ANACONDA CHOKE

The anaconda choke is the front-headlock blood choke that threads the attacker's arm around the back of the opponent's neck and under the far-side armpit, then locks by gripping the attacker's own bicep with the choking hand. The mechanical mirror of the D'Arce choke (which goes under the near armpit instead of the far), the anaconda finishes by rolling the attacker's body to one side and compressing the opponent's carotid arteries between the wrapping forearm and the attacker's chest.

The entry is established most often from a sprawl after defending a takedown, or from the front headlock during a scramble. The attacker secures the opponent's head and one arm with the choking arm threaded around the neck and under the far armpit, locks the figure-four-style grip on their own bicep, and rolls to the side opposite the choking arm. The rotation tightens the choke as the opponent's body weight transfers onto the wrapping forearm.

The anaconda was popularized in modern MMA by Antônio Rogério Nogueira and his brother Antônio Rodrigo, who used it to finish multiple top-ten opponents in Pride and the UFC. In BJJ contexts it remains one of the canonical answers to a defended single-leg takedown attempt and one of the highest-percentage chokes from the turtle position. Defensively the anaconda is escaped by walking forward to disrupt the rolling motion, by stripping the figure-four grip at the wrist, or by tucking the head down hard to delay the carotid compression.