Kicking the forearms is underutilized in MMA

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

Yes, this. Like Couture and Franklin. Dork.

Kicks to the forearms are cool until you get countered or the added time it takes to return the kick gets you taken down, etc.

If you're really good at kickboxing and implementing it in an MMA setting it's a great tool. If you're only kind of good at it, though, kicking waist high and above becomes a huge liability because defending/countering it is much easier than becoming proficient as an offensive MMA striker.

@Luvhawky wants a better explanation, even casuals know that shit bro. I guess he expected too much out of you.

 

[TJ Dillashank]

My thai coach always emphasized on aiming for the forearms when throwing roundhouse kicks. I never really understood how effective it was till I was on the receiving end of them.

In Muay Thai, when someone throws a body kick you can catch, check, counter, dodge or block it. An inexperienced striker will often block a body kick with the elbow/forearm region. An inexperienced kicker can even break his foot landing on an elbow. But the Tibia bone is way bigger and harder than the Radius and the Ulna. Throwing your shin bone full force into your opponent’s arm does damage. You can break an arm pretty easily if landed correctly. I’ve also seen fights where the forearm is so damaged that the fighter has trouble lifting his arm (see video below).

With the calf kick craze going on, I’ve always wondered why we don’t see more fighters aim for the arms. A forearm is like a bitch version of a calf.

Technically speaking, you’re not "aiming" for the forearms. You’re kicking through your opponent, but the kick is targeted at the chest/upper ribs area. It’s an awkward angle, it makes the kick difficult check and catch because it’s high and tricky to dodge cause it’s low. A miscalculated pull back or duck under can lead to a nasty head kick.

Footwork, distance and takedowns make them harder to land in MMA, but I’ve still seen many fights where this kick could’ve been a game changer. It’s very effective for taller fighters and in my opinion, the two best guys to utilize them in MMA is Jones and Adesanya. Honorable mention to Barboza for his nasty switch kick and Darren Till.

See video below for example on how lethal they can be:

Do this to break peoples arms not in sparring tho

 

[aerius]

I'm a Muay Thai coach and this is absolutely true in Muay Thai. Unfortunately, in MMA, it increases the chances of you being taken down. The leg kick is a much lower risk move to damage your opponent's limbs.

I think it's debatable. We see fighters getting taken down off of low kicks in pretty much every UFC card, the generally accepted wisdom is that low kicks are hard to convert into takedowns but it happens on a pretty frequent basis. IMO, low kicks are widely used in MMA because of the fighting range, MMA is usually fought at a longer range than kickboxing or especially Muay Thai and the low kick is the one which can be landed at the longest range with the least commitment. Because of that, it's often perceived as a "safe" strike to throw even though it's fairly easy to catch or block into a takedown.

Kicking into the body or arms requires a setup of some sort to close the range, and frankly most MMA fighters suck at that and badly telegraph their moves. This gives the opponent lots of defensive options, then add in the fact that most MMA fighters suck at kicking and it's not surprising that we don't it too often. Not to mention what happens when a fighter misses kicks; in MMA they often trip over their own feet and/or get way out of position which gives up an easy takedown or counter, it's not like Muay Thai where they keep their balance & control even when they miss kicks.

The above is why I think kicking into the body/arms is rarely done in MMA. But that doesn't mean it isn't a viable strategy, it is. For an example, check out David Teymur vs. Drakkar Klose, you have a Muay Thai fighter going up against a State champion wrestler. Teymur won the fight by kicking right into Klose's arms & body, I haven't watched the fight in a while but I believe most of Teymur's strikes were left kicks.

 

[Grill master]

It's effective, Canelo does it in boxing. Other boxes in the past also target arms.

Also Cung Le broke Frank Shamrock's arms with kicks.

People just don't realize there are a lot more targets on the body instead of the just typical ones that everyone learns and targets.

Canelo's clubbing at his opponents shoulders and forearms should be registered as a punches landed on Compubox. The noise it was making against Kovalev was scary.

