the cage.
The inside route and exit depend on pressure and grips. Use this relation map to watch a supervised demonstration.

Before you watch

Know how to stand up on open mats and identify the inside and outside space in a clinch. Here, the cage replaces one route out. Decide where the fighter could move if the partner stayed put.

Watch the base

First track the bottom fighter’s hips in relation to the fence. Then follow the feet as their weight comes underneath them. On a second viewing, watch the partner instead. Standing changes the height of the exchange, but a partner can still hold the clinch.

Separate standing from escaping

Pause when the fighter becomes upright. Is there room to turn and leave, or is the opponent still close enough to wrestle? Treat these as two checkpoints in supervised practice. Begin at a padded wall with a cooperative partner and no live strikes. Never hook fingers through cage mesh.

Sources & further reading