Multiple World medallist Kirill Denisov is a left handed fighter. When up against opponents who are also left handed, Denisov’s prime target is to catch and then neutralise their power hand, before he does anything else.

As his opponents will not give up their sleeve easily, Denisov’s strategy i...

Kirill Denisov says that whenever he fights left handed opponents, his first thought is always to have control of their left arm.

‘How do I catch the left arm’, he says. ‘How do I control it’.

With his opponents aware of his game-plan, they do as much as possible to prevent Denisov from catchin...

When Kirill Denisov is up against an opponent who takes a high cross grip, or ‘the Russian arm’, he has two very efficient ways of quickly dealing with this dangerous grip.

The Russian arm is very threatening, as an attack usually follows in quick succession.

Denisov’s response, therefore, has...

If Kirill Denisov is up against a left handed opponent who targets his lapel with their right hand, he has a very effective way of turning defence into attack.

With the opponent switching their upper body stance from left to right, Denisov’s main objective is to prevent his left lapel from being...

One of Denisov’s most effective strategies against same stance opponents is to come out right handed before switching back to a left stance once gripped up.

Here’s a good example against Turkmenistan’s Hojamuhammedov in the 2018 Agadir Grand Prix.

Denisov leads with a right handed lapel grip, w...