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

A well timed front kick as well. It's an easy, quick and devastating kick. It splits also splits the guard and is hard to see coming. Anderson landed one on Vitor and it seems like no one has thrown one since. Machida kinda had one but I'd be popping them out there like jabs.

 

[aroptedi]

there's too much shit to do and shit to worry about in a fight to go for strikes aimed at the forearm.

its easy to fight with 1 arm.

its impossible to fight with 1 leg.

 

[FIghtxIQ]

Canelo's clubbing at his opponents shoulders and forearms should be registered as a punches landed on Compubox. The noise it was making against Kovalev was scary.

I agree because it's not really blocking Canelo's punches, Canelo is purposely targeting the specific area. So Canelo is successfully landing the punches he wants to land on a specific target. It's no different than landing a body shot, or in mma landing a thigh kick.

People target legs, but don't target arms. When the arms are weaker than legs.

 

[Luvhawky]

@Luvhawky wants a better explanation, even casuals know that shit bro. I guess he expected too much out of you.

I’m sorry I upset you with my post; I really was just trying to learn something new.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

I’m sorry I upset you with my post; I really was just trying to learn something new.

I’m just kidding lol

 

[Wariowokecancel]

My thai coach always emphasized on aiming for the forearms when throwing roundhouse kicks. I never really understood how effective it was till I was on the receiving end of them.

In Muay Thai, when someone throws a body kick you can catch, check, counter, dodge or block it. An inexperienced striker will often block a body kick with the elbow/forearm region. An inexperienced kicker can even break his foot landing on an elbow. But the Tibia bone is way bigger and harder than the Radius and the Ulna. Throwing your shin bone full force into your opponent’s arm does damage. You can break an arm pretty easily if landed correctly. I’ve also seen fights where the forearm is so damaged that the fighter has trouble lifting his arm (see video below).

With the calf kick craze going on, I’ve always wondered why we don’t see more fighters aim for the arms. A forearm is like a bitch version of a calf.

Technically speaking, you’re not "aiming" for the forearms. You’re kicking through your opponent, but the kick is targeted at the chest/upper ribs area. It’s an awkward angle, it makes the kick difficult check and catch because it’s high and tricky to dodge cause it’s low. A miscalculated pull back or duck under can lead to a nasty head kick.

Footwork, distance and takedowns make them harder to land in MMA, but I’ve still seen many fights where this kick could’ve been a game changer. It’s very effective for taller fighters and in my opinion, the two best guys to utilize them in MMA is Jones and Adesanya. Honorable mention to Barboza for his nasty switch kick and Darren Till.

See video below for example on how lethal they can be:

Oh wise one. How about when you kick a forearm you’re setting yourself up for a takedown if caught because that is exactly where the... arm is? Unlike a calf or head. Try that shit when you’ve got MMA rules, not Thai boxing you started two weeks ago.

Coach: Well that fucker likes some bullshit called forearm kicks. So step in, catch it, push him over and you’re in half guard and he’s fucked.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

Oh wise one. How about when you kick a forearm you’re setting yourself up for a takedown if caught because that is exactly where the... arm is? Unlike a calf or head. Try that shit when you’ve got MMA rules, not Thai boxing you started two weeks ago.

He was an assistant Muay Thai coach at a major mma gym bro, he held pads for amateur fighters though he never taught this underutilized technique. Do not question this mans expertise.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

He was an assistant Muay Thai coach at a major mma gym bro, he held pads for amateur fighters though he never taught this underutilized technique. Do not question this mans expertise.

At my gym, where KSW and UFC guys came from, we were taught the ‘grab that tucker’s leg technique’ pretty quick as part of Takedown 101.

 

[Blobtheblobfish]

I think Dustin Poirier mentioned that Dan Hooker purposely did this in their fight and it hurt his arms like hell.

