Ground Transition Reversals By UFCgaming.com

Reversals are the great equalizer. With takedowns being so popular this year, and reversals being easier than last year, it is imperative that you add them to your arsenal. Let’s start off with the very basics

Who? Anyone can do reversals. Your Ground Grapple Defense skill stats compared to your opponent’s Ground Grapple Offense skill stats will determine how easy it is to get the reversal.

What? Reversals are a special type of transition performed by countering your opponent's transition and giving yourself the offensive advantage.

Where? You can reverse any transition, from any position.

When? You should perform your reversal attempt as soon as your opponent begins his transition attempt. In other words, you should flick the Right Stick at the same momentyour opponent's transition begins.

Why? To win! Reversals can change a fight instantly. They can take a rocked man, and give him a path to victory. By performing a reversal, you get in position to control the fight, and take the victory.

How?... Simply flick the Right Stick to the left or right (the direction does not matter) as soon as your opponent goes for a transition, the tricky part being the timing, and that’s what we will focus on for the rest of the guide.

Key:  Animation = your character's actual movements  Transition Motion = the actual movement performed with the Right Stick  RS = Right Analog Stick/ Right Stick

Quickly flicking the right analog stick at the same time that your opponent goes for a ground transition will result in a reversal that will put you on top of your opponent in an offensive position. Reversals are easier in Undisputed 2010 than in Undisputed 2009 because the reversal window (opportunity to reverse) is larger -- this may have been put in place to compensate for the lack of sweeps from your back this year.

The easiest part of reversals is learning the basics, and the easiest way to do this is to go into Practice Mode. From the Main Menu select Tutorial, then select Practice Mode, and try to select fighters with similar ground grappling skills so that you're not making it too easy on yourself (but if you need the extra help, use a fighter with good ground grappling defense, and an opponent with bad ground grappling offense). Once into the practice, press start, and then go to Practice Settings, and then go down to Partner Action and set it to Grapple Only (I suggest turning the Partner Level up to Expert, as the beginner CPU does not transition enough). This will make your sparring partner go for nothing but takedowns, clinch, and transitions, all of which are reversible. Let your sparring partner take you to the ground, and then begin flicking the Right Stick as you see him go for transitions. It is important that you don't repetitively flick the RS as quickly as possible, because then you will never truly learn the timing of the reversal. If you are having a hard time getting a reversal, try flicking the RS earlier, and if that doesn't work, try flicking it later. The CPU can be considered a Transition Spammer, as you can read about now in the Transition Types section.

The hardest part of reversals is mastering them. The computer is easy to reverse once you truly learn the basics, because their timing becomes so predictable. When you face a human opponent online, the difficulties increase exponentially. There is lag you need to consider, opponent error, and the unpredictability of a human opponent. Although no two people are the same, there are only so many ways you can go for a transition, and they are all reversible. Here are, for all intents and purposes, the types of transitions:

Transition Types: 1. Spam Transitions 2. Counter Transitions 3. Punch Transitions 4. Late (or Wait) Transitions 5. Stalled Transitions 6. Opportunity Transitions 7. Never Transitions (need to punch-flick)

This list (in order of difficult to reverse) covers the type of timing people use to go for transitions, and we will go through how to find what type your opponent will use, and then how to reverse them, as well. At the beginning of every fight, I recommend focusing on blocking transitions when you first go to the ground, and during this time paying attention to the patterns and timing your opponent uses when going for transitions.

1. Spam Transitions - This is when your opponent continuously goes for transitions, with no regard for reversals or anything you are doing. These are the easiest opponents to reverse because there timing is the easiest to predict. They will typically go for a reversal the second you take them to the ground, and they will continue until they get up (which they won't if you have learned the basics of reversals in practice mode). Be ready for reversals from these opponents after you take them down, after they take you down, after you attempt a transition, after you attempt a submission, and after each time they fail a transition. To reverse these players, simply wait for their transition animation to end and then flick the RS while they go for their next transition. If a guy who uses Spam Transitions is trying to take you down, let him. You can reverse these guys all the way to mount. Do not bother throwing strikes until you are fully postured up in half guard or mount, because you want to focus on getting the reversals until you are in a great spot to Ground 'n' Pound.

