Unorthodox Kicks Work In The Cage- See Cung Le, Jon Jones, Dennis Siver and Anthony Pettis For Proof

There was a time many years ago when people thought that high kicks were useless in MMA.  After all, they often led to being taken down with little bang for the buck.  But then with the evolution of mixed martial arts, fighters began to understand all aspects of fighting.  Competitors with striking backgrounds began to fear being taken down less because they had wrestling skills to protect them.  What’s more, when done right, the high kick was found to be highly effective in putting people to sleep.  And with that, it slowly began its introduction into MMA, gaining steam as time went on (Pete Williams’ head kick KO of Mark Coleman at UFC 17 in 1998 was one notable instance).  Of course, spinning back kicks, sidekicks, crescent kicks, axe kicks- they were all still taboo back in 1998.  Good to look at in a controlled atmosphere, but not really effective.  Just things that Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do practitioners executed in dojos and dojangs to look good.

Similar to the high kick, we’re now beginning to realize that old ideology may have been wrong.

To watch former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le fight is to see just how effective unorthodox kicks can be.  The guy lands sidekicks (hardly ever used in MMA) and spinning kicks like they’re going out of style.  Heck, in his last fight against Scott Smith, it was a spinning kick that actually sent Smith to the canvas, serving as the beginning of his demise.

Le’s unorthodox and highly effective leg strikes prove one thing…When you’re really good at spinning back kicks, sidekicks, and the like, you can use them on an MMA stage.  In fact, you can use them anywhere.

Though Le may be the most obvious fighter to look at when it comes to theatrical kicks in the sport, he’s not the only one.  UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones also lands unorthodox kicks in a lot of situations very effectively.  In fact, he just hit home with a nice spinning back kick in his win over Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC Live.  Dennis Siver has stopped two people in the UFC with spinning back kicks to date. Wednesday night at WEC 50, Anthony Pettis connected with a jumping front kick and some kind of kick with his right hand on the ground that most don’t even know what to call.  The thing looked like it was straight out of a Capoeira movie.  And if recent TUF contestant Jamie Yager could keep his wind beyond the early stages of a fight, people would be talking far and wide about all of the jumping kicks he’s been hitting home with as well (roundhouses, front kicks, etc.).

In the end, MMA is evolving.  What’s exciting is that fighters are using kicks these days that previously were deemed somewhat useless in the cage.  We’re finding that if you know when to use such leg strikes and understand how to truly employ them, they’re worth learning.  Besides, they’re a lot of fun to watch, and one of the names of the game in the cage is entertainment.