Knee Cut Pass

Last updated: June 1, 2026

What is the knee cut pass?

Watch almost any BJJ match, and you will see someone try the knee cut. It is one of the first passes a beginner learns, and it stays in the toolbox all the way to black belt. The name describes the action: the passer slices a knee across the opponent’s leg the way a knife cuts through something, splitting the guard open and clearing a path to the top.

Most passes lean one way or the other. Smash passes win with heavy, static pressure, while speed passes rely on moving faster than the guard can react and recover. The knee cut borrows from both. The passer keeps forward pressure through the knee and chest while still moving the body around the opponent’s legs, which is a big reason it works against so many different guard styles.

The goal is simple. Get past the legs, flatten the opponent, and arrive in side control or kesa gatame with the head and an underhook already controlled. Understanding that destination is the key to understanding the pass, because every grip and angle in the knee cut exists to make that final slide unstoppable.

How the knee cut works

Picture the passer with one knee driving down across the opponent’s thigh and the other foot posted wide on the mat for balance. That posted leg is the base. The cutting knee is the wedge. As the knee slides toward the floor, it pins the opponent’s bottom leg in place so they cannot follow the passer’s hips.

Two upper-body controls make the pass stick. The first is an underhook under the far arm that stops the opponent from turning in to recover guard. The second is a crossface or a strong collar grip that keeps them flat and kills their ability to frame. Stephan Kesting of Grapplearts describes the knee itself as the tool that pins the leg and opens a path to the other side of the body.

This is the part newer grapplers tend to rush. The slide only works once the leg is genuinely trapped and the opponent is flat. Cut too early, before the controls are set, and the opponent slips a knee back in to defend.

Knee cut pass vs leg drag

These two passes get mixed up because both start from open guard and both end in a dominant top position. They solve the problem in different ways.

Feature	Knee cut pass	Leg drag
Core action	Slices the knee down through the near leg	Drags the near leg across the body to the far side
Pressure style	Forward pressure plus movement	Lighter, more movement, and angle-based
Usual finish	Side control or kesa gatame	Side control or a path to the back
Body type it favors	Works for most builds	Often favored by lighter, faster passers
Contact with the leg	Knee pins and cuts across the thigh	Leg is pulled across and trapped against the mat

The short version: the knee cut goes through the leg, while the leg drag takes the leg out of the way. Many passers use them together. A blocked knee cut on one side often turns straight into a leg drag on the other.

Guards the knee cut works against

Part of why coaches teach the knee cut early is its range. It works against half guard, where one of the opponent’s legs is already trapped between the passer’s legs. It works from open guard once the passer has established grips and angle. It also shows up against butterfly guard and reverse de la riva, though those positions ask for extra steps to clear the hooks first.

The main thing standing in the way is the knee shield. That is when the bottom grappler wedges their top knee across the passer’s hip or torso, using the shin as a frame to block forward progress. A knee shield does not end the pass on its own, but it buys the guard player time and forces the passer to clear the frame before the knee can cut through. Recognizing a knee shield is most of the reason the knee cut sometimes stalls.

Common names and variations

The knee cut answers to several names. The most common alternative is knee slice; you will also hear knee slide and knee through pass, depending on the gym or the instructional someone learned from. All of them describe the same thing, which is the knee travelling across the leg.

There are also recognized variations. Lucas Lepri, a multiple-time IBJJF black belt world champion, teaches versions such as the tripod knee cut and the double knee cut, which change the footwork or the number of legs cleared. For someone trying to understand the term, the takeaway is that “knee cut” covers a family of closely related passes built on the same wedge-and-slide idea.

Why the knee cut matters in BJJ

The knee cut earns its reputation in competition. Lucas Lepri has noted that the knee cut is the most common pass seen each year at the IBJJF World Championships, partly because it is easy to enter and gives the passer good options no matter how the opponent reacts. In most IBJJF rules, a completed guard pass is worth three points, one of the higher-scoring actions available, so a reliable pass like this one carries real weight on the scoreboard.

It also crosses styles. The knee cut shows up in gi grappling, in no-gi, and even in MMA, because the core mechanics do not depend on grips that only a gi provides. Elite passers from Lepri to Gordon Ryan have built large parts of their top games around it, which is a good sign of how much the pass holds up against the best guards in the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the knee cut pass good for beginners?

Yes. It is one of the highest-percentage passes a white belt can learn, and the same pass keeps working at higher levels, so the time invested early pays off for years.

Does the knee cut pass hurt?

It can feel uncomfortable because of the pressure of the knee and bodyweight across the thigh, but it is a safe and legal technique when done normally.

What is the difference between a knee cut and a knee slice?

There is no real difference. Knee cut and knee slice are two names for the same pass, along with knee slide and knee through.

Where does the knee cut pass end up?

The pass finishes in a top pin, usually side control or kesa gatame, with the passer controlling the opponent’s head and an underhook.

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Sources

1. Evolve MMA. “How To Perform The Knee Slice/Cut Pass In BJJ.” Accessed June 2026.
2. NAGA Fighter. “What is the Knee Slice Pass?” Accessed June 2026.
3. Grapplearts (Stephan Kesting). “3 Great Knee Cut Counters.” Accessed June 2026.
4. BJJ Fanatics. “Precision Knee Cut Passes by Lucas Lepri.” Accessed June 2026.
5. BJJ Graph. “Knee Cut Pass.” Accessed June 2026.
6. bjjmore. “How To Pass Guard Easily.” Accessed June 2026.
7. The BJJ Atlas. “Guard Passing.” Accessed June 2026.

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