2. Counter Transitions - This is when your opponent goes for a transition after you go for a transition, whether you succeed or not. These fighters are timing the end of your animation with the beginning for their transition. The key for fighters using this method is beginning the transition motion on their RS while the previous animation has yet to end. If done too early, the game won't recognize the transition. If done too late, you give your opponent an opportunity to transition first. Reversing these types of transitions is easy because of how predictable they are. Against these players it is even a good idea to attempt a transition you know will be blocked, because you can easily reverse their transition coming up. You reverse these players by flicking the RS as soon as the previous transition animation ends. These types of transitions seem to make two transitions look like one continuous animation, but even though they are done fast, the reversal is just as easy.

3. Punch Transitions - When your opponent tries to set up his transitions by throwing strikes, I call this a Punch Transition. This method is very effective, but dangerous, as while they are punching you can transition through them or pay them back with punches if you are on offense. Generally punching from the bottom is ineffective, but it works in the case of the Punch Transitions, as it sort of hides the motion of the transition when it is executed properly. The key to reversing these players is paying attention to their punching patterns -- they might go for two punches and then a transition every time, they may go for 3 punches then transition every time, or they may mix it up a lot. If you are having trouble getting their timing down, try transitioning out while they punch. If they are reversing you like this, focus on blocking and getting the next available reverse.

4. Late/Wait Transitions - Your opponent may anticipate your quick reversals, and so he may choose to wait a decided amount of time before performing a transition. If, for instance, your opponent was Spamming Transitions and you started reversing many of them, he may realize that you have figured out his timing and he may decide to switch it up. Often people will wait just one or two seconds (or however long they think you will be flicking the RS for a reversal) and then they will attempt their reversal. You simply need to adjust to their timing, and it may take you a few failures to really grasp their new timing, but that's fine. It is a good idea here to block transitions until you can predict their when their transitions are coming, and then attempt the reversal when you feel confident.

5. Stalled Transitions - This is when your opponent does his transition in two parts (two separate motions with a break in between). You may have noticed, when you begin the Transition Motion on your RS that your fighter will begin the animation, but if you just hold your RS at the beginning of the Transition Motion, your player will hold his animation, and then you can complete the rest of the transition and your fighter will continue from where he is. This method is primarily used when taking an aggressive defense against reversals, because most people look for the animation to begin and when they go for a reversal, which doesn't work against Stalled Transitions. The reversals for these transitions are a lot like the reversals for Late/Wait Transitions -- it's less about looking for the animation and more about just KNOWING when your opponent is about to transition. If your opponent is actively using this method, sometimes it's just better to do your own transition through the Stalled Transition, as your opponent cannot block while Stalling a Transition. Otherwise, just learn your opponent's timing from after the first part of his transition, and go for the reversal when he STARTS the 2nd part of the transition.

6. Opportunity Transitions - Opportunity Transitions are when a fighter waits for you to do something that will give him a chance to transition. These transitions can seemingly be random, but really they are just well timed. You will find these types of transition more from a player who is in a defensive position. These players wait for you to start punching, fail a transition, block strikes, or anything else that stops you from transition blocking. You can tempt these players into attempting a transition by posturing up and punching, or blocking strikes (even if he is not punching), and at this time you can be ready to reverse his transition. Try punching your opponent a few times and see how many punches it takes for him to attempt a transition, and when you think you know how long he is waiting for, you simply flick the RS after you have figured out his timing.

