This is why leg kicks aren't really effective.

[VERBAL-FEDOR]

Nice leg kick by Irvin.

Andy looks juiced up....nice counter on the Sandman

 

[kflo]

While I don't disagree, it isn't really the same thing. A leg kick is one of the few moves where you are more likely to be finished throwing it than finish your opponent throwing it.

Your opponent can never finish you by blocking your jab, but can break your leg by checking your leg kick

because a broken leg from a check happens about 0.0001% of the time...

 

[Gigaton Punch]

I get the feeling that the effectiveness of leg kicks is a bit overrated within the MMA community and Gaethje vs Poirier is the most recent example of this. The commentators were all over Gaethje leg kicks and that "this is taking away all the power and step in Poirer's striking" but it did not look like it when he ended the fight. Leg kicks is for many a very important technique to have in your arsenal but they should be used to set something else up. There are very few fights where you can see the effectiveness of leg kicks while pretty much every time a couple of leg kicks land you hear that they are going to have a tremendous impact on the rest of the fight. Gaethje strategy in using leg kicks was wise though, it's just that he always leaves himself open to getting punched in the face in every encounter.

Dustin had a quote after the fight where he said that he was very happy he finished the fight when he did cause he would have been in trouble if he took the leg kicks for another round.
I do agree the commentators were overselling them a tad though, mostly cause they made it seem like Dustin was losing the fight cause of them when he clearly won the first 2 rounds and round 3 was a draw cause of the point deduction.

 

[revoltub]

because a broken leg from a check happens about 0.0001% of the time...

How often are fighters finished by a leg kick?

 

[Judoka1532]

I would throw a lot of leg kicks in fights before my coach told me to scrap that and focus on my better weapons.

I asked him why and he said: "Unless you have the power to finish a guy with leg kicks, you should focus on other strikes that will do more damage. A leg kick can easily be checked and even if you are a heavy leg kicker, it's very hard to finish a high level opponent with it and easy to get countered".

Unless you have Barboza type leg kick power, it should be used to set-up high kicks or sweeps. Leg kicking is a long term investment in a fight, you rarely see people finishing guys with it in the first or second round. The longer it goes, the higher your chances are for a counter.

Before Sherdog crucifies me for dissing leg kicks, I'm not. It's a great weapon, but it's a weapon that rarely finishes fights. It should be used to get your opponent thinking. You hurt him a bit, get him thinking low and you start going high. When he knows you are going high, go low again..etc etc etc.

Kinda of feel like what you said is contradictory bro. The title says "why leg kicks are not effective" Then you said "it's a great weapon" No disrespect, but that doesn't make sense.

Also, leg kicks can be effective and ineffective. I think it's a fight-by-fight basis. I'm not an mma fighter so I can't say from experience. Just from watching multiple fights. In Gaethje's case, the leg kicks were working. Obviously it didn't end well for Gaethje, but they were effective kicks and started to take a toll. For other fighters, sometimes it's just used to land and score points. And other's it's just to keep the other fighter at bay.

 

[prospero]

I don't know why people are posting pictures of counters. Any punch or kick thrown can be countered. Leg kicks are effective and do finish fights, but even if they don't finish fights they impact fights. You work on someones legs and it opens them up, takes away their effective movement and power.

I am surprised as an amateur with 22 fights in MT and kickboxing you or your trainer dismiss them so easily. I have been to lots of amateur MT events where I have seen fights finished with leg kicks, or if not finished directly have basically hurt the fighter that much that they haven't been able to fight to their ability. If leg kicks were not effective its simple no one would use them.

Also the men and women in the UFC are the elite the best in the world and hard as nails they are taking leg kicks and working through accumulated damage that would finish off a lot of people.

 

[DatSamboKid]

Kinda of feel like what you said is contradictory bro. The title says "why leg kicks are not effective" Then you said "it's a great weapon" No disrespect, but that doesn't make sense.

Also, leg kicks can be effective and ineffective. I think it's a fight-by-fight basis. I'm not an mma fighter so I can't say from experience. Just from watching multiple fights. In Gaethje's case, the leg kicks were working. Obviously it didn't end well for Gaethje, but they were effective kicks and started to take a toll. For other fighters, sometimes it's just used to land and score points. And other's it's just to keep the other fighter at bay.

Yes I agree, I should’ve worded my point in a better way. I was just try to say that for most fighters, low kicking shouldn’t be used as a fight finishing strike. It’s easy to defend and easy to counter. Low kicks should mostly be used to trick your opponent and set them up for a finishing blow.

 

[DatSamboKid]

I don't know why people are posting pictures of counters. Any punch or kick thrown can be countered. Leg kicks are effective and do finish fights, but even if they don't finish fights they impact fights. You work on someones legs and it opens them up, takes away their effective movement and power.

I am surprised as an amateur with 22 fights in MT and kickboxing you or your trainer dismiss them so easily. I have been to lots of amateur MT events where I have seen fights finished with leg kicks, or if not finished directly have basically hurt the fighter that much that they haven't been able to fight to their ability. If leg kicks were not effective its simple no one would use them.

