Was banning stomps and soccer kicks simply an optics thing?

XThe GreatestX

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title.

I am unclear about what the actual story is here.

Surely an mma promotion would be aware that a kick to the head whether on the feet or on the ground is still a kick to the head. There is no mythical power boost just from it being on the ground.

So wAs it an optics thing? Or is it because the whole point of mma is to cater to grapplers and those techniques make it more difficult for a grappler to be successful? Or something else?
 
title.

I am unclear about what the actual story is here.

Surely an mma promotion would be aware that a kick to the head whether on the feet or on the ground is still a kick to the head. There is no mythical power boost just from it being on the ground.

So wAs it an optics thing? Or is it because the whole point of mma is to cater to grapplers and those techniques make it more difficult for a grappler to be successful? Or something else?
Always this misconception. Soccer kicks would make wrestlers unstoppable
 
a kick to the head whether on the feet or on the ground is still a kick to the head. There is no mythical power boost just from it being on the ground.

Um, yeah there is a huge power boost kicking the ground vs the head.

Can you even reach your legs above your head? No.

Can you kick the ground really hard? Yes.

That's a literal 0%->100% power difference.
 
The unified rules never approved stomps and soccer kicks I think due to an ethical issue. They don't seem "gentlemanly" enough lol


I for one am an mma purist that would love to see a the closest simulation to a real fight as possible with the least amount of outside interference. That's why pride was legendary
 
Yeah you can soccer kick harder than a high kick.

And when you allow soccer kicks a guy who is already fucked up can take a kick to the head i.e. Roger Ruerta in ONE a couple years ago.
 
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PRIDE rules with elbows allowed would've been the GOAT ruleset (apart from everything goes ofc)
 
Pretty sure it was to get the UFC back on PPV by not looking barbaric...
 
Also the knees to a downed opponent were incredible in pride. There are so many positions the guy on bottom can get into in UFC that should not be safe but because the guy cant knee him hes fine. Like side control and shit in Pride you would just get fucking kneed in the side of your head.
 
I mean obviously you can soccer kick a lot harder than you can high kick. Is it sufficiently more dangerous than normal knock outs to the point it should be banned? I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s a lot of evidence either way. It sure looked dangerous when Wand did it though
 
I guarantee you a stomp to a downed opponent generates much more force than a headkick to a standing opponent.
With that being said PRIDE rules were better. Especially the yellow cards. They didn't put up with as much bullshit.
 
I would like to see people soccer kick to the body and maybe stomps to the kidney or liver.
 
I mean obviously you can soccer kick a lot harder than you can high kick.

Not sure that's true, a 'soccer' kick hits someone with the foot but the best head kicks are where the shin connects.
Can you punch harder than you can elbow?
 
Imagine stomping a guy on his ribs. You could easily kill someone like that.

The whole sport is fucking stupid from a safety standpoint but stomps would lead to deaths.

Look at what Wanderlei and Shogun weer doing to guys in Pride. Horrific.
 
Pretty much...

It’s always funny listening to those justifying banning certain techniques cause of how “dangerous” they are...

It’s a fight n ppl can get seriously hurt
 
It was
title.

I am unclear about what the actual story is here.

Surely an mma promotion would be aware that a kick to the head whether on the feet or on the ground is still a kick to the head. There is no mythical power boost just from it being on the ground.

So wAs it an optics thing? Or is it because the whole point of mma is to cater to grapplers and those techniques make it more difficult for a grappler to be successful? Or something else?

Mainly optics. At that point in time NHB was under attack by John McCain and others who said it was human cockfighting. They were trying to get it off TV completely.

Back of the head and neck elbows and punches were really bad. Gary Goodridge holding the fence and putting all his weight into a stomp is bad optics.
 
Surely an mma promotion would be aware that a kick to the head whether on the feet or on the ground is still a kick to the head. There is no mythical power boost just from it being on the ground.
Yeah, there's no power difference. That's why NFL punters and place kickers prefer the ball to be about head high when they kick it. Same distance, looks way cooler.
 
I just guessed it was something to do with being able to compete in more states and be on TV.
I bet Joe Rogan knows the answer. <30>
 
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