Who are the best leg kickers all time?

[Ibm]

Aldo. Poatan

 

[snaportap21]

For all that some number of people love to yammer about the side/front kick to the knee being so brutally effective it's unfair, none of them ever comes into these threads to call the practitioners of those kicks the greatest of leg kickers. Are these kicks that effective, or do some people just like to find excuses to complain about their disfavored fighters?

People tend to overrate how destructive those kicks are. Not a single career has been ended by it. The kick isn't even the most difficult to defend. It's not tough to take the effectiveness away from the strike. The kick is only truly effective against bladed stances, and people that plod forward in a flat footed manner. Otherwise it's more a distance manager than anything.

 

[Trabaho]

I would argue it's called low kick.

Best is probably Ernesto Hoost. That's K1 though.

 

[LoopingRight]

Check this one....trip down memory lane...

Good call. I haven't thought about this fight in ages.

Although I might still argue that although leg kicks brought him down that the finish was ultimately by ground and pound.

 

[LoopingRight]

Check this one....trip down memory lane...

Good call. I haven't thought about this fight in ages.

Although I might still argue that although leg kicks brought him down that the finish was ultimately by ground and pound.

You've never seen a HW fighter win with low kicks prior to Pat Barry? You're missing out on some classic victories from legends of the sport. Marco Ruas beat Paul Varelans with low kicks at UFC 7 and then his student Pedro Rizzo beat Dan Severn with low kicks at UFC 27.

Both classics. If I remember correctly though, weren't the leg kicks in those fights used to set up the finish as opposed to being the finishing blows themselves?

 

[H41ph_84k3d]

I have Pedro Rizzo, Young Aldo, Thiago Alves & Edson Barboza.
Who am I missing?

View attachment 1080214

Smith?

 

[BangBang]

Pereira for his impossible to read right 'no tell' sweep kick

Jones for his obkique kick

Gaethje for his calf kicks

Barboza

Aldo

 

[moreorless87]

Arona perhaps underrated, they didnt always look pretty but they were effective and made up about 90% of his offence standing looking to bait people into trying to rush him down at which point he went for a takedown.

 

[Bullitt68]

Both classics. If I remember correctly though, weren't the leg kicks in those fights used to set up the finish as opposed to being the finishing blows themselves?

You're remembering incorrectly. Ruas dropped Varelans and then did a little follow-up GNP to prove to BJM that Varelans quit, and then Rizzo just kicked Severn so hard that he flagged BJM and quit with no follow-up shots needed.

Arona perhaps underrated, they didnt always look pretty but they were effective and made up about 90% of his offence standing looking to bait people into trying to rush him down at which point he went for a takedown.

That fight with Rampage is fucking brutal. Rampage has talked so many times of how hard Arona kicked and how much those low kicks hurt, and every time I rewatch that fight I'm shocked all over again how hard Arona was hitting him and how Rampage kept taking them. He also sent Wand flying with a huge low kick in their first fight.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

Remember that Hardonk guy?

Too bad he was mediocre at everything else…

 

[moreorless87]

That fight with Rampage is fucking brutal. Rampage has talked so many times of how hard Arona kicked and how much those low kicks hurt, and every time I rewatch that fight I'm shocked all over again how hard Arona was hitting him and how Rampage kept taking them. He also sent Wand flying with a huge low kick in their first fight.

The dim mak lowkick vs Reem as well.

 

[Beastslayer47]

Izzy

 

[VAfan]

antoni hardonk has to be on the list. he repeatedly finished guys with leg kicks alone.

 

[EnthusiastCultivator]

Izzy deserves a mention too, he broke Paulo Costa with leg kicks and battered Romero’s leg to a victory.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Manhoef power was insane, imagine if he had a better chin...

Robbie was getting brutally, and flawlessly destroyed - one hail Mary, and a few fights later he was UFC champ... Crazy.

Better chin, better fight IQ and maybe a ground game in MMA.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

Probably not Cerrone but he's worth a mention. Could have finished Eddie with leg kicks if he made him stand back up.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

Gaethje has done his fair share of damage to opponents, especially pre-UFC… IIRC has a few stoppages from actually cutting people down.

 

[Pilo]

Saw this thread title and came to say Pedro Rizzo, but obviously, TS is an educated MMA fan.

Other names include Bas Rutten, Jose Aldo, Justin Gaethje, Edson Barboza

 

[Pilo]

Ruas, Ruas, Ruas!

The original RVT tree chopper.

 

[Eater of Souls]

Pat Barry needs to be mentioned.

First HW fights in the UFC I've seen stopped by leg kicks.

Was going to mention him because he had been missed so far. Great leg kicks, not enough of anything else.