The potential banning of oblique kicks in MMA has been a hot topic as of late.
California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster has explained why he supports banning the strike, which former two-division UFC champion Jon Jones frequently used and which others have since adopted.
No recent example has prompted Foster to focus on this technique. However, Michael Page recently landed the technique in an otherwise uneventful fight against Nursulton Ruziboev, which required surgery. Foster views the kick as unnecessary and too dangerous, and would rather get ahead of it in the interest of long-term fighter safety. UFC CEO Dana White agrees that it should be removed.
"I think it's time. I think that there are more risks than we should
require our fighters to have to deal with to participate in mixed martial arts," Foster said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "This is a kick that has a long healing time. It can really have a lifelong effect. Fighters have a short window, and at some point, they're gonna be done with this. ...
"This kick, it got its name for that oblique ligament in the back of the knee. You essentially get the unhappy triad or whatever, as the doctors call it. You bust all of those ligaments at once if this thing lands right. Somebody could have a lifelong injury from this, that they're gonna deal with way after this is over. It's not worth it. I don't think the public loses anything if this kick is banned. There's plenty of other techniques if you're using it for distance. Unfortunately, I think a lot of the fighters, at least the ones that use it, I think the idea is to basically hyperextend the knee and bust these ligaments to win that way. I think that's what it's for."
Foster, widely regarded as the most influential among MMA commissions, says the plan is to put the oblique kick to a vote soon to see whether other regulators agree that it should be removed. That technique is one of many items on Foster's upcoming agenda. He also aims to address eyepokes, given recent severe outcomes such as former UFC champion Tom Aspinall, who has been unable to compete even after multiple surgeries following a bad eye poke in his fight against Ciryl Gane.
While Foster believes the correct rules are already in place, the issue of enforcement remains. He believes the only way to truly force fighters to unlearn the poor behaviors is to take points more frequently.
"We're gonna fix the eye pokes as well, or try to," Foster said. "You're gonna see some more enforcement. You'll see the unintentional/intentional being changed to incidental, reckless or malicious. I think that's coming, and the referees will start taking points very much more often for the eye pokes."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: CSAC's Andy Foster explains why he wants oblique kicks removed from MMA
