Guard passing is the process of getting past an opponent's legs to reach a more dominant position on the ground, usually side control or mount. When a fighter is in another fighter's "guard" — on top, but with the opponent's legs wrapped around or braced against them — they can't do much damage or control the fight. Passing the guard is what turns top position from a stalemate into an advantage.
Why Guard Matters in the First Place
In jiu-jitsu and MMA, "guard" describes any position where the bottom fighter uses their legs to control distance and prevent the top fighter from advancing. It isn't automatically a losing spot — a skilled grappler can attack submissions, threaten sweeps to reverse position, and land strikes from the bottom. But in MMA specifically, judges and the sport itself reward top position and offense, so a fighter stuck on top without a plan to advance is often just absorbing a slow loss of the round. That's why passing the guard, not just getting on top, is the actual goal.
The Main Ways Fighters Pass
There's no single way to pass guard — different body types, grips, and situations call for different passes. A few show up constantly in both jiu-jitsu and the UFC.
The knee slide (or knee cut) pass. The top fighter drives one knee diagonally across the opponent's thigh while controlling an arm or the head, sliding past the legs toward side control. It's a pressure-based pass that works by collapsing the space the bottom fighter needs to reset their legs.
The toreando (or bullfighter) pass. Named for the motion of a matador sidestepping a bull, this pass involves gripping the opponent's pants or legs near the knees and redirecting them to one side while stepping to the other, bypassing the legs entirely rather than grinding through them. It rewards speed and timing over raw pressure.
The over-under pass. The top fighter underhooks one of the opponent's legs with one arm while controlling the other leg from on top, then uses that split control to flatten the opponent out and slide into side control. It's a slower, pressure-heavy pass associated with grapplers who prefer to control an opponent before passing rather than moving quickly.
The leg drag. A more modern pass that pulls one of the opponent's legs across their own body, taking away their ability to re-frame with it and opening a path to the back or to side control. It's lower-risk than some other passes because the top fighter keeps tighter control throughout rather than momentarily exposing their own position to get past.
Fighters rarely rely on just one. A common pattern is to threaten a fast pass like the toreando to get a defensive reaction, then transition into a pressure pass like the knee slide once the opponent commits their legs one way.
Why Passing Is Harder Than It Looks
Passing guard against a resisting, trained opponent is one of the most technical skills in grappling, which is why some fighters build entire careers around being difficult to pass even when they're taken down. The bottom fighter isn't just lying there — they're actively re-framing with their legs, grabbing sleeves or wrists to disrupt the top fighter's base, and looking for a scramble or a submission the moment the passer overcommits.
That back-and-forth is why a single exchange on the ground can eat 20 or 30 seconds of a round without clear progress for either fighter, something that can look static to a new viewer but is actually a high-level contest of grip fighting and weight distribution. A fighter who consistently passes guard against good competition — rather than just taking opponents down and staying tangled in their legs — is demonstrating a real technical skill, not just an athletic one.
How It Shows Up in a UFC Fight
Commentators will often say a fighter "can't do anything from top position" even after landing a takedown, and guard passing is usually the missing piece. A fighter who takes an opponent down but never passes guard is stuck throwing short, ineffective strikes from inside the opponent's legs — not a strong position for scoring or for finishing. The fighters judges and fans respect most on the ground are the ones who pass consistently, because that's what actually converts a takedown into offense.
It also explains why some grapplers specifically avoid taking an opponent all the way down, choosing instead to control from the clinch or along the fence. If an opponent is excellent at using their guard to threaten submissions or sweeps, a fighter with takedowns but no reliable pass may be better off not giving them the chance to use it. For more on what happens once a fighter is actually trapped underneath, see our guide to ground positions, and for the wrestling side of getting a fight to the floor in the first place, the takedown, explained.
The Takeaway
Guard passing is the technical skill that turns a takedown into real offense. Without it, top position is just proximity — a fighter stuck in another fighter's guard with no plan to advance is often doing less damage than it looks like from the outside. The next time a fight goes to the ground, watch for whether the top fighter is actually working to pass, or just sitting in guard waiting for the round to end; it's one of the clearest signs of who's actually winning the exchange.