Render unto Slacky thine podcast questions

What’s up with the inactivity level of champions? Many champs don’t even have fights booked yet (Kayla, volk, Topuria, khamzat) and several others haven’t fought in a while (Weili, shevchenko, Islam, Aspinall). I get that if I were more financially secure I wouldn’t work as often (ha ha), but it seems weird to fight once a year.

Hey slacky how would you like the lw legends (Oliviera, Gaethje and islams remaining careers handled by the ufc considering we only have a couple fights for each left ?

Hi Jack! Long time fan, keep up the great work! If you were a pro fighter what walkout music would you choose???

Hi jack, Long time listener first time caller. Have you done any reading about historical European martial arts? Numerous materials/resources discuss ringen, a form of medieval wrestling. It is amazing how grappling exists universally across cultures and time

What’s your favorite walkout across boxing and mma?

Whats the craic Jack Just saw Yin Yin live after finding out about them from watching your filthy casuals guide My misses, the beautiful Nathalie asks what are you listening to now?? I ask what would be on your rolling playlist? Mine is, I bruise easily by Natasha Bedingfield

Most bs technique that somehow works?

Shalom jack. I hung up my mom’s old heavy bag in the garage recently, but the thing is only 40lbs (18.1kg) and is swinging all over the place when I hit it. The ones I’m used to at my Muay Thai place are weighed down at the bottom so they stay in place. What’s a good drill to do on a bag that’s swinging wilder than my nuts in an Arizona summer? Love ya, and hope the UFC starts putting out less garbage so the pods can be longer again.

Do u ever consider adding to the ‘history of boxing’ collection with some more golden era fighters or anything like that? Bless

Can you see Max vs Illia 2 in the future? How do you see it going?

Feeling nostalgic after that Oliveira win, even though he's current. I have also been feeling nostalgic for the Jackson Wink/Romero-Whittaker kneestomp. I see it still but not in the same badly intended way. Lastly, I don't think I have seen a team alpha male (Brian Ortega) double leg in years. Is it because I watch fights less? Are they outdated? Etc. ✌️

Hi jack, how do you think another promotion can takeover or just even co-exist with the ufc. Let's dive into let's stage capitalism. You know you want it. Cheers.

What's your favorite kick in combat sports history (that is, a specific kick thrown in a specific match) ; Andy hug kicks are disqualified

Who else could benefit from Jiri's Pop-Goes-the-Weasel defense?

I read a stat recently that Ilia Topturo has never thrown a body or head kick in his UFC career. What are you thoughts on this? Is this where the MMA meta is heading or could he in theory improve his game by utilizing kicks in certain moments or match ups? Thank you Mr. Slack, blessed be thine name 🙏

why don't more mma grapplers try to use demian maia's system?

Why is it impossible to watch Rizin 51?

What’s your thoughts on New school training vs old school training ? Do people get too lost in the science now a days or is it more beneficial than running copious amounts of kms on the pavement Much love from a lad living in a Thailand training camp

Dear Dr. Slack, I have recently become the coach of a high school wrestling team and I'm putting together my "curriculum" for the season. Of course we're starting with all of the bread and butter basics of the sport, but I'd also like to work in outside influences where possible to diversify the team's game. Who are some grapplers you think are worth studying for their crafty takedown game or their impeccable TDD? Thanks!

Hey Jack Slack, What do you think of possible paths forward for fighters who have glaring holes in their game but that’s what makes them, them. Recently I’m thinking of Jiri and a path forward if there’s a potential rematch with Pereira, will he ever fix the low kicks or will he forever be my favourite flawed fighter. Regards from Canada with our piss poor cards bless

Do you know anything about the history of actual kung fu in a sport fighting context (stuff from like over a hundred years ago)? I feel it’s hard to find any reliable sources on kung fu history since so much of it has been sorta mythologized

Hello, Slacky J! You've been recently talking about importantance of jab and dip and double jabs are there any other relativly simple stuff that a lot off fighters are simply not really doing. Also do you think that closed guard in mma will become obsolete. For last year I've been focusing on reversals and wrestle ups from half guard/deep half guard and butterfly guard and found myself completely abandoning any subs from bottom Cheers from the land of the most blockheaded fighters 🇰🇿

What do you think of the no-switch lead leg head kick, both it’s current/historical use (I know Dricus uses it) and its potential in MMA?