There's probably some other instances too so I don't doubt they aren't effective, but I don't think its some silver bullet that will change MMA. Even if we ignore takedowns from a caught kick/lack of balance from a kick (which is still a big deal), the opponents stance is important too. We see a ton of variety of stances in MMA but for the most part fighters lean forward at least a little bit on their front leg ideally to sprawl quickly. As opposed to Muay Thai which is more upright, its kinda hard to throw a kick when bent over. Now of course, there's plenty of head kick ko's so its not as if you can't generate power/change stance. Some MMA fighters do get away with being very upright (Isreal and Giga come to mind). Still, the potential to land a fight ending blow with a well place head kick is much higher than a forearm kick and since kicks are typically risky, I can see why its not used as much. Plus, MMA fighters aren't solely training KB. I really wonder if the modern MMA fighter can have the same "kick" cardio as a Muay Thai fighter because a lot of MMA fights I see, fighters typically gas out quickly with throwing haymaker roundhouse kicks or are very conservative with their kicks (again, Israel and Giga come to mind, even Rockhold).

Also, Saki vs Roundtree comes to mind. I followed Saki in K1 but damn, that sort of scenario happens all the time in MMA so again, do a less risky move with a leg kick that might still get you ko'ed, or do a forearm kick with about the same chance of risk with less chance of it being a damaging shot.

 

[TheTickG]

LHW Champ Forest knew this strategy.

 

[Hollywood Jack]

My thai coach always emphasized on aiming for the forearms when throwing roundhouse kicks. I never really understood how effective it was till I was on the receiving end of them.

In Muay Thai, when someone throws a body kick you can catch, check, counter, dodge or block it. An inexperienced striker will often block a body kick with the elbow/forearm region. An inexperienced kicker can even break his foot landing on an elbow. But the Tibia bone is way bigger and harder than the Radius and the Ulna. Throwing your shin bone full force into your opponent’s arm does damage. You can break an arm pretty easily if landed correctly. I’ve also seen fights where the forearm is so damaged that the fighter has trouble lifting his arm (see video below).

With the calf kick craze going on, I’ve always wondered why we don’t see more fighters aim for the arms. A forearm is like a bitch version of a calf.

Technically speaking, you’re not "aiming" for the forearms. You’re kicking through your opponent, but the kick is targeted at the chest/upper ribs area. It’s an awkward angle, it makes the kick difficult check and catch because it’s high and tricky to dodge cause it’s low. A miscalculated pull back or duck under can lead to a nasty head kick.

Footwork, distance and takedowns make them harder to land in MMA, but I’ve still seen many fights where this kick could’ve been a game changer. It’s very effective for taller fighters and in my opinion, the two best guys to utilize them in MMA is Jones and Adesanya. Honorable mention to Barboza for his nasty switch kick and Darren Till.

See video below for example on how lethal they can be:

Guys get hit on their forearms all the time and it generally does less damage than to the legs. Damaging the legs pays dividends to a much larger extent. Even in the rare instances where we've seen guys get broken arms from getting kicked, they've actually gone on to WIN the fight. By FINISH. I.E. Randy against Gonzaga and Rich against Chuck. You damage a guy's leg and it changes the complexion of the fight. But guys can gut through a damaged arm to a much larger extent. Hence why leg kicks have been a large part of the game and now we're seeing the low calf kicks which are even harder to deal with.

 

[WHITEBELT JESUS]

Surprised this technique isn't use more along with nut stomps.

 

[corrupted]

Some of you guys don't understand how big the downsides are for kicking in MMA

I came here to say this. A mid level or high kick if defended well leaves you very open to being taken down. It's literally the kryptonite of kickers in MMA.

 

[spinup]

Volkov broke Hardy's right wrist with a high kick in the first round. Before that, Hardy had some success landing his right but the fight was basically a wrap form that point.

 

[Bilzerian]

Zabit broke his opponent's arm with forearm-aimed kicking

 

[HaulParris]

Here’s a more competitive example of body kicking being successful against a pressure fighter.
Rottang (blue) vs Petdam (red) is an epic Muay Thai fight, rounds 3 and 4 is a must watch.

Thank You for the recommendation!