Over-Under Pass

Last updated: June 4, 2026

What is the over-under pass?

The over-under pass is a way to get past an opponent’s guard by trapping their hips instead of sprinting around their legs. The name describes the grip: one arm goes over one of the bottom player’s legs, the other arm goes under the other leg. With both arms locked in this position and the chest stacked forward, the guard player loses the hip movement they need to keep their legs between themselves and the passer.

It belongs to the family of pressure passes, the slow, heavy style of passing built on weight and control rather than speed. Once the grips are set, the passer drives a shoulder into the belly to flatten the hips, then walks around to finish in side control. The same position is sometimes called the Miragaia, named after Renato Miragaia, the Gracie Barra competitor who developed it as a deliberate position in the early 1990s alongside half-guard pioneer Roberto “Gordo” Correa. Fans of Fabio Gurgel and Bernardo Faria will recognize it as a signature of their games.

How the over-under pass works

Picture the passer kneeling in front of someone’s open or half guard. One of the bottom player’s legs gets scooped up and pinned to the passer’s shoulder. That is the “under” arm. The other arm reaches over the far leg and grips the belt in the gi, or the hip in no-gi. Now the legs are split and wrapped, and the bottom player can no longer square their hips back to the passer.

From there, it is mostly weight and walking. The passer keeps the chest heavy on the trapped leg, posts on the toes to load pressure onto the opponent, and steps the feet around toward one side. As the hips turn away, the trapped leg clears, and the passer settles into side control with a cross-face. What makes the position distinct from a flashier pass is how little movement it needs. The control comes from pinning the hips and grinding it out.

Over-under pass vs the stack and toreando passes

Many people first hear about the over-under while learning the stack pass or the toreando, because the three are closely related. Fabio Gurgel has described the over-under as a middle ground that grew out of the other two: when a guard player defends the stack by framing, or shuts down the toreando by pummeling a leg in, the passer can settle into over-under grips and grind from there. Here is how the three compare.

Pass	How it controls	Best suited to
Over-under pass	One arm over a leg, one arm under the other, then forward pressure to pin the hips. Slow and heavy.	Methodical or larger grapplers
Stack pass	Folds the guard player up onto their own shoulders. Heavy and compressing.	Passers who like to bend opponents over their base
Toreando pass	Pins the legs and clears them to the side. Built on speed and timing.	Quick, mobile passers

The practical takeaway is that these passes feed into one another. A passer who threatens the toreando and meets resistance can drop into the over-under, and from the over-under can switch back toward a stack if the opponent opens a lane.

Why the over-under pass is hard to escape

The reason this pass frustrates so many guard players comes down to the hips. Guard retention depends on the bottom player being able to face the passer and re-pummel their legs into position. The over-under takes that away by splitting the legs and pinning the hips to the mat, which is why BJJ Fanatics calls hip mobility the exact thing the position removes. Against a heavier opponent, that loss of movement can feel like being stapled to the floor.

Defenses tend to work on the passer’s base rather than their grips. A common idea, shown by Bernardo Faria, is to redirect the passer’s head: moving the head off-line steers the pressure into a different lane and buys room to hip-escape and recompose the guard. Grapplearts instructor Rory Van Vliet teaches a similar theme across three escapes, all built on framing early and managing the passer’s center of gravity before the pass locks in. The pattern across coaches is consistent. Once the pass is fully set and the weight is down, escaping gets difficult, so the answers start before the hips are trapped.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the over-under pass good for beginners?

Yes. It relies on body weight and a couple of grips rather than athleticism, which makes it one of the more approachable pressure passes for newer grapplers, and it works in both gi and no-gi.

Why is it called the Miragaia?

The over-under is sometimes named the Miragaia, or “Barra pass,” after Renato Miragaia, who developed it as a defined position at Gracie Barra in the early 1990s. The two names refer to the same control.

Does the over-under pass work in MMA?

The hip-pinning control transfers well to MMA, where keeping an opponent flat helps the top fighter pass and strike, though the open-leg exposure means it is used more cautiously than in pure grappling.

What position does the over-under pass lead to?

It usually finishes in side control, and from there, a passer can advance to mount. Some grapplers also attack leg locks, such as the kneebar, directly from the over-under grips.

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Sources

1. BJJ Heroes. “The Miragaia Control, Over-Under Pass.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://bjjheroes.com/techniques/miragaia
2. Evolve University. “BJJ Over-Under Guard Passing.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://evolve-university.com/blog/bjj-over-under-guard-passing
3. Grapplearts. “How To Do the Over-Under Pass.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://grapplearts.com/how-to-do-the-over-under-pass
4. Grapplearts. “3 Great Defenses to the Over-Under Guard Pass.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://grapplearts.com/3-great-defenses-to-the-over-under-guard-pass
5. Evolve Daily. “Here’s Why You Should Learn The Over-Under Pass.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://evolve-mma.com/blog/heres-why-you-should-learn-the-over-under-pass
6. BJJ Fanatics. “Over Under Pass BJJ.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://bjjfanatics.com/blogs/news/over-under-pass-bjj
7. BJJ Eastern Europe. “This Over Under Pass Defense Is Surprisingly Simple & Effective.” Accessed June 2026.
   https://bjjee.com/articles/this-over-under-pass-defense-is-surprisingly-simple-effective

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