Catching leg kicks and converting them into takedowns

I think it comes down to drilling. You have to do it over and over again until it's second nature, and then consistently implement in sparring. Guys probably learn to catch kicks in muay thai training, but who knows if they are actually drilling the takedown afterward consistently enough?
 
Yep. Much easier to just check kicks.
If you become known as a guy that likes to try and catch kicks, and you aren't great at it, your opponent could start throwing out feints to try and get you to commit to catching stuff which would leave you open.
I do think more fighters should be on the look out for lazily thrown kicks that would be easy to catch tho. There are some guys that will start off fights, or end fights throwing these lazy, half assed kicks that are just being begged to be caught. No power or anything behind them, they just seem like 'feelin out' kicks, or done to make themselves look like they're busy
They probably throw those kicks not to diversify their strikes and keep the opponent guessing, but because they feel like they haven't thrown one in a while. I get the feeling that lots of fighters will throw kicks for no real reason, just to stay active. I have never trained though so I could be wrong.
 
They probably throw those kicks not to diversify their strikes and keep the opponent guessing, but because they feel like they haven't thrown one in a while. I get the feeling that lots of fighters will throw kicks for no real reason, just to stay active. I have never trained though so I could be wrong.
Yeah, i do sometimes get the feeling that guys throw kicks just because it's part of the drill in their head , and not really part of any specific plan. But i do think a lot of the initial round kicks are to help measure their distance and gauge their opponents timing . Ive only really trained and competed in boxing , so i cant say for sure either...but that's what it looks like to me.

I see guys throw these lackadaisical kicks in the beginning rounds as if they're in a sparring session, or even a muay thai fight..way too relaxed for an MMA fight, imo. There's a few fighters that do it routinely. A good camp would study up and anticipate those kicks
 
I'd love to get the opinions from some people who train on this: what makes guys like Edgar so good at catching kicks and converting them into takedowns, whereas a lot of other fighters just eat leg kicks or try to check them, or at best try to counter them. Hell Edgar will even catch a leg kick, counter with a right hand and still convert it into a take down. Is it a matter of timing and reflexes and reading your opponents tells? or is it something more? I've just always wondered why more fighters don't seem to excel at it like Edgar does.

The way Edgar does it is actually a variation of a Muay Thai catch & sweep, which is expected since one of his coaches is Phil Nurse, a former MT fighter who's coached several fighters including Edgar and GSP. Most fighters just aren't trained to time & catch kicks which you need to be able to do before you can either drive through or sweep the leg, in MMA they train mostly to keep the hands up and check the kick which then leaves their hands out of position to scoop the leg and trap it for the takedown.

Short version is, it's training. In real Muay Thai it's something that everyone trains, every decent fighter knows how to safely block a kick to trap the leg, and then dump the guy or sweep out the support leg. Valentina Shevchenko has used the catch & dump/sweep in pretty much every fight, she did it to Holm and Nunes in MMA and everyone in kickboxing and Muay Thai. Here's Holly getting swept.



But if you want to see truly ridiculous next level shit, you gotta see Saenchai doing his thing in Muay Thai.

 
The way Edgar does it is actually a variation of a Muay Thai catch & sweep, which is expected since one of his coaches is Phil Nurse, a former MT fighter who's coached several fighters including Edgar and GSP. Most fighters just aren't trained to time & catch kicks which you need to be able to do before you can either drive through or sweep the leg, in MMA they train mostly to keep the hands up and check the kick which then leaves their hands out of position to scoop the leg and trap it for the takedown.

Short version is, it's training. In real Muay Thai it's something that everyone trains, every decent fighter knows how to safely block a kick to trap the leg, and then dump the guy or sweep out the support leg. Valentina Shevchenko has used the catch & dump/sweep in pretty much every fight, she did it to Holm and Nunes in MMA and everyone in kickboxing and Muay Thai. Here's Holly getting swept.



But if you want to see truly ridiculous next level shit, you gotta see Saenchai doing his thing in Muay Thai.




Thanks. That's the kind of response I was looking for.
 
Maybe people don't do it more often because they are afraid that in trying to catch leg kicks they will be open to a headkick. Not worth the risk to them.


This^

You've got to drop your arm to catch the leg.........so you gotta be reeeeeeeeeeeally confident it's a low kick they are throwing because if they come up high it could be the end of your night.
 
