Thai Plum (Double Collar Tie)

The Muay Thai inheritance

The Thai plum — also called the double collar tie or the plum clinch — is a clinch position where both hands lock behind the opponent's head, with the elbows pinched together at the opponent's collarbone level. The attacker pulls the opponent's head down while driving the crown of their own head into the opponent's upper chest.

It is the defining clinch position of Muay Thai and a primary knee-strike platform in MMA. The position allows the attacker to deliver devastating knee strikes to the body and head, sweep the opponent off balance, and control posture in a way that prevents striking counters.

Mechanics

• Hand position: hands locked behind the opponent's head, interlaced fingers or a wrist-grab. The grip is around the back of the skull, not the neck — gripping the neck alone gives the opponent leverage to posture up.
• Elbow position: elbows pinched together, resting on the opponent's collarbones or upper chest. This creates a frame that controls the opponent's posture.
• Head position: crown of the head drives into the opponent's chest or chin line.
• Stance: staggered, with one foot slightly forward to enable knee strikes from either side. Hips loaded under the opponent.

Offense from the Thai plum

• Straight knee to the body: from the staggered stance, drive a knee straight up into the opponent's rib cage or solar plexus. The hip pulls the head down at the same time the knee travels up.
• Diagonal knee to the body: a knee thrown at an angle to land on the floating ribs or liver. Anderson Silva used this in the Rich Franklin fights.
• Knee to the head: from a deeply broken-posture position, the knee can land on the chin, forehead, or temple. The Silva-vs-Franklin finish at UFC 64 was a knee-to-the-head from the plum.
• Sweep: a foot trip on the opponent's lead leg combined with a hip pull off balance. Drops the opponent to their hip.
• Strikes after the break: as the opponent attempts to break the plum, the attacker can land hooks or elbows during the disengagement.

Defending the Thai plum

• Frame and posture: post both hands inside the attacker's elbows and drive upward to break the elbow pinch. Restore posture by raising the head.
• Inside underhook: swim an arm inside the attacker's grip to break the lock and pummel for a single underhook.
• Crossface: drive a forearm across the attacker's face to disrupt their head position.
• Step out: angle out from the attacker's lead leg, breaking the hip-to-hip contact.
• Drop levels into takedown: a level change and forward drive can break the plum by driving the attacker backward.
• Strike entry: a short hook or uppercut to the body as the attacker enters can disrupt the position before it fully closes.

Common errors

• Gripping the neck instead of the skull: the opponent can posture up easily against a neck-only grip.
• Elbows flared wide: gives the opponent space to pummel inside and break the position.
• Pulling with arms only: the hip pull and the latissimus engagement are what produce real control. Arm pull alone is weak.
• Standing square: a square stance limits knee angles. Always stagger the stance for knee threats from both sides.
• Holding without attacking: a passive plum gives the referee reason to break for inactivity. Knees, sweeps, or attempts at takedown must be constant.

The MMA adaptations

In pure Muay Thai, the Thai plum is the dominant clinch position. In MMA the position is slightly modified because of the takedown threat:

• Hip position is lower: to prevent the opponent from shooting under the plum.
• Knee strikes are shorter: a fully-loaded straight knee is risky in MMA because the rear leg leaving the floor exposes the attacker to a takedown counter. MMA knees from the plum are shorter and faster.
• Plum into takedown: a common MMA chain is plum → break the grip → shoot a single-leg takedown as the opponent postures up.

Exemplified by

• Anderson Silva — the Rich Franklin finishes at UFC 64 and UFC 77 were both Thai plum KOs. Silva pulled the head down and landed clinch knees that ended both fights.
• Wanderlei Silva — PRIDE-era Chute Boxe plum work, including the finishes of Quinton Jackson.
• Jose Aldo — the lead-leg Thai plum work that finished Urijah Faber in the WEC and set up his title reign.
• Edson Barboza — Brazilian Muay Thai stylist who used the plum in his lightweight career.
• Jon Jones — variations of the plum used in his fence game, often with one hand on the back of the head and the other elbow striking.

Drills

• Plum-and-knee on the bag: 3 × 3 min rounds of plum grip and short knees on a heavy bag or Thai dummy.
• Partner plum work: cooperative reps of plum entry, knee strikes, sweeps, and disengagement.
• Plum-defense drill: partner clinches in plum; defender works to break and disengage within 10 seconds.
• Live clinch sparring with plum starts: every round begins in a Thai plum; both partners work from the position.
• Plum to takedown: drill the chain from plum → grip break → single-leg shot as the opponent postures.