Is Jon Jones the Best MMA Wrestler In the UFC? (POLL)

[Got GOAT]

No. You shoot a single leg to the inside because you're using your head to bump your opponent onto his back leg while you snatch up his lead leg.

You can still do that without your head inside to push them backwards by driving your shoulder into them. It's done all the time in pure wrestling and in MMA, with and without the head. You don't need the head for that. If you shoot with your head on the inside in MMA then you're more open to getting kneed in the face (think about it). You can also easily see where and how far you're driving them backward with the head on the outside instead of the inside. But, on the flip side, you're open to potentially getting guillotined in MMA with your head on the outside, unless you're smart enough to shoot in with your head and neck posture positioned diagonally upward (at an angle) so even if they can get their arm around your neck, they won't have the proper angle or leverage to cinch the choke up. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Not leaving a gap is primarily why they don't teach the head on the outside single leg in pure wrestling. This is because it's easier to get a switch hit on you when your head is on the outside, it's easier to get pummeled under with an underhook in general and it's easier to get cross-faced where the head can be controlled and the takedown neutralized. In MMA most fighters aren't worried about getting a switch hit on them and it's only been very rarely seen against an outside single leg attempt (Anderson hit one against Marquardt and it's the most well-known).

Here's BYUI's wrestling coach differentiating between the high-crotch and the outside single based on grip level and only grip level, as I've mentioned...

[YT]SmlJpLjlvaA?start=55[/YT]

As he said, all outside singles are not really high-crotches, that's a misnomer. It depends on the grip level (not head position). If an outside single is high (in the crotch) with the grips then it can be accurately called a 'high crotch'. If not, and the leg is gripped low or mid level with the head outside, then it is more accurate to call it an 'outside single'.

Here's a single leg positional drill from iSPORT Wrestling. Notice how they start it off in talking about head position when shooting in for a single leg...

"To get in position for the drill, one wrestler will start in on a single leg. This will be the offensive wrestler in the drill. It doesn

 

[Baconcandy12]

Yes, no doubt about it.

 

[Cptn1NSAN0]

Frankie is up there

 

[Captain_Dammitt]

Active yes, but IMO GSP was better.

Yuup

 

[jeremyemilio]

You can still do that without your head inside to push them backwards by driving your shoulder into them. It's done all the time in pure wrestling and in MMA, with and without the head. You don't need the head for that. If you shoot with your head on the inside in MMA then you're more open to getting kneed in the face (think about it). You can also easily see where and how far you're driving them backward with the head on the outside instead of the inside. But, on the flip side, you're open to potentially getting guillotined in MMA with your head on the outside, unless you're smart enough to shoot in with your head and neck posture positioned diagonally upward (at an angle) so even if they can get their arm around your neck, they won't have the proper angle or leverage to cinch the choke up. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Not leaving a gap is primarily why they don't teach the head on the outside single leg in pure wrestling. This is because it's easier to get a switch hit on you when your head is on the outside, it's easier to get pummeled under with an underhook in general and it's easier to get cross-faced where the head can be controlled and the takedown neutralized. In MMA most fighters aren't worried about getting a switch hit on them and it's only been very rarely seen against an outside single leg attempt (Anderson hit one against Marquardt and it's the most well-known).

Here's BYUI's wrestling coach differentiating between the high-crotch and the outside single based on grip level and only grip level, as I've mentioned...

[YT]SmlJpLjlvaA?start=55[/YT]

As he said, all outside singles are not really high-crotches, that's a misnomer. It depends on the grip level (not head position). If an outside single is high (in the crotch) with the grips then it can be accurately called a 'high crotch'. If not, and the leg is gripped low or mid level with the head outside, then it is more accurate to call it an 'outside single'.

Here's a single leg positional drill from iSPORT Wrestling. Notice how they start it off in talking about head position when shooting in for a single leg...



http://wrestling.isport.com/wrestling-guides/how-to-do-the-single-leg-position-drill

If your head is to the inside it's called a high crotch or, sometimes, an outside single. When people talk about 'misnomers' and such, they're complaining that the high crotch is a name that can be confusing, which is why a lot of Americans call it an outside single... but they're not saying it's the same move as a single leg. It's not. It functions differently.

You can grip a high crotch high or low on your approach. How you finish it will generally depend on how your opponent reacts. If he sprawls, you turn the corner and go behind and, in the process, likely go to or stay with a mid level grip. If he anticipate's you going behind and hips in without sprawling, you lift the high crotch, very likely staying with or switching to the high level grip.

You might also tap the far knee and/or turn it into a double leg, like in the video you've linked, or just extend your grip downward to post his foot and push him over with the shoulder.

What you're unlikely to do is snatch up the single leg. That's what a single leg is. Snatching up the single leg. And you do it with your head to the inside.

They're different techniques. Period.

None of which even matters very much because Cain and DC use BOTH. Cain is more partial to the single leg. DC prefers the high crotch.