Gogoplata

Last updated: April 17, 2026

What is a gogoplata?

The gogoplata is a shin-based chokehold used in mixed martial arts, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and submission grappling. The attacker threads one foot in front of the opponent’s head and under the chin, then locks the hands behind the head and drives the shin or instep into the trachea. Because the pressure falls directly on the windpipe, the gogoplata belongs to the air-choke family alongside moves like the arm-in guillotine, rather than the blood-choke family that includes the rear-naked choke.

It rarely shows up in professional MMA. The move demands unusual hip flexibility and an opponent whose head has already been broken down low. Either condition is missing, and the shin never clears the chin. In BJJ circles, the gogoplata is best known as a signature finish of Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet rubber-guard system, and as the move Shinya Aoki used to submit Joachim Hansen at Pride Shockwave 2006, the gogoplata’s most-replayed MMA moment.

Fans usually encounter the word in one of two contexts: an MMA broadcast where a commentator flags it as an unorthodox threat from the bottom, or a BJJ instructional where the shin-across-throat finish appears as a follow-up to the more familiar omoplata.

How the gogoplata works

At its core, the gogoplata relies on geometry, not strength. The attacker starts on the bottom with the legs held high against the opponent’s upper back, a posture often called rubber guard. One leg then swims through. The foot is fed under the opponent’s jaw until the shin sits across the front of the throat, both hands wrap behind the opponent’s head, and a downward pull sandwiches the trachea between the skull pulling in and the shin pushing out.

The finish does not require the attacker to sit up, sweep, or roll. The choke happens in place. That is part of what makes it look so unusual on video: the fighter on top appears to be in a standard guard position, and then the bottom fighter’s foot appears under the chin almost out of nowhere.

Gogoplata vs. omoplata

Readers who arrive at a glossary page for the gogoplata have usually heard the word alongside “omoplata.” The two techniques share a family, a starting position, and several setups, but they finish in different ways.

	Gogoplata	Omoplata
Type of submission	Air choke	Shoulder lock
Target	Trachea (windpipe)	Shoulder joint
Finishing pressure	Shin across throat, hands pull the head in	Hips raised, opponent’s arm rotated behind their back
Typical starting position	Rubber guard or closed guard	Closed or open guard
Flexibility required	High (hip mobility to slip the foot under the chin)	Moderate
Frequency in MMA	Rare; few documented finishes	Uncommon, more often used as a sweep than a finish

A useful mental shortcut: both moves isolate the opponent’s arm and wrap a leg over the shoulder. The omoplata then rotates to torque the shoulder. The gogoplata instead threads the foot further forward and chokes. Fighters familiar with both often switch between them mid-exchange when the opponent defends one attack by turning into the other.

Origin and name

The name is a Portuguese-BJJ hybrid. “Gogó” is Brazilian Portuguese slang for the Adam’s apple area, and the “-plata” suffix follows the naming pattern of the older omoplata (Portuguese for “shoulder blade”). A similar shin-based choke appears in judo under the names kakato-jime and kagato-jime, which translate roughly to “heel choke.” Judo instructor Mikonosuke Kawaishi documented an early version in his book My Method of Judo.

Within BJJ, credit for popularising the modern gogoplata usually goes to Nino Schembri, a Carlos Gracie Jr. black belt whose unusually flexible guard game in the late 1990s and early 2000s made the technique a recognised competition option. Eddie Bravo, founder of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, then built the rubber guard around it, treating the gogoplata as one of several finishes available once the opponent’s posture is broken and the guard is locked high.

The technique has a short MMA history. Ryusuke Uemura scored the first documented MMA finish with the move against Isao Terada at Zst Grand Prix 2 in January 2005. Shinya Aoki submitted Joachim Hansen with a gogoplata at 2:24 of round one at Pride Shockwave 2006 on December 31, 2006. Nick Diaz also tapped Takanori Gomi with a gogoplata at Pride 33 in February 2007, though that result was later overturned to a no-contest after Diaz failed a post-fight drug test.

Variations of the gogoplata

The standard rubber-guard finish is not the only version of the move. The locoplata, popularised by Eddie Bravo, uses the free foot to press down on the choking foot and increase pressure on the trachea. The mounted gogoplata flips the usual geometry: the attacker is on top in the mount and threads the shin across the opponent’s throat from above. Shinya Aoki is often credited with the first mounted gogoplata in professional MMA competition, at DREAM.4 in 2008 against Katsuhiko Nagata.

A theatrical cousin lives outside combat sports. WWE wrestler The Undertaker used a gogoplata-style hold under the name Hell’s Gate from 2008 onward, which introduced the move to a different audience, and is the reason some fans first encounter the technique through wrestling rather than MMA.

Why the gogoplata is rare in MMA

Several practical factors keep the gogoplata off most MMA highlight reels. The setup usually needs the bottom fighter’s legs held high against the opponent’s upper back, and an experienced top fighter can simply posture up to shut down the guard before the shin ever reaches the chin. Hip flexibility is also a real filter: the attacker has to pull one foot all the way to the opponent’s jawline, which many professional fighters cannot comfortably do.

The meta-game works against the move, too. MMA rewards top control because the fighter on top can strike. A bottom player who commits fully to the gogoplata risks absorbing punches while setting up a low-percentage finish. Top fighters attempting a mounted version face a different problem: giving up the mount to thread a leg is often worse than simply finishing from ground strikes or a higher-percentage choke.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the gogoplata legal in MMA and BJJ?

Yes. The gogoplata is legal under the unified MMA rules and under IBJJF rules for adult divisions, in both gi and no-gi. It is prohibited in IBJJF kids’ and teens’ divisions, along with other techniques that directly compress the throat.

Who invented the gogoplata?

No single person is credited with inventing it. A similar shin-based choke appears in Mikonosuke Kawaishi’s mid-20th-century judo writings under the name kakato-jime. In modern BJJ, Nino Schembri is credited with popularising the technique, and Eddie Bravo integrated it into the rubber guard system of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu.

Is the gogoplata an air choke or a blood choke?

An air choke. It applies direct pressure to the trachea rather than the carotid arteries, so it cuts off the windpipe instead of restricting blood flow to the brain.

Has the gogoplata ever finished a UFC fight?

Major MMA gogoplata finishes have come mostly from outside the UFC, including Shinya Aoki’s Pride Shockwave 2006 win and Nick Diaz’s Pride 33 win over Takanori Gomi (later overturned to a no-contest). Brad Imes, a former UFC heavyweight, notched multiple gogoplata wins on the regional circuit, which is why he publicly embraced the nickname “Mr. Gogoplata.”

---

Sources

1. Wikipedia. “Gogoplata.” Accessed April 2026.
2. Wikipedia. “Shinya Aoki.” Accessed April 2026.
3. Hudson, David L. Jr. Combat Sports: An Encyclopedia of Wrestling, Fighting, and Mixed Martial Arts. ABC-CLIO, 2009.
4. Snowden, Jonathan and Kendall Shields. The MMA Encyclopedia. ECW Press, 2010.
5. Bravo, Eddie. Mastering the Rubber Guard. Victory Belt Publishing.
6. Tapology. “Pride Shockwave 2006: Shinya Aoki vs. Joachim Hansen I.” Accessed April 2026.
7. Fighters Only. “Winning Techniques: Shinya Aoki’s gogoplata.”
8. Evolve MMA. “BJJ 101: The Gogoplata.” Accessed April 2026.

Related MMA Terms