Have You Seen This Sneaky Neck Crank From The Great Dean Lister?

By Fanatics Authors, January 10, 2019

Dean Lister Neck Crank From Side Control

Who is Dean Lister? Dean is one of the great pioneers of Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts in America. He is an ADCC Champion. He fought in some of the biggest MMA organizations: Pride FC and Ultimate Fighting Championships. His teaching has had significant impact in both MMA and Jiu Jitsu.

Dean Lister was born in San Diego, California. However, with his family in the military he spent most of his youth abroad in South American countries. Like a lot of military kids, he faced constant bullying as the perpetual new kid. He sought martial arts as a way to defend himself. When he returned to the states, he found wrestling, then Sambo and eventually Jiu Jitsu. He spent over a decade training at Fabio Santos’ academy in San Diego where he earned his brown belt. Eventually Dean would earn his black belt from fellow Santos student Jeffery Higgs.

Lister’s grappling accomplishments are significant. He competed in ADCC tournament 6 times and is the ADCC Open Weight Champion (2003) and ADCC Super Fight Champion (2005) and ADCC Champion (2011). Additionally, he a two-time national (US) sambo champion, four-time Machado National (US) BJJ champion and National (US) Gracie BJJ champion. He has notable victories over Jean Jacques Machado, Iiir Latifi, Nathan Marquardt, Saulo Ribeiro, Marcio 'Pe De Pano' Cruz, Alexandre Ferreira ‘Cacareco’, Masutatsu Yano, Augusto Ferrari, Radek Turek, Rodolfo Vieira, Joao Assis, and Ricardo "Demente" Abreu.

Dean’s grappling skills served him well in MMA. He has had over 20 fights in some of the most prestigious organizations. Lister was a King of the Cage Middleweight Champion. He has also fought in Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Dean Lister has devastating submissions and amazing escapes. Click Learn More!

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Lister is well known for his teaching abilities and has been sought all over the world for his combat knowledge. He was a grappling coach for Tito Ortiz on Ultimate Fighter Series 7 (TUF 7). He teaches at Victory Mixed Martial Arts in San Diego with fellow black belts and Jiu Jitsu legends Jeff Glover and Jocko Willink. It is also worth noting that Dean served as the catalyst that introduced the great John Danaher to leg locks. John tells the story of Dean training at Renzo’s. Danaher asked Dean a question about a leg lock. Lister replied, “Why would you ignore 50% of the human body?” It was Dean’s simple statement that started Danaher on the path to create his legendary leg lock system that would shift the paradigm of Jiu Jitsu.

In this video Dean Lister explores a neck crank from side control. He notes that while once it was a legal submission it may now be illegal in some competitions. Given this information the grappler should be wise when he applies it. Lister starts in top side control. There are two set up for this move. Either the bottom player may be framing against you to create space to regain guard or they may have their arms wrapped around the top player’s back. Lister takes his bottom side arm and grabs the far side elbow. His top side arm is under his opponent’s head and he grabs his bottom side wrist. From here he gets the tap. Dean can also raise his hip to increase the efficacy. Lister notes that there is also a submission available if you grab your opponent’s elbow with the top side and connect your arms together after swimming the bottom side hand under your opponent’s body. It is an interesting point that Dean makes that while this is a neck crank it is possible to choke someone out with this move.

This video is a wonderful example of Dean’s ability to communicate technique to even novice grapplers. Like all of Lister’s instructional videos, there is a lot of detail. I know that I often gain new insights every time I re-watch one of his videos. Dean Lister’s instructional videos have a powerful impact on anyone who makes a careful study of them. Certainly, the Jiu Jitsu community is lucky to have him.

Imagine how different you would feel on the mat if you knew you could defend any submission? How would you feel if you were under side control just knowing you were about to take their back? Learn Dean's sneaky escapes in this series from BJJ Fanatics!

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