Don't call it a comeback (karate in UFC) adesanya, GSP, Jones, crocop?

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As a kid growing up in Hawaii and South Africa I absolutely loved fighting karate (Ashihara/Kyokushin)
...in the 80s karate dominated

Later on I discovered Muay Thai and thought it was the coolest thing ever until MMA hit in 1993

Clearly Muay Thai dominated the late 80s and early 90s and I would suggest it is considered the ultimate striking style for MMA.

I think that's why it's so interesting to see fighting karate style kicking making a big comeback.

GSP, Israel Adesanya, Mirko Cro Cop, Jon Jones plus Lyoto Machida just to name a few use a karate style kicking techniques.

This is most evident in the way they plant their base foot.

Muay Thai teachers athletes to rise up on the ball of the foot throughout the entire kicking process.





In contrast karate and taekwondo
keep a flat base foot with the heel usually on the floor or with a tiny raise on big pivots.





So is karate/taekwondo [non muaythai striking] making a UFC comeback or are these athletes just using a hybrid style of Muay Thai kicking modified for MMA?

who else kicks like this in the UFC??
 
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Crocop is TaeKwonDo, Jones is Gaidojutsu and Israel has no belt in karate.
Its like saying any fighter that throws a jab is a boxer.
Only GSP and Machida on that list are Karateka's
 
Crocop did tkd/karate as kid, but for his whole career his striking was kickboxing
 
Cejudo and Whittaker are a karate fighter too.
Cejudo is not, he recently started using certain aspects but has no background
Adesanya is not a karate fighter, he’s a kick boxer
Lol at Chuck Liddell
 
Cejudo is not, he recently started using certain aspects but has no background
Adesanya is not a karate fighter, he’s a kick boxer
Lol at Chuck Liddell
Cejudo doesn't have a karate background but his current striking style and stance is karate.
 
Crocop is TaeKwonDo, Jones is Gaidojutsu and Israel has no belt in karate.
Its like saying any fighter that throws a jab is a boxer.
Only GSP and Machida on that list are Karateka's

You don’t need a belt to kick like a particular karate style though.
 
Wasn't "Tippy toes/Standing tall" Penn some type of Karate discipline as well?
 
Cejudo is not, he recently started using certain aspects but has no background
Adesanya is not a karate fighter, he’s a kick boxer
Lol at Chuck Liddell

Israel has a taekwondo background....
 
I think Karate was overlooked for a long time and most MMA fighters are too adapted to defend/expect muay thai style striking and that's why more and more fighters have success with Karate striking now. I enjoy the comeback and hope that Karate establishes itself in MMA. I love the Blitz style of Wonderboy and Cejudo is also very good at it.
 
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