Another advantage of holding the hands that low may be that the developing punches are harder to see. The other fighter comes straight forward with his combination and if you are able to get out of the way using a body defense instead of hand defense, you can come straight up or around with your counter, which will be hard for the opponent to discern.
It reminds me of our gun defense, where the hand comes up in a straight line from below, which is harder to see than if your hands were up and coming down toward the weapon.
I can also imagine it being a stronger hook punch from that position, possibly more like a whiplash motion. I’ve tried this myself against the heavybag before and if you start with your arm low (or drop your arm/hand a little first, roll your shoulder forward, then punch) it can be stronger, but of course all of this is risky unless your body defenses and vision are really good.
They also made the point during the broadcast that it’s harder to defend just covering up or using your hands in a MMA fight (opposed to a boxing match), because those small fists often find their way through the defense anyway.
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Giantkiller