7. Never Transitions - Sometimes you'll run into someone so patient (or maybe scared) to transition, that they practically NEVER transition. Even in an offensive position, these players will simply block transitions and strikes from any position. These types of players are usually good at reversals themselves, and part of the reason they don't transition is just so they can get you to transition in order for them to reverse you. With these players you can use the Punch-Flick method (punch, and then immediately flick the RS as fast as possible, and repeat this process as much as you can), in case they ever do decide to transition. These people are the hardest to transition because they rarely have a pattern, and they aren't using any timing. One thing you can do is simply try to transition to a new position. Usually after about 3 blocked transitions your fighter will succeed with the next transition (sometimes less, sometimes more -- depending on ground grapple stats and stamina). Many players know this and after they block 2 of your transitions they will attempt a transition themselves because they know one of your next transitions will succeed. With this information you can be ready for their transition attempt after they block 2 of yours, and then you can get the reversal.

Here are a few other things to take into consideration when looking for reversals:

 Punch-Flick Method – This is a technique used by many top players, and often considered an exploit because of how hard it is to transition when someone is Punch- Flicking. It is done by simply hitting a punch button and then immediately flicking the RS as fast as possible. This method is popular because people like to transition when their opponent is punching, which sets them up for getting reversed against someone who Punch-Flicks. You can Punch-Flick so fast that the method WON’T work, so practice in Practice Mode until you have your Punch-Flick timing down comfortably.

 Last Chance Transitions - No quite hard to reverse, but they can be tricky. When you have your opponent mounted, or critically damaged, or in a number of bad positions like the crucifix, your opponent will panic and start transitioning until he is a little more safe. Be ready for these transitions when you are in these positions, typically people will even go back to Spamming Transitions even if they are decent players, because they know they NEED to get out of a bad spot.

 Reversals from mount offense - Many of your opponent's will Spam Transitions when you have them mounted, these are their Last Chance Transitions. Mount is definitely the best spot to have your opponent in, and so it's the place you would most like to stay, but some people have a problem keeping the mount. Here, it is a good idea to use the punch-flick method, as you want to be able to land shots from mount, but you don't want to lose your position. The punch-flick method will allow you to do damage, and at the same time you can reverse your opponent's transitions and keep the mount.

 The Initial Transition - As soon as the fight hits the ground, some players will transition immediately, almost just out of habit. So it's a good idea to wait to transition when you first get to the ground, and instead, go for a reversal early. Usually you only need to wait about one second after the takedown or slam before you flick the RS in time to reverse your opponent's transition. Players will go for the initial transition on both offense and defense, so be ready.

 Crucifix Reversals - The crucifix is a ground position that is only available to some players (Matt Hughes and Cain Valesquez for example). It is performed by doing a special minor transition (L1/LB + minor transition) from side control, and once executed, your opponent cannot block his face, and so he will spam transitions immediately. You don't need to reverse his first transition unless you're afraid it will work, because it will normally take him a few attempts to get through. Since you have a chance to land a few strikes to an unblocked opponent, take that opportunity, and then attempt to get a reversal after you have blocked two transitions. This will allow you to do some damage, and then get a reversal into mount offense to do more damage.

 North/South Reversals – North/South Defense is one of the few positions that an opponent can’t get to standing from. So when you are in North/South Offense, there is no reason to transition block, because the worst that can happen is you go to Side Control Offense. So this is a great position to try reversals from (especially because you will go to mount with a reverse from here). Simply punch your opponent’s body as long as it takes until he starts to attempt transitions (you can use the Punch-Flick method here, as well) and then go for reversals.

Well, there you have it, a complete, comprehensive guide to reversals on the ground. There is more information to be added, but this guide covers the basics, and should help you even against advanced, experienced human opponents. Keep checking in with UFCgaming.com for more information on this subject, and many more. In the future we would like to provide a guide to AVOIDING ground reversals, but we need the community to show us support so we know this information will be put to use. We hope you enjoyed this guide, and we hope it has helped you. Remember the most important part is to practice in Practice Mode against a Grapple Only sparring partner, or online with a firned, so that your reaction to the transition animations become second nature to you.

Thank you. Sincerely, UFCgaming.com