There are ways smaller martial artists can turn their size into an advantage. Sure, squaring up against larger opponents can be intimidating, and it would be dishonest to say larger (usually stronger) opponents don’t have any advantages. However, technique and strategy still beat size for the most part when everything else is equal.
This was evident during the early days of mixed martial arts when members of the Gracie family, notably Royce Gracie, made defeating larger opponents look easy. Ready to find out how to defeat behemoths? Here’s what can you do:
1) Master Movement And Angles
Bigger, stronger opponents often rely on their power, not their agility. Your job is to make them move much more than they usually would, like an annoying mosquito.
Your footwork should be beautiful as a smaller fighter if you want to enjoy significant success in combat sports. Circling laterally keeps you off the center line and makes it easier to evade strikes. Ideally, you want to circle away from your opponent’s power arm, meaning you want to circle to your right against right-handed fighters and the reverse for lefties.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul “Canelo” Álvarez is an excellent example of a smaller fighter using footwork to frustrate a larger opponent. Mayweather weighed 152 lbs. on fight day, while Canelo walked inside the ring at 164 lbs. It turned out to be a boxing clinic as Mayweather used his footwork to frustrate and lead the less experienced boxer into traps and land hard counters.
Cut angles, pivot, step back, and keep your larger opponent constantly reacting to your movement. They’ll eventually get frustrated and start taking more chances, opening them up for counters.
Don’t allow yourself to get pinned against the ropes or cage by a larger opponent. There’s nowhere for you to hide there.
2) Use Your Speed
Smaller fighters typically have a natural edge against larger opponents regarding reaction time, speed, mobility, and agility. Don’t let these incredible benefits of being a smaller person go to waste.
- Focus On Landing Fast Counters: Don’t fall into the trap of exchanging strikes with heavier fighters. Instead, use your speed to land counters and evade their offense.
- Be Unpredictable: Use feints to create openings and capitalize before they get the chance to realize they reacted to the wrong movement. For example, you can fake a low kick and launch one to the head instead. The “question mark” kick is used for that specific purpose.
- Chain Techniques Together: Take advantage of your speed by chaining techniques together. The more techniques you put together, the more chances your opponent makes a mistake you can capitalize on. Retired ONE Championship flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson often dominates much larger opponents at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments with this tactic.
3) Overcome Strength With Leverage
Leverage is such a powerful force; Archimedes once said, “Give me a lever, and I shall move the world.” He certainly would have loved BJJ since many of its techniques use such principles to overcome strength disadvantages.
Some of the ways fighters can use leverage to soften up larger opponents include:
- Use your weight on opponents to wear them down, even if they’re bigger than you. An opponent being bigger than you doesn’t mean they won’t tire after carrying you on their back for a minute.
- Prioritize techniques like the rear-naked choke that nullify your opponent’s strength advantages. Slap it on correctly, and it’s virtually impossible to escape.
- Weaponize your opponent’s momentum against them. The same laws of physics that govern trains govern our bodies. The larger a moving body is, the harder it is to stop. Use this to your advantage. If your oversized opponent charges at you, sidestep out of the way at the last second and watch them lose their balance. Better yet, stick out one of your legs after sidestepping to trip them. That’s perfectly legal in sports like MMA.
4) Develop Your Fight IQ: Outsmart, Then Outfight
Use your brains to make up for the strength advantages heavier fighters have. Target their weaknesses like your life depends on it.
- Gas them out: Larger fighters typically fatigue quicker, so keep them working the entire time to push their cardio to its limits. If your sport allows, try to land hard strikes to the body to speed up the process. Your supersized opponent will be gasping for air in no time.
- Stay calm: Sticking to your game plan becomes even more crucial when you have a disadvantage in strength. Don’t get carried away and get into wild exchanges.
- Attack the legs: Low kicks are the giant’s kryptonite when strikes are in play. You don’t need a slingshot to bring a Goliath to their knees; a well-placed calf or thigh kick is good enough. Attacking the legs is also a smart strategy when grappling. Techniques like leg locks, kneebars, and heel hooks are very effective on larger opponents. Frank Mir highlighted this during his first fight against the giant Brock Lesnar, winning via leg lock after receiving a brutal beating.
- Study film: If possible, look up videos of your larger opponent to learn what their go-to techniques are so you can counter appropriately and what their weaknesses are.
5) Embrace the Underdog Mentality (But Ditch the Little Guy Complex)
Fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Demetrious Johnson, and Rodtang Jitmuangnon have shown that small people can become some of the best fighters in any combat sport.
- Train Smarter: You rarely have a strength advantage during competitions as a smaller fighter, so focus on making your techniques as sharp as possible.
- Train Cardio Like A Maniac: Your cardio is your natural super weapon as a smaller person. Train appropriately, and you should be ready to go for a few more rounds when your giant opponent is winded.
- Spar With Larger Fighters: Spar with heavier training partners regularly, so you’re used to competing against bigger bodies before your contest.
- Stay Confident: Put in the work during training camp so you can walk to the ring confident about your odds of victory. Trust your game plan and execute as planned.
Smaller Fighters Also Have Natural Advantages
While combat sports are separated into weight classes for a reason, there certainly are stories and cases where smaller fighters can defeat much larger opponents. All of that can be achieved through footwork mastery, weaponizing your speed and outthinking your opponents. The next time you face a bigger opponent, don’t see it as a lost battle. See it as a chance to test your skills in a true David vs Goliath moment.
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