Leg Fractures

Randy Fandy Fo Fanders

Randy Fandy Fo Fanders

I’m gonna take my pants off and kick your ass.
@Brown
Joined
Mar 6, 2021
Messages
3,155
Reaction score
18,008
After seeing another MMA fighter suffer a snapped tibia last night, it made me begin to wonder about the statistics behind leg fractures in kickboxing vs leg fractures in MMA.

I've been watching MMA for a long time but i'm relatively new to kickboxing so i don't have historical knowledge of fighter injuries over the years. For some of you long-time kickboxing fans out there, how many leg snaps have you seen throughout the years? Is the number comparable to MMA?

Also makes me begin to question if the leg fractures in MMA are a technique-related issue in some way.

Discuss.
 
I am not expert but I've been following MMA since UFC 1 and got into Muay Thai in 2006 while in Thailand.I've always been more into Muay Thai since...however it seems that the dreaded leg snap happens more in MMA. However, I am no expert and haven't seen every fight. Just my 2 cents.
 
I can say confidently, I have seen a couple of thousand MMA fights in around 21 years and probably less than a thousand kickboxing and Muay Thai combined.

I have seen more "floppy snaps" in regional level MMA than high level, i.e, UFC, ONE etc.

I have seen a handful of them in kickfighting but more in regional level. Think "C level" Muay Thai in UK and amateur kickboxing (without shinpads).

Purely personal viewing, I assume that kickfighting experience negates much more of the risk with experience. MMA overall has abysmal kicking displays, even today. Seems that it is still bottom of the pecking order in practice.

When you throw a kick badly, you risk the rest of the fight.
 
I've been watching both mma and kickboxing for over 10 years and have seen it happen 3 or 4 times in MMA and 2 times in Kickboxing. I can't remember ever seeing it in Muay Thai. In most cases it was in heavier weight classes like 85kg, 95kg or open weight.
 
Also, in MMA as calf kicks seem to become more and more common while people also learn how to check properly more and more, I think it's fair to say we probably will see more of them happening.
 
You wonder in weidmans case did he suddenly start practising loads of kicks in this fight camp and go into the fight with some micro fractures. This combined with a pretty big weight cut and not great technique would contribute to the break.
Hardening your bones takes years and is best done earlier in life.
 
You see it a lot in MMA, sometimes in KB, but when I tried to find one in MT it took a while before I finally found one and it was an old fat guy in a low level event. Probably its because once you reach a level in MT where everyone has good conditioning and its easier to show impact with middle kicks guys start throwing a lot less leg kicks. Also E=MC^2 so its going to happen more to big guys.
 
Snubnoze707 said:
MMA fighters need to kick more banana trees...
Click to expand...
SuperLuigi said:
You see it a lot in MMA, sometimes in KB, but when I tried to find one in MT it took a while before I finally found one and it was an old fat guy in a low level event. Probably its because once you reach a level in MT where everyone has good conditioning and its easier to show impact with middle kicks guys start throwing a lot less leg kicks. Also E=MC^2 so its going to happen more to big guys.
Click to expand...
I was also told by some Thai trainers that foreigners don't aim when they kick LOL. One guy said that when he held the pads some guy just threw a kick that missed the pad and hit him on the head.
 
People in muay thai in thailand do talk about "boxing bones". They say kids should start early so they develop "boxing bones". Obviously it is not based on science but rather experience but there might be some truth to it.
 
I'm also wondering to what extent all the roadwork helps with bone density and avoiding such fractures while perhaps heavy weight cutting through extreme dehydration could have the opposite effect on bones.
 
jean-claude-van-damme.gif
 
Tayski said:
I'm also wondering to what extent all the roadwork helps with bone density and avoiding such fractures while perhaps heavy weight cutting through extreme dehydration could have the opposite effect on bones.
Click to expand...
The running definitely helps with bone density. All osteopaths would agree with that. There has also been some recent studies that say running is better than heavy weights for bone density. The running combined with kicking the bag over a number of years especially when young will increase bone density. As you get older you are just trying to retain bone density rather than increase it.
 
First I was thinking that the angle of the shin at the point of impact could be an explanatory factor; if the shin connects with the inside (flat side) of the tibia bone, it seems more likely to break. However, after some googling, it seems to me that shins snap in MMA even when landed with the front part of the tibia.
 
Did anyone else notice that when you kick hard pads or hard heavy bags regularly, the skin thickens around the shin? I don't know what exactly the phenomena is, but it sure adds a strong layer of protection to the shin IMO. As I am a south paw, and kicked mostly with my left leg, my left shin had considerably more of this "padding" compared to my right one. After a while you can hit hard things without feeling much pain nor developing bumps. Now I only train occasionally and the layer is completely gone.
 
I'd imagine the thickening of the skin helps with things like the stinging feeling from the skin slapping the bag but I doubt it would help in any way preventing a break.

I had my whole entire leg go numb when someone knee checked me like that and I was wearing shin guards. The feeling came back after an hour except right on the shin, and it had a burning sensation for a month or so. Got down into the nerves.
 
Snubnoze707 said:
I'd imagine the thickening of the skin helps with things like the stinging feeling from the skin slapping the bag but I doubt it would help in any way preventing a break.

I had my whole entire leg go numb when someone knee checked me like that and I was wearing shin guards. The feeling came back after an hour except right on the shin, and it had a burning sensation for a month or so. Got down into the nerves.
Click to expand...
I imagine it could work the same way a rubber case protects phones. Not that is will provide full protection or anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,723
Messages
55,437,410
Members
174,774
Latest member
Ruckus245

Share this page

Back
Top