Uchi mata!! Nicholas Meregali, an athlete who always pulled guard his entire career, stunned the crowd at adcc with this superb uchi mata throw against the phenom Tye Ruotolo in their epic match in the open weight division. It is a superb example of how judo skills can be modified to no gi and play a very positive role in a jiu jitsu match. The upper body connection negates the threat of submissions above the waist and ensures that after the throw even a very talented scrambler like Mr Ruotolo will have a very difficult time trying to recover and get back up to his feet. Uchi mata excels as both a defensive throw against leg tackles and as in this case, an offensive throw in its own right. Note the initial push with ouchi gari to get the opponent pushing into him and then the change in direction to create a very clean finish.
