#1 Gary Goodridge’s elbows from the crucifix
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Gary ‘Big Daddy’ Goodridge (23-23-1 MMA; 12-24-2 kickboxing) is a former Canadian Super Heavyweight Amateur boxing champion and a kickboxing and MMA veteran of notable organisations such as the UFC, Pride FC, K-1 and many others.
Goodridge is a former professional arm-wrestling contender with an MMA base of boxing and kickboxing. Paul Herrera (1-1) is an All-American wrestler and two-time judoka with an MMA base of submission grappling.
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Goodridge faced Herrera at UFC 8 in February of 1996. Herrera immediately shot for a takedown on Goodridge who outweighed him by more than 60 pounds (this was considered the dark ages of cage-fighting and the UFC, where the promotion functioned on their no weight class gimmick).
Needless to say, Goodridge sprawled on the smaller wrestler and wrapped both of his legs around Herrera’s right arm. Goodridge trapped Herrera in a crucifix position and proceeded to ding the side of Herrera’s head with two brutal elbows.
The first elbow stunned Herrera and the second knocked him out cold. Goodridge landed about seven more elbows to Herrera’s head from the crucifix position after which in-fight referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy mercifully rescued Herrera.
Now, this wasn’t as flashy as Silva’s reverse-elbow or as technical as Weidman’s horizontal-elbow, however, Goodridge’s elbows from the crucifix position served as a sign of things to come in the UFC as well as the sport of MMA.
Goodridge never reached the levels of the Anderson Silvas and the Fedor Emelianenkos of MMA, but his 13 second knockout of Paul Herrera is to date regarded as one of the most iconic moments in the sport of MMA.
The crucifix position is now widely used in MMA bouts around the world, not only to secure a dominant position for ground-and-pound but also to work for a wide variety of submission manoeuvres. Goodridge’s finish of Herrera still stands as one of the nastiest KOs in the sport of MMA.
From Jon Jones’ precise ground-and-pound elbows from hell to Chris Weidman’s Sok Tad (horizontal elbow) timing, MMA is filled with examples of beautiful usage of elbow-strikes.
Now mind you, these elbow-strikes include not only traditional Muay Thai elbow manoeuvres but also unorthodox elbow-strikes that our highly adaptable MMA athletes pull-off on the fly. Traditional or unconventional, the aim of these strikes is effectiveness, and by God are they effective!
Keeping up with our combat tradition, I’d like you, the reader to chime in with your favourite elbow-strike finishes in the comments. Till then keep your Muay Thai sharp and your MMA game sharper- elbows galore!
