Why aren't more TKD style kicks used in the ufc?

[pineapple]

You don't see too many high kicks in UFC simply because the competitors are worried about their legs being caught by their opponents and being taken to the ground in a bad position. You do see a lot of leg kicks where the opportunity for people to grab their legs are minimal.

[mai tai]

I'd like to see more kicks

then watch a karate movie

seriously high kicks are not all that effective in real life. low kicks are much safer.

that is not to say that they are useless the is a time and place for a high kick. i ended my first nhb match with one. i had shot for a leg and he sprawled when it looked like i was not going to get the takedown i pushed him off and fired a high kick, didnt knock him out but stuned him, then i kneed him in the face as he fell i kicked him in the head again.(this was boarder line on dirty (well on second thought it was down right dirty)). but i was real excited and he had been beating me bad and i dint want to give him another chance.

plus you get oos and ahhs from the crowd when you land them

[tsdshep]

you got it rong highkick is used a lot in ufc and pride and kotc and gc but a tkd highkick is not its just too looping and teligraphed> hell i have seen chuck lidel end fights with a high kick and miriko crocop frank shamrock.Pat millitach.sammy shiltz.But not a tks highkick with chuck and miriko it was a tie roundkick smmy it was kyoshoken round kick and pat it was a frount high snap kick frank it was push kick too the face

[mai tai]

dont forget pete williams high kick to mark coleman.

yes they happen but for evey high kick thrown there are alot more punchs and lowkicks. they just arnt as memorable

[Rich_2k3]

I saw a fight yesterday between Chuck Lidel and somthing "iceman". There wasnt any grappling and it ended in a KO. There were a few kicks but mostly punches and a few chlinches.

[ysc87]

because in the ufc, they are trained to see ANY opening and take the opponent down. but, TKD is an effective martial art, and i still can't figure out why everyone assumes all TKD kicks will go for the head.

[mai tai]

the iceman is chuck lidells nickname

thee "IIIIIceman chuck liiiiidelllllll"

[unknown]

I understand that mid-level front and side kick's have fairly easily defenses, but in the UFCs I have seen, no one has ever gone for a kick to the face of their opponent.

Considering that such an attack should turn the fight drastically in your favor, I am confused that I have never even seen a fighter attempt it in the 5 or so UFCs that I have watched.

I'm trying to pick a few styles to learn right now, this question puzzled me because of the power of kicks.

First off, most MMA fighters come from predominantly wrestling and/or grappling backgrounds - they have limited striking experience. So they are not going to go for a head kick in a MMA fight. A good grappler or wrestler will take a guy throwing a head kick with ease so if you are not a good kicker it is unwise to throw a head kick in a MMA fight.

How ever I've seen a few head head kicks thrown in MMA. Guys like Frank Shamrock, Chuck Liddell, Guy Mezger, Yuki Kondo have all thrown head kicks. I've even seen Tito Ortiz throw a head kick when he fought Randy Coture.

[Straight Blast]

Ive never seen a tkd practitioner in the ufc before,but ive seen a handful in k-1.

Main reason for not using high kicks(but ive seen a few high thai kicks executed before) is because then your clear open for the opponent to shoot in on you.Hit them or not,they'll get you on the ground.

[Gumbi]

2. Because of the nature of the UFC it favors grapplers. Rules like you can't kick the down opponent make it difficult for ture strikers to enter it. If you watch Pride or K1 you see much more kicking.

4. Those in the UFC are grapplers more so than strikers. Gracie, Shamrock, Couture, Frye, even Belfore and Ortiz are grapplers first always. They are the best in the world at it and not many strickers much less kickers want to try and beat them at their own game. They would rather fight in the K1 or Pride where they are the top dog.

Ignore these two statements.

Champ, Im going to ask politely that you not make generalizations about mixed martial arts fighting competitions that you obviously dont know enough about. Mixed Martial Arts in its current state favors strikers, not grapplers.

No elbows, rounds, time limits, frequent standups, no headbutts, and kneeing the head of a downed opponent are the restrictions against grapplers. Kicking a downed opponent is the only thing that particularly hurts strikers more than grapplers.

Just because the top fighters in the world happen to be grapplers does not mean that the tournaments favor grapplers- fighting in its natrual state favors grappling.

Say what you want about Belfort, hes a striker first, grappler second. He was a blue belt when he entered his first UFC, and there was nothing Jiu Jitsu like about his left right combinations that knocked opponents senseless.

As to why the better strikers fight in Pride, its not because the rules are in their favor, or because they're the top dog- its because these fighters are often coming out of K-1 which is the most popular sporting event in Japan. K-1 in Japan is the equivalent of Basketball or Football in the USA. More fans over there

The last UFC I was at had somewhere around 5,000 in attendence at the Taj Mahal. The last Pride I saw on PPV has somewhere around 50,000. This means Pride has more money to go after the top K-1 fighters- a good investment, since being a K-1 champ has already elevated your status in Japan. Would you rather make $80,000 fighting in the UFC or $150,000 fighting in Japan?

Oh and if you want to see the best Front kick ever, I suggest you watch UFC 6 Pat Smith vs Rudyard Moncayo

Let me finish this off by saying that its really not right to limit guys into "striker" or "grappler" categories in modern MMA. Very few fighters match that pure desciption (Cro Cop and Hunt are definately strikers, Yoshida and Coleman are definately grapplers). So many people now are cross training and are quite adept at all areas of fighting.

Nogueira, known for his great ground game, has won fights by knockouts.

Fedor, known for his great takedowns and ground and pound, has won many fights with his often overlooked submission skills

Cro Cop recently defeated Kevin Randleman with a guillotine choke.

Alistair Overeem recently defeated Vitor Belfort with a guillotine choke as well.