Stupid mma triangle question

[Alex the Swede]

Started wondering while watching Harris vs. Falco UFC 123

I was wondering why no one is going for a triangle when your opponent
is doing a single leg take down and failing due to your sprawl. I don´t think I´ve ever seen that one in a mma match. And you opponent ending up on both knees but still holding one to the single leg. Would that not be a good opening for a regular triangle?

[Dwight Roux]

hell yahh...........

[HillaryAR]

I didn't see the fights last night, but I'm assuming that it was a normal single leg attempt. There are several things that come to mind as to why a triangle wouldn't work in this situation.

1) Unless the defender has his leg on the outside of the attacker's leg, the triangle won't be physically possible.
2) There is very, very little advantage of going to your back in MMA even if you're a guard player. If the defender doesn't focus on defending the takedown, he will get negative points in the eyes of the judges if he doesn't finish. Not to mention the almost certain damage in the process of trying to finish.
3) The triangle would have issues getting tight enough to hold him in. Because the grip for most single legs is at the knee, if one jumped for the triangle, there simply would be too much space (assuming he didn't just completely let go of your leg and allow you to jump) to hold the opponent inside in order to adjust and finish. Then refer to number two, where you're now stuck on your back with someone punching you.

[Chris Herzog]

Alex are you refering to a Judo style "Sankaku jime" (reverse triangle) from the sprawl control position? If so there have a been a few. Toby Imada had a sweet one in Bellator.