Stevie Ray pulled off one of 2022’s front-runners for Submission of the Year in June when he submitted Anthony Pettis with a modified twister to punch his ticket to the PFL playoffs.
Ray is now set to face Pettis all over again six weeks later when he meets the former UFC lightweight champion on Friday at PFL 7. Ray will be facing Pettis in one of four semi-finals of UFC’s lightweight bracket. Ray stopped by The MMA Hour before the matchup to review his fight with Pettis and discuss one of the most impressive submissions in MMA in recent years.
“It can hurt your ribs, but it’s kind of spine as well,” Ray explained this week when asked about the Pettis finish during an in-studio appearance on The MMA Hour. So you have to ask yourself, “What is a twister?” It’s twisting the spine. And then when I’ve got the body triangle with the leg on the inside — because I’ve not got the body triangle just completely on his back, like trying to get a rear-naked choke, it’s almost like I’m side on him a little bit.
” His upper spine is now turning to the left, but his lower back, or his spine, remains facing the right due to the lock that I have placed on his lower spine. Then you can control him.
” All my training partners are probably watching us knowing exactly [what was happening],” Ray.
Ray, a former UFC star, said he discovered the submission while training Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Ray was hit with the submission during training and Ray didn’t know what it was until Ray felt “horrendous pain in his spine”. Since then, it’s become one of his favorite moves to surprise people with on the mats. He even hit one on Craig Ewers during a Polaris event in 2021.
His win over Pettis was crucial. Ray was unable to make it into the playoffs due to the point system of PFL. He needed either a second or first round stoppage after losing against Alex Martinez in his PFL debut match. Luckily, a second-round submission is exactly what he got. Now it’s him and Pettis in a rematch for all the marbles, with the winner advancing to the finals to vie for the bracket’s $1 million grand prize.
Pettis later said that he lost because he was playing safe. The former UFC champion had secured his spot in the playoffs. But Ray isn’t buying it.
“He’s obviously saying that to try and reassure himself I think,” Ray said. “Whether he believes it fully or not, I mean, when you’re in the octagon or in a fight with another guy, it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, you’re trying to win. He was saying that he is playing safe. He might have been playing it safe but he continued to hit me with [shots],, trying to get me out of his way. I kept pushing ahead despite the fact that he hit me with all he could. I feel like even before the submission, that it wasn’t going as well as he’s making out as it was.
“And then obviously, if I didn’t get the submission, I had his back — and I would’ve still been on his back. I only allowed him to come up into the guard, if you like, because I’ve done this submission. So I’d still be on his back with a body triangle, probably punching him in the face, winning the second round.”
Ultimately, it’s all rather fortuitous how the situation worked out for the 32-year-old Scotsman. Because of circumstances outside of his control, Ray and Pettis were the last lightweights to fight before the playoffs were set. This meant that they had to wait the longest time for preparations to the semifinals. That suits Ray perfectly.
“I would say it’s worked out better for me,” Ray said. “Because he was injured. Although he claimed he wasn’t hurt, he clearly was after the fight. I can tell you how painful that submission was. He was down and holding his ribs.
“He’ll be able to tell that he spent the first weeks at this camp resting and sparring. When I have done the same to my rib, you can’t just go into sparring and take body shots as well as grappling and wrestling. He’ll be aware of that fact in his mind. And obviously, I remember listening to an interview he said before, ‘That confidence comes from your work ethic and how hard you’ve trained.’ He’s going to be battling some stuff in his mind when he walks out on Friday, knowing that he’s not been able to do everything.”
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