What are some things the MMA meta has left behind that you think should come back?

Jack, can we get your early thoughts on jdm vs Islam. What gamplans would you like to see/expect from the pair of them

Much appreciation for the questions episodes. I have one that’s a little broad I suppose but Jack you are the biggest flag bearer for flawed fighters who do fun things (See also: Julian Erosa) Do you have favorite flawed fighters as far as Muay Thai and grappling? Mma is kind of the best sport for an individual to have massive gaps in area of skills but still “make it”. So are there similar types in more restrictive combat sports?

Hello wacky Jacky, Who are some of your favorite MMA fighters that excelled at the pivoting check hook? Rather than the lean back lead hook that Luke Rockhold was particularly proficient with, I am talking about a pivoting left hook against an advancing opponent that puts you at a deep angle. Finally, other than the difficulty of the technique, why isn't the pivoting lead hook taught more often in MMA gyms? It seems like such a useful technique against wrestlers or people with striking that is dependent on moving forward. Thanks for all the work that you do! Long time listener of the poddy. Cheers, Ian

Hey there Slacky, who do you have winning the great British bake off this season? Have you been doing any great British baking yourself?

Mr. Slack, in your opinion is it more effective to go to a gym that has actual structured MMA classes or train multiple disciplines and then try and combine them? Also and completely off topic, have you read any of Mark Fishers works? Thank you for giving me something to look forward to weekly with your articles and pods. Cheers from Canada!

Hi Jack, Your interest in Sifu has been well documented, but I was wondering if you have played or are aware of sleeping dogs? I consider it almost a precursor in terms of martial arts games that aren’t fighting games, and I also think its very good + there’s a GSP outfit

Hi Jack, You mentioned you were reading the king in yellow a few episodes ago and I was just wondering if you had any other weird fiction/ classical recommendations?

Hey Jack, I have been off jiu jitsu with a knee injury since may and won't be back before the new year. I'm trying to watch mma/bjj tape so that I can maybe try and figure some stuff out before I return. Do you have any tips for the best way to watch and digest footage so that I balance efficiency with also learning as much as possible? Cheers!

Slackly Jack-o'-Lantern, I still listen to your shows fairly often, but I haven’t watched many fights in recent years due to the $85 PPV and ESPN+ price tag. I’m getting curious about the sport again, though. Could you hit listeners with a State of the U(nion)FC? Ex: Top prospects, title defenses worth watching, fun contenders, etc. Thanks!

1. Which of your predictions about a fighter’s career trajectory have aged the best (or worst)? 2. Everyone knows about the penalty-free eye poke/dick kick/fence grab. What are some sneakier or underutilized techniques in the cheating meta?

this isn't really a question but you should check out Martinetti vs Vologdin from DWCS. They threw it on youtube almost immediately under the (ambitious) title "THE GREATEST FIGHT OF ALL TIME."

Dear Jack, Please could you fill my veins with some of that sweet K1 nostalgia? Please wax lyrically about the time when both the heavyweight and max divisions were ridiculously loaded. Also, what do you blame for the fall of the original organisation? Much love!

Hi Jack, I have read your works on Sugar Ray Leonard (round of sparring at fightland), Hagler (high socks and switch hitting) and your assorted works on Durán. What is your opinion on Thomas Hearns and what martial artists can learn from him? Thanks, Tom

Hey jack, I listen to you to seem like I know what I’m talking about to my martial artist friends when we discuss MMA. My question for you: Who is the better fighter: Nate Diaz in Gegard Moussasi’s body or Jon Fitch in Reiner De Ridder’s?

