Bloody Elbow Judo Chop: Waylon Lowe Drops Melvin Guillard With a High Leg Sweep at UFC 114

Not every technique that is worthy of being featured in a Judo Chop will win the fight. This is one of those occasions where I saw something in a fight that impressed me and I thought would make a good topic for a Chop. 

On UFC 114 undercard, lightweights Melvin Guillard and Waylon Lowe met in what turned out to be a short and painful night for Lowe as he ate a brutal knee to the liver that ended his night early. But before he fell, Lowe showed some real grit and technical wrestling acumen, taking down Guillard -- himself a skilled wrestler -- with a single leg take down that ended with a high leg sweep 

Since the take down and Guillard's spirited defense proved a bit much for my limited wrestling knowledge, I asked  Earl Smith of the great Division 1 College Wrestling site to explain the take down in the full entry. Don't get spoiled by having someone who knows what they're talking about breaking down the techniques.

Read the full post to see the action and read Earl's breakdown.

Coming up next a three part Judo Chop on the masterpiece that was Little Nog vs Jason Brilz.

 

Gifs by Chris Nelson.

Take it away Earl:

In this series of GIF's Waylon Lowe is going through the steps involved in executing a single leg takedown against Melvin Guillard in their fight at UFC 114.

Lowe, in the first GIF, uses a left hand to set up his double leg shot. When he cannot finish with the double leg he switches to the single. There are many different finishes that one can use with a single leg, but in this shot Lowe chooses to lift Guillard straight up in the air. His technique on the lift is very good, by bending his knees and lifting with his legs instead of bending at the back. I would prefer a different finish, however. Lowe drives forward which is to the side where Guillard can post with his free leg. He could have dumped Guillard backwards instead. The footwork needed to execute this technique was best explained to as "pretend you are going backwards down a circular staircase". That finish would have likely put Guillard on his back or at worst on his hip.

 

In the second GIF, Guillard uses some very good takedown defense. Lowe also is not using the best technique at this moment. Although he has Melvin's leg, Lowe's head is down and he is sitting on his own heels. You need to have A LOT of power to be able to convert from that position. Again, Guillard prevents the takedown because of his wide stance and the fact that he keeps Lowe's head down.

 

 

The third GIF shows Lowe getting ready to finish the single leg. This time he chooses to elevate Guillard's leg instead of using a lift. The higher Guillard's foot and heel goes the more off balance he will feel, and the likelihood of takedown increases. One important subtlety about this GIF is that position of Lowe's right hand. It is over top of the foot and heel, instead of the more natural feeling of placing it underneath the heel. If Lowe's left arm is under the knee and his right hand is under the foot, it becomes a much looser hold and Guillard is more likely to kick out, or if this were wrestling he could "funk" out of it.

 

 

Finally in the last GIF Lowe gets his takedown. He has kept the correct over/under grip on the knee and ankle, and attempts to elevate Guillard. Lowe goes for a high leg sweep and kicks out Guillard's calf. Melvin knew that Lowe was going for a sweep and attempts to hop over it. Lowe correctly aims high on Guillard's leg which prevents him from jumping over the sweep.

 

Even though Lowe wasn't able to keep Guillard down for any length of time, his use of the high leg sweep made for a dramatic take down and is the kind of technique I love to see used in MMA.