To anyone in the future wondering the same and only finding this thread, I messed around in practice mode and was able to somewhat recreate it. Using GSP, L2 + R2 + right stick to the left or right when defending a takedown (so not the classical R2 + right stick down) gave me the option of a Judo Throw counter, ending up in dominant Side Sattle. So for Side Control, there must be another move as well.
Still absolutely no idea though how they were able to defend every single takedown with a TDD of 51, even after missing strikes. Only explanation I can come up with, is that throw counters are maybe overpowered.