Whats the craic Jack Just saw Yin Yin live after finding out about them from watching your filthy casuals guide My misses, the beautiful Nathalie asks what are you listening to now?? I ask what would be on your rolling playlist? Mine is, I bruise easily by Natasha Bedingfield

Dear Mr slack , have you ever thought of breaking down fight scenes when there’s weeks of fuck else . And if you did what fight scenes would you like to breakdown . The obvious awnser to me would be the hallway scene in Oldboy . Perhaps anything from Jackie Chan

Been playing around alot with an inside slip to get to my left hook to the body, ala Topouria. My one difficulty is that while it is a marvelous offensive starter and counter to singlular, pot shotty jabbing, I have been caught dead to rights by the cross or exchanged a cross for a body punch when the opponent is just committed to throwing a 1-2, not even making a read on the situation. Is the answer to making it work against a 1-2 merchant more fake entries, strike feints, perhaps just slipping outside here and there so as to alleviate predictable behavior. Side note, some of the stuggle is due to me hunting a bit too hard for it (get tunnel vision when new tekkers excite me), but the rest of the stuggle is me being me. Appreciate any help, uncle Slack. The Doo Ho Choi of recruiting patreon bois, bless.

Dear slacky I’ve been practicing 1-2 high kick but it feels odd trying to land the right hand and the kick. Any tips/examples in MMA, Muay Thai, etc., you can point me to?

Hi Jack, What are your opinions, if any, on the pedagogy of striking coaching? Many, such as genius iconoclast/charlatan Barry Robinson have pointed out a general lack of structured systems within most striking classes and schools, especially when compared to something like Jiujitsu. Most classical boxing gyms, Thai gyms, etc. rely seem to rely on a more autodidactic approach to training. Is this something endemic to the nature of these sports, or just an outcome of the realities of gym and class environments? If you could only use one type of training (heavy bag, shadowboxing, pads, drilling, etc.) to develop your striking or as a coaching tool for someone else, what would it be? Cheers from Philadelphia

What are your thoughts on how fighting in an open space (no ring) dynamic changes things. Back when mma wasnt a thing like it is now, my mates and i used to hold backyard bareknuckle mma fights in fields and parks. One thing i noticed was that it was almost impossible to land a rear hand. The combination of lots of guys fearing takedowns since they didnt know any grappling and not being comfortable in the pocket meant that i felt like i was constantly chasing them. I dont think i ever really landed anything besides my jab, and that one time i hockey punched a guy by 'accidentally' grabbing a fistful of his shirt. I wanted to style on people but it was honestly just uneventful. The best guy i fought would just constantly back away until i over commited trying to chase him down in an open space, and his reactive double almost always worked. A lot of the times since i was chasing while throwing hands, so id tire first too, and he would double leg straight into mount. Hed score an easy sub and point out how he was 10 kg lighter than me and call me a loser. What should i have done, or was the only solution to have a staring contest. Thanks

Payton Talbot son or Tracy Cortez daughter?

Books. But not fight books. What are your favorite history books? What topics or periods do you enjoy at the moment

Hey Slacky, I'm competing in a charity boxing match. Being a fan of the pod I will only be throwing body shots. Is this unfair in a charitable context? Follow up question, there is a guy only throwing body level shots at the heavy bag, how do I make sure I'm not matched against him on the night? History episode when bless

Are you a black belt yet??

I’d love your thoughts on clinch entries in MMA. I’ve had success punching into the clinch, Gaethje/Rob Font style, but I’m looking for more variety. Tried the Duran shoulder bump after the cross with mixed results. Any other setups you’d recommend? Bless

Have you listened to Hell on Earth, the podcast about the Thirty Years War by Matt Christman and Chris Wade? If so (or even if not), do you have any recommendations for similar length podcasts that cover specific periods of history in depth? Charles unhinging his jaw wide enough to show the ref what he had for breakfast, bless

Do you think use of knuckle variations & more strikes with the heel can effectively be used in MMA similar to your mentions of Battling Nelson in old school boxing. Both standing and on the ground. I feel that the using smaller sharper hitting points are good for these clinch and ground short shots people do to look busy. I've done it a bit myself in sparring and the general response is "oh I don't like that". Had a lot of success bringing the heel back into the opponents calf in over under clinches. Throwing rocks at you bless

favorite studio ghibli movies ?

