Should calf kicks become an illegal strike?

[Torrid]

more to the shin, ppl have to take week+ off if they get kicked to the calf just one time in practice... this was mentioned during the broadcast tonight thats how stupid this kick is.... 1 strike can take a guy out for a week of practice because it hit a nerve.....

One takedown can leave a guy with a concussion, then post concussion symptoms so bad that he'll never fight again.

One kick can break your orbital and blind you.

the list keeps going. Go watch kickboxing, you don't see calf kicks dominating.

 

[SouvlakiSpaceStation]

Banning calf kicks has to be the dumbest shit I've ever heard. It's on the fighters and coaches to adapt to the evolution of the sport and develop a counter or a strategy to negate calf kicks. Stuff like this happens in every sport.

 

[johnmangala]

That isn’t a mic drop line.

All sorts of attacks have been made illegal because they would make the sport less entertaining.

I’m not saying we are there yet, or will ever get there, but it’s not a non-starter.

That Munoz-Rivera fight was entertaining as fuck.

 

[PicoPulse]

Pushing forward putting them on back foot was suggested from The Trio tonight
But also just stepping forward when the kick comes will cause the kick not to land properly and you can pocket enter/counter
thats easier said then done

 

[Post 2 Decision]

Can't land a calf kick if your opponent is pressuring

Maybe this leads to more action fights

 

[Flying omoplata]

Man we should really ban knees while we’re at it

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Learn to deal with it, stop taking away things and adding additional rules ffs

 

[aerius]

Learn to defend. Noobs.

 

[GrantB13]

Do you get tired of punches?

It's different. You have head punches like the jab, cross, hooks, uppercuts, overhands, etc and then all those same moves but to the body. A calf kick is a one dimensional strike and is easy to spam with little punishment at this current time when throwing them.

The calf is continuing to be a game changer in this sport. What should the commentators do? Shut up about it when a fighters calf is all purple and can barely stand anymore?

Maybe you should get yourself kicked on the calf to appreciate it more in live action

Until they become obviously damaging in a fight, yes, actually. I don't want to hear "Oh! There's that calf kick again!" every time one is thrown before the damage is becoming a visible factor. It's like post-GSP/Koshcheck jab. It was all "The jab! Remember GSP?" e-v-e-r-y fight for a long time.

 

[minute bull]

Instead of calf kicks fighters should make love to each other.

 

[Nuclear Fallout]

It's not causing brain damage or testicle damage, so no. Improve and advance your learnings and check them.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Play defense

Should we allow groin strikes, eye gouges and small joint manipulation? After all, guys could just play defense against them.

The fact is, tactics have regularly been made illegal if those tactics would make the sport less safe or less entertaining.

I guarantee if foot stomps every start injuring guys’ feet and ruining the fights, they’ll get banned. The calf kick is more complicated, because leg kicks in general are legal and it would not be easy to silo from other kicks. We’ll see what happens. For now you’re right, guys need to try to find a counter.

 

[johnmangala]

It's different. You have head punches like the jab, cross, hooks, uppercuts, overhands, etc and then all those same moves but to the body. A calf kick is a one dimensional strike and is easy to spam with little punishment at this current time when throwing them.


Until they become obviously damaging in a fight, yes, actually. I don't want to hear "Oh! There's that calf kick again!" every time one is thrown before the damage is becoming a visible factor. It's like post-GSP/Koshcheck jab. It was all "The jab! Remember GSP?" e-v-e-r-y fight for a long time.

I guess BJJ should’ve been banned after UFC 1.

 

[TomTomNT]

Calf kicks can be checked, but you have to reallllllly turn your foot out, to at least 45 degrees.

If your foot is straight or anything under 45 degrees when you check, the outside muscle still gets compressed into the bone and it hurts. Felder mentioned on the broadcast that you can deal damage with calf kicks even with shin guards on, and I know from firsthand experience that he's correct. I was lazily checking with the foot not turned out enough, and over the course of sparring over a week period I developed bruising on the calf. It sucked.

That said, if you get your leg out 45 degrees when you check, it will damage both the kicker and the checker on the bone and the kicker won't be so thrilled with doing it either.

I think people will eventually learn how to counter calf kicks effectively. A lot of people say either stay at range where you can slide back, or crowd your opponent so they can't kick.

bruh this isnt some practice karate where u got time to chill drink coffee and really turn your leg to 45.013453 degrees to avoid something that an damage your nerve from 1 strike and end the fight based on that alone....its mma... u got no time for that shit, im no snowflake, i dont even like the "strikes to the back of the head" rule because its so vague and never gets enforced, but these calf kicks are ending fights where not actually the more skilled fighter is winning...imagine if Khabib went down from the first calf kick.... how anti climatic that shit would have been... and is Justin a better fighter? We all know hes not.... but if he hit a nerve and Khabib cant fucking stand like what happened to Omalley, then what? we gona do more rematches based on calf kicks now? Its just a small line, and when this thing takes of and everyone is out here sparring 10000 calf kicks its gona bring down the quality of fights 100^% because how can it not, when a fight ends on a calf kick every other fight, that shit becomes a poor product.

 

[OldFashion]

more to the shin, ppl have to take week+ off if they get kicked to the calf just one time in practice... this was mentioned during the broadcast tonight thats how stupid this kick is.... 1 strike can take a guy out for a week of practice because it hit a nerve.....

One punch to the chin can take out a guy too. What is your point? Learn to counter/deal with it

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Fuck that. We are going to see a resurgence of the karate style movement, because boxers are too fucking static to defend against calf kicks.
Thats like saying we should ban jabs and straights, because they are too popular.

It’s not like that at all, because straight punches don’t make a fight less fun by rendering a guy unable to move properly.

But whatever, the bottom line is that you’re right — like other tactical innovations of the past, fighters will find a new way to fight that makes them less vulnerable. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.

 

[GrantB13]

I guess BJJ should’ve been banned after UFC 1.

Again, different. There's loads of different moves and there are known counters and defenses to everything in grappling. It would be a different story if everybody was just trying to spam triangle chokes. Plus in the early days it's more understandable as it was a directly billed as style vs style. At least in my opinion, I just want people to be able to counter this one individual move that's taking the game by storm.

 

[mallen7272]

Ya lets ban jabs while we are at it.

 

[PicoPulse]

Best defense
Calf kick first

 

[WHITE ANDERSON]

lol why?? if you don't want people to throw kicks, go watch boxing

UFC is supposed to be as real as it gets, who wins in a fight on the street to the death?
you already can't throw elbows and knees in certain positions and the rules favor wrestlers. the rule set is already flawed and taking away calf kicks will only make it worse

people should praise the calf kick. it means that fighters are innovating and evolving the sport to make it more competitive. just look at caner. he didn't even know the calf kick existed and he got knocked the fuck out like the boomer that he is