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Back Control: The Throne

MMA Factory · Birmingham · Updated October 2026

Every position in grappling has a counter — except one where your opponent can't even see you. Back control is the end of the positional ladder, and the rear naked choke is why.

What it is

You're glued to your opponent's back: chest to their shoulder blades, hooks (your feet) inside their thighs, and the seatbelt grip — one arm over their shoulder, one under their armpit, hands clasped at their chest. From here they're defending strikes they can't see in MMA, and in BJJ they're defending the single highest-percentage submission in the sport.

The three pillars

• The seatbelt is the position. Lose your hooks and keep the seatbelt — you can recover. Lose the seatbelt — you're falling off.
• Chest glued to their back. Any gap is space they'll turn into an escape.
• Stay behind the shoulder line. Their whole escape plan is getting their shoulders past yours — your whole job is following them like a shadow.

The rear naked choke

One arm slides under the chin, elbow centred on their throat; the other hand locks it in place behind their head. Squeeze with the whole arm, chest and back — not a frantic bicep curl. It's a blood choke: done properly it's smooth, fast and completely safe in training, because everyone taps and resets. This single technique has ended more MMA fights than any other submission in history.

Getting there in the first place

Backs are taken, not given: when someone turns away escaping your mount, when they stand up carelessly in wrestling exchanges, when a scramble goes your way. That's why back control gets better the more positions you train — it's the reward at the end of every chain.