Slacky, who can you point to if someone wanted to learn to strike effectively from bottom guard, and keep the pace low for recovery in that position?

what are some ways you recommend changing rhythm on your jab, in the past you talked about gap staggered jab, are there other ways to change rythym with your jab that makes it hard for the opponent to read?

With guys like Islam using judo techniques against the cage, Do you see judo becoming more widely adopted into mma ? And do you think it could integrate and become a new vital skill in sport, the same as bjj & wrestling already have. Cheers jack been a fan for coming up 7 years

How many night reign bosses have you beat? Also with Aldo’s retirement, what’s your favorite performances of the GOAT

Gordon Ryan said cross ashi would be the best leg lock position in MMA because you can prevent the top guy from going head over head. What do you think of this? Also general thoughts of preferring to go for subs and sweeps over takedown defense? I really like your idea of doing offensive grappling on defense instead of just losing on the clock. I’ve been trying to think up new ways to defend yourself/be offensive after the takedown like how you mention to do throws while you’re getting wall pinned. So far I can at least manage scrambles if I dive for legs after my kicks are caught but obviously still risk of gnp or at least stuck in a bad position. I really love your content. Cheers

I‘m thinking a lot about kicking with the lead leg (in a closed stance matchup) to 1. switch stance by putting the leg down behind after and 2. draw a reaction from the opponent. My dream sequence: left roundhouse kick-trigger opponents rear hand-Open side cross counter. But I never see someone do it BUT Chingiz Allazov against Joe Nattawut. I often see fighters expect the rear straight after they use the switch kick and they slip it but I never see them countering it even though they know it‘s coming. Maybe they can‘t plant their feet in time? When Chingiz did it Nattawut swung a bit delayed maybe thats why it worked. I guess my question is: everyone knows the cross comes after switch kick but nobody seems to capitalize on it - why?

Hello Mr slack Recently my MMA gym hosted Mateusz Szczecinski and Kamil Wilk for a leg lock seminar. They taught some interesting berimbolos from de la riva aswell as ways to entangle the legs. Have there been any examples you can think of, of berimbolos used in MMA to take the back, create a scramble from bottom, etc. Also I've been playing with de la riva in my MMA sparring, and think it could have some utility to off balance a striking opponent, any thoughts on this? Cheers

With the sport continuing to evolve so quickly, do you think we'll ever see a Três Santos?

30 years ago, people trained in Brazilian jiu jitsu were most prepared for a no holds barred match. In modern times, this feels less and less common. If you ran a BJJ gym that would have fighters ready, what would you insist on? What parts of modern BJJ would you remove?

We all want to see bodywork in MMA, but do 4oz. gloves and the fear of punching elbows with them play a part in their scarcity? Or is it that fighters relegate kicks to body and punches to head?

Are the days of the top dog brawler over in MMA? Can a division in the modern UFC era have a camp like Wanderlei Silva had been in Pride? If so, which division is most likely to have a brawler as champ?

Hi Slacky, kind of a schizo question. I sometimes feel there’s an intangible “dimension” between explaining something and actually implementing it. I’m an amateur boxer and for some reason the aspect that I have had more trouble assimilating is aggression. I always feel that there’s no good way of explaining it besides “throw yourself at the guy”, get hit, learn a few tricks and moves and try again. There is no absolute guarantee that anything works to a degree. My question is, how do you actually explain something that you perceive to have such a degree of fallibility in how the language used to express it comports with the situation? Cheers Slacky.

