Have you ever wondered who would win a proverbial ass kicking contest between, an NFL kicker, an MLS soccer player, or a professional Muay Thai kick boxer? Of course you have, we all have. Well the good folks over at ESPN’s Sports Science have heard our telepathic cries, rounded up a couple of willing participants, strapped them up with expensive scientific gadgets, and amassed the data for us to absorb, then promptly regurgitate to our friends (i.e. strangers on the internet) as if we crunched the numbers and collected the facts by ourselves. Yes, the people down at Sports Science are awesome. I digress.
In the video, 3 subjects are tested for kicking force. The NFL kicker, scoring the lowest of the triad, clocked in at only 200 pounds of force. Coming in second with 250 pounds of force on his kick, was the Major League Soccer player. While only 50 pounds of force separated the American football player, and the rest of the world football player, the professional Muay Thai fighter, Melchor Menor, simply left both of them in the dust. Mel’s kick registered more than 500 pounds higher than his competitions did, landing at 770 pounds of force!
Sports Science Scientist wanted to see if that would be enough for to kick through an ash baseball bat. They calculated that it would require 740 pounds of force to snap a bat. Assuming that Melchor would be able to recreate the 770 pounds of the first kick, he should have no trouble being able to break the bat. He winds up and successfully swings through like an axe. In an effort to up the ante, the swapped out the ash bat for one made of maple, which is the more commonly preferred bat of the majors. Menor has little trouble adjusting to the harder maple bat, throwing a low kick that generates 1,000 pounds of force, causing the maple bat to tap faster than Sage in a half guard arm triangle. Seriously, they should rename it the Von Fluke Choke. I digress…
Melchor’s ability to snap bats with his shins actually landed him a guest spot on TUF 18, when Miesha Tate invited him down to the gym to show her team his skills!
