Mixed martial arts remains in a state of growth. One of the techniques spreading is what UFC commentator Joe Rogan termed ‘The Oblique Kick’. It was popularized by multiple fighters from Jackson Wink MMA.
The latest fighter to publicly speak out against them is Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, who suffered a torn MCL due to Darren Till’s kicks at UFC Fight Night 130 on May 27, in Liverpool, England.
Till responded in an interview with the combat sports management firm MTK Global.
I saw the interview he did,” began Till. “If he wants leg kicks banned, why don’t we ban spinning head-kicks to the face while we’re at it? I was not trying to hurt his knee. I was trying to deaden his leg to stop him using it. That was my strategy.
I know he’s had surgery on his left knee and I was not trying to cause him another injury in that area but this is a fight and we’re in the most brutal sport in the world. In my opinion, you can’t really come out and say you want this thing banned or that thing banned.
If a rematch with Thompson is what the UFC want me to do, I’ll do the rematch. If he wants another fight, it’ll be the different this time. I’ll be much stronger. If he wants it, he can have it. I’m not one for turning down a fight – especially not a rematch.
The spread of the kick is largely due to coach Mike Winkeljohn, who held world titles in Muay Thai and kickboxing, but is also a 5th-degree black belt in Kenpo karate, a self-defense oriented system that he learned under Bill Packer. Kenpo employs many kicks to the knee, and Jackson/Winkeljohn fighters including former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Alistair Overeem have used them in fights.
When Jon Jones was criticized for oblique kicking Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackosn and others, Winkeljohn answered the critics.
I definitely have my fighters throw a front kick to the knee, said the coach to Jack Slack for BE. I see it as a very legit technique and not nearly as dangerous as punching or kicking someone in the head. I believe it is starting to add a new dynamic to the game because fighters have to worry about their base being taken out of their attacks even more than before. I also would rather have dinner in twenty years with a fighter who limps into the restaurant than with the fighter who can’t remember his own name, because he never stopped his opponent’s striking advances. The knee joint is very strong if people know how to defend that kick properly.
The issue with oblique kicks is not so much that they are dirty, as that they are new. Submissions in professional MMA need not be applied to get a tap as they are by rule in grappling and BJJ; instead, they can be applied to break the joint. There is nothing inherently different between try to injure a joint with a joint lock, and trying to injure it with a kick.