Hello Mr. Slack. Am a white belt in the Gi, last Saturday a blue belt held onto an armbar for way too long and my shoulder hurts. Any funny sweeps or weird subs to punish him next time knowing I'm never gonna out grapple him? I'm like 20y younger if that helps

What cross trained non-combat sports would you recommend for boxers or MMA fighters to train? Personally I think American Football would really help fighters practice faking drug testing pee tests with fake penises (true story)

Why don't we see more integrated striking into clinch work? Charles seems to do a good job punishing wrestlers on failed shots when they stand up with decent clinch position and threatening knees if they level change and elbows when they back out

Hey jack, I am an amateur fighter who is a bit bigger for my weight class height and frame wise but still wanna work the body. I got knocked out in my last fight throwing a straight right to the body against a shorter guy, which I know now was probably not the best idea lol. Do you have any good methods in mma for working the body as a taller fighter, should I focus on getting better at clinching for my knees and takedowns?(im a grappler for the most part). Adding on to that do you have any good methods of consistently taking down shorter fellas besides trying to shoot on someone who is shorter than me which is a nightmare. Thanks!

Been watching a lot of triple g lately and was wondering how I could apply a similar consistent power jab in kickboxing, feels like every time I try I get my lead leg kicked in. Also have your read,“this bloody valentine is the last thing i own”.read it last year and loved it. All the best slacky

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Grand Sumo exhibition happening in London this week! Two Yokozuna, and some rising stars including a Ukrainian freestyle wrestler. Should be a great watch! If you think there's any thing from the tournament that could translate to MMA (clinch grappling likely) it would be great to get your perspective

thoughts on John pork? his dwcs fight was great he had some really interesting stance switch combos

How to get into rizin/where to begin? I'm doing to fork over for the yearly membership and want to know where to start. Aldo have you seen the smashing machine yet? Personally I thought it was mid as it was basically a recreation of the documentary with not a lot of new things to say. Performances were decent. Even the Rock. Ryan Bader was actually impressive

Slack Man! I had a good laugh when you had a rag on internet catch wrestlers and searched up Wigan when you were talking about it. Turns out the snake pit still exists and puts on events and seminars. Did you know about this?

have you ever been bested by a relative novice who actually “saw red” and just pulled out some bullshit that worked? What are your favorite examples of this happening in real fights where a worse fighter by every metric just threw caution into the wind and it paid off?

Thoughts on Nazim Sadykhov? How far does he make it at lightweight in your opinion? Recently became a boi, love all the content!

Slacky j! Would you rather every card have bisping on commentary, or every card have Austin Hubbard fighting?

Just watched the newish Iranian film Tatami, great Judo scenes. Check it out if you haven't already.

Have you seen any ways that American-Football wrestling can have merits in a martial arts sense? The defensive/offensive Lineman in American Football wrestle from a similar starting position to Sumo; but with the goal being either to blow-by, or stifle the opponent.

Best events to get into JMMA and golden days of Pride? or just watching everything in order

When will we get a killing the king, Merab?

What do you think makes Thai's like Petch or Nong O at times so good at being able to just use a left kick or a teep? I know there's a ton that goes into it but I always find it fascinating how Petch can just do the exact same things against so many varied styles

Do you think it’s possible to separate a love of fighting sports and a love of watching violence and people getting hurt. As much as I love martial arts in all of its facets (technical, historical, geographical etc…), I sometimes think maybe the real reason is a kind of violence voyeurism.

Seeing oliveira outwrestle and outscramble Gamrot with ease, do you think he should’ve pushed his offensive clinch wrestling more against Arman? And do you think he should’ve fought more aggressively against Arman and Islam with less fear of the takedown?

Who are your personal favorite fighters in the UFC right now

Oi oi Jack, please talk about something body jabbers who aren't Floyd Mayweather

Which 135er do you think would do the best in a move to 135? Are there any 135ers who you would recommend that for?

Do you have any work on the history of southpaw/open stance tactics and strategy? I remember a portion on Hagler’s article which talks about the lead hand fight and a bit of its history and I’d love more! Cheers

Thoughts on wanderlei silva getting knocked out after his boxing match a couple weeks ago? What was the story there?

Do you think Umar would've beaten Merab if he took the same stuff Usman did?