Getting to the Mount is already difficult enough… But setting up submissions from there can be even tougher. And why? Well, it’s because your training partners know what’s coming next. They know that you want to isolate their arms or go for the choke; so they’re keeping everything tight and not giving you any space to work with.
Here’s a fantastic way to solve this problem: the misdirectional underhook. Professor John Danaher demonstrates.

THE MISDIRECTIONAL UNDERHOOK FROM MOUNT

To set up the misdirectional underhook, first you’ll actually have to isolate one of the training partner’s arms. But how are you supposed to do this when they’re keeping it tight?
It’s simple, really. Cross-grip their wrist with your palm facing up and then push into it with your bodyweight. Don’t just push into it from above, however; instead, do so in a diagonal manner. This way, you’re not fighting against the partner’s muscles as much as against their rotator cuff – which is a significantly weaker resistance point.

As you peel this arm off, what do you think your training partner will do? They’ll try to grab onto it with their other hand, so as to prevent getting submitted. This means that they’ll turn to the side. At this point, you need to rest your chest onto their top arm’s shoulder.
Now, if they stay on their side – you can go for a Gift Wrap grip and take their back. But if they’re experienced, they’ll start turning into you by flaring their top arm away from you… Simply because that’s the only way they can free it up.

As they flare it up and turn into you, you’ll have a clean opening to establish your misdirectional underhook. Watch how to do it in more detail on the video below: