An MMA professional breaks down House of the Dragon’s marriage ceremony combat

This week’s House of the Dragon introduced rather a lot to the ceremonial desk: scheming energy {couples}, daring vogue selections, and finally, a very nasty brawl.

It’s that final bit that we’re right here to speak about right now.

[Ed. note: Significant spoilers follow for the fifth episode of House of the Dragon.]

One of the most important occasions of the episode is the marriage between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Laenor Velaryon, solidifying the bond between two highly effective Westerosi homes. As is usually the case for political marriages, the spouses have their eyes on others: particularly, their respective lovers, Ser Criston Cole and Ser Joffrey “The Knight of Kisses” Lonmouth.

At the marriage, Ser Joffrey deduces that Ser Criston is his counterpart on this four-sided relationship. Joffrey makes an try and strike up a dialog, letting on that he is aware of about Criston and Rhaenyra’s secret, and advises that the 2 knights look out for one another.

That goes… extraordinarily poorly. Soon afterward, a commotion breaks out on the dance flooring, with Criston on high of Joffrey, whaling on his face with reckless abandon. It’s a ground-and-pound scene straight out of a contemporary MMA combat (albeit with one combatant carrying a full go well with of armor).

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

Luckily, I work on the identical place as MMA Fighting, the most effective MMA web site within the enterprise. So I reached out to senior reporter Damon Martin, who can be a self-described “massive” fan of the Game of Thrones universe.

Martin was impressed by Criston’s ground-and-pound combating, and in contrast the knight’s technical method to that of heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes. But he mentioned the younger fighter may nonetheless step up his recreation.

“Credit to Criston Cole on his technique with the quick takedown and moving into mount, where he just began raining down blows on the ‘Knight of the Kisses,’ who really needs to work on his defense on the ground, although now it appears he’ll never get the chance,” Martin mentioned. “The only real improvement that Ser Criston needs to make would be mixing in some elbows to go along with the punches if he really wants to inflict maximum damage, but he seemed to be doing just fine with his fists.”

As for Joffrey, the loser on this specific battle — there was no official affirmation as to his standing, however he certain seemed in very dangerous form on the finish of the trade — Martin gave some notes on how he may have prevented his bloody destiny.

“Poor Joffrey just never got the opportunity to showcase any of his fighting skills once he was on his back,” he mentioned. “It looked like he had never taken a single grappling class in all those years he was serving House Velaryon in Driftmark. At the very least, Joffrey should have known how to pull guard on the bigger, stronger opponent to keep him close so he could at least mitigate the damage he was absorbing. Making Ser Criston work to get free to posture up and throw punches would have likely tired him out, considering he had about 80 pounds of armor weighing him down at the time.”

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

What about Criston transferring ahead? We see on the finish of the episode that Queen Alicent stops him from killing himself. If Criston places his thoughts to it, Martin thinks he may change into an actual star on the planet of Westerosi MMA.

“Ser Criston certainly appears to be the full package,” Martin mentioned. “He’s bought energy, velocity, and a ruthlessness that may possible carry him far in future fights. But combating with emotion is usually a double-edged sword, so he would possibly need to maintain his anger in test. Because the day will come when Criston will run right into a cerebral opponent, who may benefit from his incapability to separate the job from one thing extra private.

“If he keeps working on that wrestling, he might contend for a WFC title one day (Westeros Fighting Championships, of course).”