When John Kavanagh is impressed, you know you're doing something right.
Straight Blast Gym prospect Lee Hammond is currently in Bahrain competing at the
International Mixed Martial Arts Federation World Championships and in his first bout, he proved why he is one of the most respected young grapplers who has ever come out of Ireland.
Team Ireland's Hammond got his campaign off to a victorious start on Monday when he pulled off an incredibly rare submission in Cage 1, forcing Moldovan opponent Tonu Stefan to tap out.
Rumblings from those in the arena initially identified the submission as a Gogoplata/rear naked choke hybrid but Hammond cleared matters up when h
e explained that it was, in fact, a combination of an omoplata and a head and arm choke.
https://twitter.com/IMMAFed/status/1062037445875646464
Hammond, still only 22, christened the move "the Hammoplata" and moved on to the next round of the competition, where his Jiu-Jitsu mastery was on full display again on Tuesday afternoon.
Hammond needed less than 100 seconds to apply a rear naked choke to Sweden's Mario Markus and continue his progress through the lightweight bracket of the tournament.
It's safe to say that head coach John Kavanagh was more than impressed with the heroics of one of his star pupils.
https://twitter.com/John_Kavanagh/status/1062047808826626049
https://twitter.com/John_Kavanagh/status/1061967187802497024
