07/09/2026
MMA COMBINATION
Here we look at how to catch up to an opponent who is constantly running away and sliding out of range when you try to engage.
Start with the jab cross. Your opponent backs off and you feel yourself overextending on the last shot trying to reach them.
Instead of recovering to your stance and shuffling forwards, a quicker option that covers more ground is to roll through into southpaw.
The important part is that this is a roll, not just walking forwards. If the opponent suddenly puts the brakes on, we still want our head movement in place so we’re not walking straight onto a shot.
As you arrive in southpaw, win the outside foot position with your right foot. This does two things. It keeps your head off the centre line and gives you a clear line for the left hand straight down the middle.
Coming out of the roll, your right side should already be loaded, allowing you to throw the right hook into the left cross from southpaw.
If they’re a runner, they’re likely to keep using their footwork to ride these shots and try to get away.
That’s where we slide the left foot up towards the right and fire the right kick to the body.
Going to the body is a good option here because everything we’ve thrown so far has been aimed at the head.
The slide allows us to keep covering ground quickly rather than resetting our feet and giving them another opportunity to escape.
After the right kick, recover back to orthodox and you’re back in your dominant stance.
Think of this as a modern MMA version of the old-school karate blitz, combining the ability to cover ground quickly with the head movement and positioning from western boxing.
You can find this combination explained in greater detail among many other MMA & kickboxing techniques over at .