Was it a rules experimentation when Mark Coleman got head kicked by a shoe wearing dude?

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The first UFCs only allowed fighters to wear shoes if they weren't going to kick. Both Kenny Shamrock and Dan Severn took the opportunity to not kick and instead wear shoes to get a better grip on the floor

However, there is proof of shoe wearing guys later on that kicked ...


Screenshot_20250101-065342.png

How long did the UFC allow fighters to kick in shoes? Was it banned the same time as gloves became mandatory?
 
Contempt said:
Somehow... I don't think the shoe made all that much difference there.
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You weren't allowed to kick with shoes originally. The reason I believe is because that allows you to kick with the top of the foot and that is very dangerous. And before y'all go savate on my ass,, Most savate competions are mostly semi contact. And they are point based. Sort of like amateur boxing
 
Intermission said:
The first UFCs only allowed fighters to wear shoes if they weren't going to kick. Both Kenny Shamrock and Dan Severn took the opportunity to not kick and instead wear shoes to get a better grip on the floor

However, there is proof of shoe wearing guys later on that kicked ...


View attachment 1078114

How long did the UFC allow fighters to kick in shoes? Was it banned the same time as gloves became mandatory?
Click to expand...
They were really testing how much brain damage one can deliver with shoes, and here's the result

methodgetsmark-coleman-fail-gif.webp
 
Wasn't there some kind of rule were you could kick if you were wearing specialist wrestling shoes? basically shoes without metal or anything dangerous around the laces.
 
Not sure if you could tell from that one pic, but it wasn't exactly the first kick he landed that night.

Whatever the exact rules were, it was clearly established he could kick.
 
Well, technically it was against the rules, but giving a DQ "win" to a guy who just got KO'd and was supposed to face Couture that night would have killed both Mark's momentum even more than a loss and Pete Williams' as well.

Edit: No unified rules meant they were dependent on where the fights were taking place, at UFC 17 kicking someone in the face with shoes wasn't illegal.

Everyone just sort of collectively shrugged and thought Pete deserved the win anyway.

Fun fact, this was the event where Jeff Blatnik, Olympic gold medalist, coined the term "Mixed Martial Arts."

Blatnick is a guy that deserves more recognition than he gets.

Another fun fact, outside of Gordeau/Tuli, which technically finished after a punch, this was the first pure headkick KO in the UFC.

As yoked and roided as Coleman was here, the Lion's Den conditioning coach Dan Freeman who is seen getting in the ring celebrating (he looks kind of like Shamrock) is just HUGE
16:13
 
Last edited:
Intermission said:
That's insane..they still let him win
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Well, half true, as I was only half right as I did some more reading.

There were no unified rules at the time, so it was dependent on where the event was taking place. If it were UFC 16 or 18, Pete would have been DQ'd, but at 17, it wasn't a rule that you couldn't kick someone in the head with shoes.

 However, this fight is widely cited as the reason that rule was made permanent.
 
WoozyFailGuy said:
Well, technically it was against the rules, but giving a DQ "win" to a guy who just got KO'd and was supposed to face Couture that night would have killed both Mark's momentum even more than a loss and Pete Williams' as well.

Edit: No unified rules meant they were dependent on where the fights were taking place, at UFC 17 kicking someone in the face with shoes wasn't illegal.

Everyone just sort of collectively shrugged and thought Pete deserved the win anyway.

Fun fact, this was the event where Jeff Blatnik, Olympic gold medalist, coined the term "Mixed Martial Arts."

Blatnick is a guy that deserves more recognition than he gets.

Another fun fact, outside of Gordeau/Tuli, which technically finished after a punch, this was the first pure headkick KO in the UFC.

As yoked and roided as Coleman was here, the Lion's Den conditioning coach Dan Freeman who is seen getting in the ring celebrating (he looks kind of like Shamrock) is just HUGE
16:13
Click to expand...

Lol Ken brought him as a coach on tuf 3..
 
WoozyFailGuy said:
Well, half true, as I was only half right as I did some more reading.

There were no unified rules at the time, so it was dependent on where the event was taking place. If it were UFC 16 or 18, Pete would have been DQ'd, but at 17, it wasn't a rule that you couldn't kick someone in the head with shoes.

 However, this fight is widely cited as the reason that rule was made permanent.
Click to expand...
I'm sure I seen heaps of fighters kicking with shoes on. Merger, Tito, Telliman all come to mind. Eugine Jackson, Tim Lajic (sp) all wore shoes
 
Intermission said:
Fun fact

They did a soccer study and found that players kicked MUCH harder when they kicked the ball with their shoes on.
Click to expand...
Completely different thing than fighters who have conditioned their shins to cave dudes skulls in. Also wasn't against the rules at the event, things were just all over the place for a good while as far as rules were concerned. Severn and Shamrock weren't allowed to punch each other with a closed fist per the rules of their rematch, if they did they would receive a fine.
 
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