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This past Saturday, May 16, was all about making MMA history. While Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions was busy shattering the sport’s all-time U.S. viewership record with its event on Netflix, something more unpredictable unfolded when Alice Ardelean battled Polyana Viana inside UFC’s Meta Apex at UFC Vegas 117.
Speaking Tuesday while sporting a thick pair of sunglasses due to a corneal scratch, Ardelean made it crystal clear that her unexpected was even rarer than it seemed. It was the first time the move had ever been seen in the UFC, but to see it come from a quirky TikTok sensation? It was only something she could have dreamed up.
“This whole thing is very weird to me. It's just proved to me the power of talking and the power of thought, because I had this as a backup plan,” Ardelean told Uncrowned. “My plan was to strike. I'm a striker. I do like grappling, but I'm very awkward when it comes to submissions. I've submitted a few people, but with very unconventional, weird stuff. Like, I don't know what I'm doing. There's no names for whatever my submissions are. This one was one of them."
Ardelean, 34, held true to her striking plans by piecing up Viana in the first round. It was more of the same in Round 2 — until they tied up in an exchange snug enough to fit inside a phone booth.
Viana was quickly trapped in a body lock and taken to the mat. Ardelean controlled from half guard before transitioning to the full guard and getting wrapped up like a Christmas present, with Viana controlling from the bottom courtesy of a tight body triangle and landing punches galore.
Little did Viana know that she was right where Ardelean wanted her.
"I was watching her past fights, and I saw that she closes the [body] triangle with the people on top of her,” Ardelean said. “She has a good guard, elbows from the guard, so yeah, as soon as I felt like she's closing the triangle, I went for it. But I was thinking about it, I told my coach, 'Yo, listen, I saw this thing on Instagram, like almost two years ago.' It was kind of a normal triangle on a guy, but I just improvised it on a body triangle, because it's kind of the same thing. I told one of my teammates, Phil Rowe — we were drilling, he helped me out a bit with this camp. After we drilled, I'm like, 'Yo, listen, I have this backup, just in case. I have this secret move.' I showed it to him. He was like, 'Damn, I don't know if it's going to work or not.'
"I showed it to my coach during fight week. The night before the fight, I was thinking, 'Damn, I really want to hit this technique. It's so nice, but I don't want to put myself in her guard either. I don't want to risk it. She could get me with an armbar, she could get me with something.' I didn't want to risk it, but I really like deep down, felt like, 'Damn, I really want to do this because this is so cool.'“
From the moment they went into full guard, Ardelean pulled her right arm backward to Viana’s heel and pushed it inward toward her groin, creating a fulcrum point with Viana’s other foot locked in her knee. A few squeeze attempts followed for the remainder of the round, and eventually, Ardelean made history with the modified calf slicer-type submission.
This isn’t a move you train for. In Ardelean’s case. Most calf slicer variations aren’t. She just saw it on social media and manifested it into existence.
Coincidentally, Ardelean recalled hitting the move in the gym a year prior. That time, however, was much easier than the win that extended her current UFC streak to three.
"I took advantage of it, but initially, normally, the technique would tap you out straight away as soon as I step my foot over, and I press. You would have to tap out because it's very painful. But she's very flexible. She didn't tap,” Ardelean said. “She was a bit in pain, but she didn't tap.
“Damn, I was a bit confused. ‘This doesn't work,’ and I kept trying, but she was wiggling out. But her leg was still stuck until, I don't know, instinct. I was just like, 'What if I tried to grab her leg and pull it across my body to make her triangle even tighter and then press more?' I did, and that got me the submission, and I'm sure it was very painful."
Ardelean (12-7) didn’t even realize the technique had a name until after the fight. Since Saturday, she’s been getting messaged by every know-it-all in the community, asking her how she didn’t know what the move was.
Alice Ardelean is the person in UFC history to pull off a capsule lock submission.
Immediately after her win, Ardelean revealed that she had torn her meniscus. The injury occurred seven weeks out from the fight, after nearly finishing her last round with an equally “spazzy” training partner, she said. In her own words, Ardelean got caught in a bad spot, and her knee “popped like a firework.”
In light of that, none of what happened on Saturday should make any sense.
"I was very tired, and I had this evening session that I didn't really have to go to,” Ardelean said. “I overtrain sometimes. I kept thinking to myself, 'Damn, I just know I'm going to injure myself today.'
"I told one of my teammates, 'Just watch, I'm going to injure myself.' And he was like, 'Don't talk. Don't say that.' I just felt it."
Ardelean insists she’s mostly back to full health at this point, nursing only the eye scratch before she heads back home to Romania for some family time. She’s in no rush to return, but after pulling off a move that UFC video games can’t even replicate, there’s no telling what to expect from the quirky entertainer and her unpredictable skill set.
"The craziest part is I'm a blue belt. Let's start there. My grappling sucks,” Ardelean said.
“I'm from Romania. When I started MMA, I just wanted to scrap. I was a journeyman at one point, just accepting the fights. I'm like, ‘Yeah, sure, I'm fighting. Yeah, let's go.’ I didn't have no team, no training. I just started to do more serious [training] when I moved to England and when I moved to the U.S. But it's crazy that I'm a striker and it's me that did that weird submission.
