Looking to burn the competition like a flamethrower, Drew Sklov confidently walked out onto the mats at Fight to Win Pro 56 at the MusclePharm HQ in Burbank bouncing along to the Beastie Boys’ “Make Some Noise.” He was there to lay down some heat against fellow thirty-two-year-old Jarred “Shutout” Mercado in the 160-pound brown-belt division.
Fighting out of Street Sports Simi Valley, Sklov was seeking to add the Dynamix-based Mercado to his list of recently collected scalps.
The first few minutes of the fight would be contested on the feet, with Sklov using strong head positioning to prevent much of a tie-up from Mercado.
Neither competitor really attempted to utilise a snap-down, instead opting to fight for underhooks or to fight for a Russian tie takedown.
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Sklov’s head position lent itself to the Russian tie, attempting to get his hands in the 2-on-1 position before shooting in for a double-leg takedown.
Mercado sprawled back instantly, avoiding Sklov’s attempt before leading his opponent back to the centre of the mat.
Sklov would pull Mercado down into Z-guard, where he would frame, threaten Mercado’s head position, and keep the weight of his opponent off his upper torso before scoring an underhook after Mercado attempted to knee slice and step his way through half-guard.
Unfortunately, Mercado would move backwards, nullifying Sklov’s underhook before moving to a head-and-arm position.
Mercado would attempt to step around once more, with Sklov seemingly happy to stay in Z-guard.
He would eventually concede mount to Mercado after being unable to maintain his left butterfly hook. Mercado would then step around to side control.
A small amount of space was all it took for Sklov to find a defensive opening, once again finding his way back to half-guard before a standing pass attempt by Mercado would see him in a front headlock position from turtle.
Sklov was able to fend off Mercado’s chokes and pass attempts and eventually took the fight back to the feet after being able to shut down Mercado’s hands effectively.
The Street Sports Simi Valley fighter would again pull Z-guard, but he would once again allow Mercado to have too much control of his head and arms, allowing for a relatively easy Z-guard pass in the end.
Sklov would bump and roll before Mercado attempted a back take. Sklov was quick on the defence against his opponent’s back-take attempt, driving his shoulders to the mat and once again recovering to half-guard.
Mercado would seek to lock up an arm-in guillotine position while still fighting through Sklov’s half-guard, eventually passing to a front headlock position, standing up and attempting the only submission of the fight with just seven seconds to go.
Sklov moved his body to the far side of the guillotine attempt and popped his head off just before the buzzer rang, signaling the end of the bout.
The story of this bout was one of strong positions of control that weren’t capitalised on and last-minute escapes.
While just one submission attempt was made, and it was likely a “hail Mary” given there were just seconds left on the clock, the bout showcased where both competitors might be able to improve their ground games for their next outings.
Sklov would have done well to be more aggressive when playing half-guard, though he showed resilience and strong counter-defence when his original defensive efforts failed. Mercado excelled in finding his way into strong positions throughout but was unable consolidate those positions into submission opportunities or maintain the positions for long.
It was nice to see Mercado seeking to lock up the guillotine in the final seconds of the match, but he had many other opportunities where he could have taken a risk, especially when he repeatedly found himself in a head-and-arm or a front headlock position.
Sklov’s last lines of defence when he had reached a dangerous position would nullify the foundational work Mercado had laid out; however, this style of play would allow Mercado to act as the aggressor throughout the bout, resulting in a clear unanimous judge’s decision for Mercado over Sklov.
Both men proved to be a testament to the other’s strengths and weaknesses, and there are decent lessons for each of these brown belts to examine before they make their next professional outings. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come with these two!
*All images are property of FloSports, Inc: Fight to Win Pro 56 – Mercado vs Sklov