[TapOrSnap]

Quote: Originally Posted by Haz____

The Darce has gotta be one of the most high percentage chokes in modern MMA. We see so many Darce finishes in the UFC these days. The weird thing to me, is that in the entirety of the EA UFC series, the only place to go for a Darce is Bottom Side Control, which just seems super bizarre to me. IRL you usually go for the Darce when in Top Half Guard, and the opponent on bottom goes for an underhook, which opens up your space to shoot the Darce. Example: Woodley vs Till Then also, obviously from Top Sprawl, where we see them most from guys like Ferguson and Luque. I'm just here to ask why we can't shoot Darces from the positions you actually shoot Darces IRL?

This is a really good question so I'll try to give you a good answer.

The rationale for adding the D'Arce from side control bottom is primarily about balancing gameplay. We wanted to provide a submission from as many positions as possible as providing both players options allows for more variation in strategy. D'Arce control from bottom side control is often one of the first submissions taught from that position in BJJ and even though it is not necessarily a high percentage submission it is often used to get your opponent to do something differently and open up an opportunity to escape. We decided it was the best choice to fill out that spot in our game for the same reason.

You are correct that it is more commonly applied from the other positions you listed, however there is a cost to adding a submission to any position and those positions were already covered by other submissions. I still recall the conversations we had around sprawl and adding the D'Arce there, however we felt that the Japanese and Peruvian neckties deserved some love and were uniquely made for sprawl.

Regards TOS