Side Kicks Below the Waste in MMA

bigpopparob2000 · Orange Belt

Why don't MMA fighters use side kicks to the leg? I read on another forum that side kicks to the leg are fouls in MMA, and I know they're prohibited at NAGA's MMA competitions, but I didn't find anything prohibiting them on UFC's website. Are they just too complex to be practical & effective?

sensei8 · KF Sensei

Complex? No. Effective? Yes.

A well placed side kick to the legs could be quite damaging in many ways. The permitted kicks are for the safety of the competitors, and this I agree with. A well placed side kick could end a fighters career prematurely, whereas the permitted kicks aren't as debilitating as a well placed side kick.
The permitted kicks are akin to a jab, therefore, not to break.

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bigpopparob2000 · Orange Belt

*sigh* "waist"

This is what happens when you get old. I completely just lost all my internet credibility, didn't I?

So they are prohibited? Like I said, I didn't find any such rules on the UFC website.

sensei8 · KF Sensei

Kuma · Black Belt

I'd say more likely it's because most MMA fighters are mostly trained in Muay Thai which does have the side kick but does not place great emphasis on it like they do the round kick and front kick. Add in the fact that a good penetrating side kick is probably one of the hardest kicks to develop (my own opinion) and you don't see too many of them utilized.

If you want to watch someone use side kicks effectively against his opponent's thighs Google Norichika Tsukamoto. He is a Shinkyokushin knockdown karate fighter whose style is virtually all kicks (very little punching which is unusual for a knockdown fighter) and in the 10th World Tournament he was using side kicks to the thighs very effectively.

straightblast · Orange Belt

The low side kick is most effective with shoes or boots on.
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brickshooter · Green Belt

I suspect that it's due to
1. Difficult to find a training partner.
2. Not commonly taught outside the MT circles.
3. Does leave the kicker in a vunerable position if he misses.

Even in MA where it's primarily used such as TKD, LOW sidekicks are frowned upon as it has the unnatural results of popping people's knees out of their sockets.

bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

Another thing is that a good side kick requires the body to be in alignment to deliver power, and getting into this alignment is a bit tricky, and in MMA, the cons of the technique just might outwiegh the pros of learning it.
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Liver Punch · Green Belt

It's a tough one to set up against an opponent who has grabbing you and dragging you to the ground in mind. Another big concern of mine is accidentally hitting my opponent in the groin. In an MMA fight against someone with a tight stance, I shy away from inside leg kicks - it only takes on on the cup to end a fight prematurely.
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bigpopparob2000 · Orange Belt

I don't think it's as tough to set up as most people would say. I've kick boxed with MT guys before. I certainly didn't dominate, but I was able to hold my own using side kicks to the body. I didn't fire any at their thighs from habit (TKD doesn't permit strikes below the belt in competition). My question was more about whether they were expressly forbidden in MMA. They weren't listed on the UFC's website among the other prohibited techniques (i.e., throat grabs, small joint locks, etc.). Eventhough, the thought of catching a side kick in the knee makes me cringe, and I would understand if they were considered fouls.

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