“I don't really submit people. I'm getting submitted 15 times per minute. But if I do catch somebody, it's definitely a very weird move."
Continue reading...
Speaking Tuesday while sporting a thick pair of sunglasses due to a corneal scratch, Ardelean made it crystal clear that her unexpected was even rarer than it seemed. It was the first time the move had ever been seen in the UFC, but to see it come from a quirky TikTok sensation? It was only something she could have dreamed up.
“This whole thing is very weird to me. It's just proved to me the power of talking and the power of thought, because I had this as a backup plan,” Ardelean told Uncrowned. “My plan was to strike. I'm a striker. I do like grappling, but I'm very awkward when it comes to submissions. I've submitted a few people, but with very unconventional, weird stuff. Like, I don't know what I'm doing. There's no names for whatever my submissions are. This one was one of them."
Ardelean, 34, held true to her striking plans by piecing up Viana in the first round. It was more of the same in Round 2 — until they tied up in an exchange snug enough to fit inside a phone booth.
Viana was quickly trapped in a body lock and taken to the mat. Ardelean controlled from half guard before transitioning to the full guard and getting wrapped up like a Christmas present, with Viana controlling from the bottom courtesy of a tight body triangle and landing punches galore.
Little did Viana know that she was right where Ardelean wanted her.
"I was watching her past fights, and I saw that she closes the [body] triangle with the people on top of her,” Ardelean said. “She has a good guard, elbows from the guard, so yeah, as soon as I felt like she's closing the triangle, I went for it. But I was thinking about it, I told my coach, 'Yo, listen, I saw this thing on Instagram, like almost two years ago.' It was kind of a normal triangle on a guy, but I just improvised it on a body triangle, because it's kind of the same thing. I told one of my teammates, Phil Rowe — we were drilling, he helped me out a bit with this camp. After we drilled, I'm like, 'Yo, listen, I have this backup, just in case. I have this secret move.' I showed it to him. He was like, 'Damn, I don't know if it's going to work or not.'
"I showed it to my coach during fight week. The night before the fight, I was thinking, 'Damn, I really want to hit this technique. It's so nice, but I don't want to put myself in her guard either. I don't want to risk it. She could get me with an armbar, she could get me with something.' I didn't want to risk it, but I really like deep down, felt like, 'Damn, I really want to do this because this is so cool.'“
From the moment they went into full guard, Ardelean pulled her right arm backward to Viana’s heel and pushed it inward toward her groin, creating a fulcrum point with Viana’s other foot locked in her knee. A few squeeze attempts followed for the remainder of the round, and eventually, Ardelean made history with the modified calf slicer-type submission.
This isn’t a move you train for. In Ardelean’s case. Most calf slicer variations aren’t. She just saw it on social media and manifested it into existence.
Coincidentally, Ardelean recalled hitting the move in the gym a year prior. That time, however, was much easier than the win that extended her current UFC streak to three.
"I took advantage of it, but initially, normally, the technique would tap you out straight away as soon as I step my foot over, and I press. You would have to tap out because it's very painful. But she's very flexible. She didn't tap,” Ardelean said. “She was a bit in pain, but she didn't tap.
“Damn, I was a bit confused. ‘This doesn't work,’ and I kept trying, but she was wiggling out. But her leg was still stuck until, I don't know, instinct. I was just like, 'What if I tried to grab her leg and pull it across my body to make her triangle even tighter and then press more?' I did, and that got me the submission, and I'm sure it was very painful."
Ardelean (12-7) didn’t even realize the technique had a name until after the fight. Since Saturday, she’s been getting messaged by every know-it-all in the community, asking her how she didn’t know what the move was.
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Alice Ardelean is the person in UFC history to pull off a capsule lock submission.
Immediately after her win, Ardelean revealed that she had torn her meniscus. The injury occurred seven weeks out from the fight, after nearly finishing her last round with an equally “spazzy” training partner, she said. In her own words, Ardelean got caught in a bad spot, and her knee “popped like a firework.”
In light of that, none of what happened on Saturday should make any sense.
"I was very tired, and I had this evening session that I didn't really have to go to,” Ardelean said. “I overtrain sometimes. I kept thinking to myself, 'Damn, I just know I'm going to injure myself today.'
"I told one of my teammates, 'Just watch, I'm going to injure myself.' And he was like, 'Don't talk. Don't say that.' I just felt it."
Ardelean insists she’s mostly back to full health at this point, nursing only the eye scratch before she heads back home to Romania for some family time. She’s in no rush to return, but after pulling off a move that UFC video games can’t even replicate, there’s no telling what to expect from the quirky entertainer and her unpredictable skill set.
"The craziest part is I'm a blue belt. Let's start there. My grappling sucks,” Ardelean said.
“I'm from Romania. When I started MMA, I just wanted to scrap. I was a journeyman at one point, just accepting the fights. I'm like, ‘Yeah, sure, I'm fighting. Yeah, let's go.’ I didn't have no team, no training. I just started to do more serious [training] when I moved to England and when I moved to the U.S. But it's crazy that I'm a striker and it's me that did that weird submission.
“I don't really submit people. I'm getting submitted 15 times per minute. But if I do catch somebody, it's definitely a very weird move."
Continue reading...