I'd love to get the opinions from some people who train on this: what makes guys like Edgar so good at catching kicks and converting them into takedowns, whereas a lot of other fighters just eat leg kicks or try to check them, or at best try to counter them. Hell Edgar will even catch a leg kick, counter with a right hand and still convert it into a take down. Is it a matter of timing and reflexes and reading your opponents tells? or is it something more? I've just always wondered why more fighters don't seem to excel at it like Edgar does.

I know Edgar still eats a lot of kicks, so I don't mean to hype him up, but in general he is good at converting them to takedowns, so I thought he was a good example to use.

And yeah, I don't train. Fuck me right?


nZ6npW.gif

It can be quite easy and is one of my favorite takedowns.
 
check kicks and come back with a kick yourself or hold the kick and try to head kick or hall him in for a headstrike.
 
Edgar couldn't do it to Benson.

He couldn't do much after catching the kicks. Why's he good at catching kicks? Elite speed and reflexes. He's obviously a very special fighter to have won a UFC belt in the modern era at his natural weight.
 
It's about training; there's lots of stuff to train in MMA, and as a result fighters have many aspects they're not very good at.
It's about the person; you need a good sense of timing and adequate reflexes. It also depends on how you fight, some will prefer to not catch the kick because if you fail the sweep, you're stuck close range with your opponent
And it's about the opponent; some people throw kicks that are easy to catch, some people throw kicks that are really hard to catch. If your opponent can punish you for the attempts, then you'll be more hesitant to try.
 
Omg so complicated. So many techniques to memorize. Oh no oh noes oh noes oh noessssssssssssssssxxxxsxsxxzzzzzzzzzzzzxggfhugfhjjvgffgffhhv
Noooooòpoooooooooooooooooo
 
Edgar sometimes circles away from the kicking leg, so there is a little more time for the kick to travel, and a slightly bigger opportunity to grab it, and the kick will have less power going in to the leg.
 
Maybe people don't do it more often because they are afraid that in trying to catch leg kicks they will be open to a headkick. Not worth the risk to them.

Yeah, trying to catch leg kicks are risky, can throw you off balance, and open you up to a lot of other strikes if you go for the catch and miss


All very true.

Yeah, TS, you've got to have a ton of faith in your ability to read a particular oppoent's body kicks. I'd go out on a limb and say anyone who tried to catch a Wonderboy kick is making a huge mistake. He's one of the best at the Bill "Superfoot" Wallace-esque deceptive kicking target and he kicks too hard to make that mistake. Wallace wasn't the only guy to do it but he certainly did it well and explained the principles well. Try to catch a Wonderboy kick and there's a significant chance you're getting KOd.

You also have to have a lot of faith in your ability to take the shot since the kick almost always lands before you catch it (if you catch it). You can take some steam off with movement either way by either stepping out so the kick isn't optimal power or stepping in and jamming the kick or again ensuring it's not hitting you at its maximum force.

Kind of a tangent but holy hell is it annoying in sparring when guys catch your kick (because you are pulling it to not fucking injure or KO them) and then they hit a hard counter.

I got to the point where if that happened once, it was game on. Let's see if you can catch this one, shit head - lol. I had no problem with guys practicing catching my kicks and then drilling a counter at normal sparring contact (whatever we HAD BEEN DOING THE WHOLE TIME BEFORE). Dudes get excited but it is usually short-lived.

I'm a kicker, though, so maybe it was just a personal problem.
 
Last edited:
Igor Vochanchyn used to be really great at catching a kick & landing a huge counter right hand.
 
Maybe people don't do it more often because they are afraid that in trying to catch leg kicks they will be open to a headkick. Not worth the risk to them.

/thread
 
The guy who is catching the kicks in a fight wins 90% of the time. Sign of domination
 
Igor Vochanchyn used to be really great at catching a kick & landing a huge counter right hand.
I guess it helps if you are built like a tank and fast as hell!
 
Yeah, trying to catch leg kicks are risky, can throw you off balance, and open you up to a lot of other strikes if you go for the catch and miss

LOL what? No it doesn't. 1) You don't need to keep your hand at your waist to catch a kick 2) a fighter who just threw a low kick can't do anything offensive until he has both feet on the ground again
 
Last edited:
Back
Top