Also the men and women in the UFC are the elite the best in the world and hard as nails they are taking leg kicks and working through accumulated damage that would finish off a lot of people.

It’s a weapon that should be used if it works for you and for a lot of people it doesn’t work as much as one would think. I’ve gotten my leg battered many times, but leg kicking is easy to adjust to. When he slams his chin in your thigh, you just need to understand his pattern and lift the leg or counter him when he is going for it. One can say thats the case for every strike and in a way it is, but just one good check can hurt a guy if his shins aren’t conditioned.

 

[muaythaibeast]

How often are fighters finished by a leg kick?

It isn't about chasing a 1 kick finish, its about wearing a guy down over the course of a fight.
How often are guys finished by body shots?
If nothing else, if you can land a few decent leg kicks, its something your opponent has to think about. That opens up opportunities to work other things.

 

[prospero]

It’s a weapon that should be used if it works for you and for a lot of people it doesn’t work as much as one would think. I’ve gotten my leg battered many times, but leg kicking is easy to adjust to. When he slams his chin in your thigh, you just need to understand his pattern and lift the leg or counter him when he is going for it. One can say thats the case for every strike and in a way it is, but just one good check can hurt a guy if his shins aren’t conditioned.

But I guess this applies to anything you use what you are good at. If you are a great kicker, puncher, wrestler you are going to use what you are good at, and yes it depends on your opponent and how stuff is being setup. If your opponent can read you and check your kicks you cant throw them and be effective or what happened to anderson could be the outcome, but if you can faint get them twitchy then you are going to be able to effectively throw them.

I think this can be said of any technique if you are throwing something and the guy opposite you can read, block, counter its not going to be effective.

Basically the subject is use what you can use effectively against your opponent so guess there are two many variables for a definitive one fits all answer but I would still argue leg kicking is very effective if done properly.. just like anything else

 

[revoltub]

It isn't about chasing a 1 kick finish, its about wearing a guy down over the course of a fight.
How often are guys finished by body shots?
If nothing else, if you can land a few decent leg kicks, its something your opponent has to think about. That opens up opportunities to work other things.

Guys are finished from body shots a lot actually they are just underutilized

 

[Russie]

they can be an effective part of an arsenal. Leg kicks solely not a good idea. It also goes back to who is throwing those kicks and against who. As we know there are some lame attempts out there from guys throwing leg kicks.

 

[kflo]

How often are fighters finished by a leg kick?

i've seen more fights both finished by leg kick or greatly influenced by leg kicks than checked kicks. i'm not sure what you're arguing...

 

[Ilovepizza]

meh ... maybe thats just me, but why dont more mma/ufc fighters check leg kicks? its easy/simple

 

[Aforo88]

I would throw a lot of leg kicks in fights before my coach told me to scrap that and focus on my better weapons.

I asked him why and he said: "Unless you have the power to finish a guy with leg kicks, you should focus on other strikes that will do more damage. A leg kick can easily be checked and even if you are a heavy leg kicker, it's very hard to finish a high level opponent with it and easy to get countered".

Unless you have Barboza type leg kick power, it should be used to set-up high kicks or sweeps. Leg kicking is a long term investment in a fight, you rarely see people finishing guys with it in the first or second round. The longer it goes, the higher your chances are for a counter.

Before Sherdog crucifies me for dissing leg kicks, I'm not. It's a great weapon, but it's a weapon that rarely finishes fights. It should be used to get your opponent thinking. You hurt him a bit, get him thinking low and you start going high. When he knows you are going high, go low again..etc etc etc.

I suggest you spar With a leg kicker and decide for ur self. Fighting is about small margines, dont be so sure a right cross KO didnt present it self because of the leg work that has been done earlier in a fight. We also se leg kicks being used to set up a high kick to the head and weve seen it results in KOs many many many times.

 

[DatSamboKid]

I suggest you spar With a leg kicker and decide for ur self. Fighting is about small margines, dont be so sure a right cross KO didnt present it self because of the leg work that has been done earlier in a fight. We also se leg kicks being used to set up a high kick to the head and weve seen it results in KOs many many many times.

Don’t worry about who I spar, worry about reading all my post.

 

[Anothermind]

Wow. Jabs rarely knock guys out, so boxers should stop throwing them...

Completely different in their uses. Body shots are probably a more analogous attack and boxers don't throw nearly as many of those as they should.

 

[Zorrox]

Not utilizing leg kicks is like showing up to work as a mechanic without a screwdriver. It's not necessarily the ultimate technique, but if the scenario calls for it you are going to be seriously lacking.

 

[ChoKuRei]

Everything should be a set up. Punches leading to more punches, kicks leading to punches, elbows leading to knees, whatever.

If you are going into it thinking “I’ll finish him with leg kicks! I’ll land a left hook off the clinch! I’ll drop him with a bodyshot!!”

I feel like that’s foolish. Touch and move, set everything up. That’s why diverse strikers are so effective. Nobody knows what’s coming

 

[Alphafail]

I've never trained in any martial arts that use them or been leg kicked myself, but everyone that I've talked to with experience say that the thing with them is that they HURT like hell. You might not feel the first few ones but once they start piling up you feel a crippling pain and can barely move your legs.