How to sprawl against a takedown

MMA · MMA basics · 8 minute lesson Free

When an opponent lowers their level and reaches for your legs, the sprawl takes your hips out of reach. You drive your legs back and your weight down onto their upper body.

Practise it alone on a mat or carpet. Do not sprawl on concrete, tile or hard flooring, because your hips, knees and hands take the impact.

Key points

• Use a mat, carpet or other soft surface.
• Hips go back and down in one motion, not up and over.
• Legs shoot straight back, wide, with toes on the floor.
• Chest and hips land low, weight pressing down.
• Get back to your feet quickly and reset your stance.

Step by step

1. Start in stance. Set your MMA stance on a soft surface. Hands up, knees bent, weight central.
2. Drop the hips. Push your hips back and down while your hands come toward the floor. Your chest stays over your thighs for a moment.
3. Kick the legs back. Shoot both legs straight behind you, slightly wider than your hips, landing on the balls of your feet. Hips stay low, close to the floor.
4. Recover. Pull one foot under you, then the other, and rise into your stance. Do not stand up straight with your hands low.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• Hips rising instead of dropping. Aim your hips at the floor. If your back arches high, you are not sprawling, you are falling.
• Legs landing narrow. Shoot the feet slightly wider than your hips so you stay balanced.
• Landing hard on knees or hands. Stay on the balls of your feet and keep your weight on your hips. Slow the rep down until it is smooth.
• Slow recovery. Push the floor away and step both feet back under you in one flow.

Drill: Sprawl rounds

3 rounds of 45 seconds, with 45 seconds of rest. Safe to practise alone.

1. Slow sprawls. Focus on hips back and down. Reset your stance every rep.
2. Medium pace. Sprawl on the caller and recover to your stance.
3. Faster pace but still clean. Stop if your form falls apart or your wrists or knees hurt.

Combinations that use it

• wr-circle-sprawl: Circle out, Sprawl
• 1-2-sprawl: Jab, Cross, Sprawl
• wr-sprawl-sd: Sprawl, Snap-down
• wr-whizzer-sprawl: Whizzer, Sprawl
• wr-sprawl-circle-hf: Sprawl, Circle out, Hand fight
• wr-sprawl-lc-dl: Sprawl, Level change, Double leg

Related techniques

• Circle out
• Jab
• Cross
• Snap-down
• Whizzer
• Hand fight
• Level change
• Double leg

Train it in the app

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More from MMA basics

• How to stand in an MMA stance
• How to do a hip escape
• How to do a technical stand-up

← All MMA lessons

Combat sports training is hard on the body. Warm up, stay within your limits and check with a doctor first if you have a health condition. Practise in a clear space and stop if you feel pain or dizziness. Learn partner work only under a qualified coach.