Brutal Leg Kick Finishes in the UFC
Did you know that a single, well-placed leg kick, can generate the same force as hitting a person with a baseball bat? Yes, skilled UFC fighters, can create this type of force when throwing kicks. This is why it is often enough for them to land just a single kick to put the opponent out or hurt them.
When talking about kick finishes in MMA, fans often think about wild head or body kicks. But in recent years, we can see the rise of leg kick finishes. Even though they don’t look as wild as head kicks, they are equally painful to watch. We dare to go even further saying leg kicks, notably, the ones targeting the calf, have become the best striking weapon in MMA.
Keep reading this article to find out the most brutal leg kick finishes in MMA.
1. Santiago Ponzinibbio vs Neil Magny (UFC Fight Night 140)
This fight is a great instance of how leg kicks work in MMA and what they can do to a person. Leading up to this bout, no one thought that Ponzinibbio would put Magny out with leg kicks.
But from the opening second of the fight, he started ruining the lead leg of Magny with wild kicks. He was working the calf over and over again and Magny quickly got himself into deep trouble. To make matters worse, Magny failed to check a single one as he remained to stay heavy on the lead leg.
Ponzinibbio beat up the lead leg to the point where Magny couldn’t even stand on that leg any longer. It was really bizarre to see poor Magny literally standing on one leg inside the cage and trying to survive. And all credits to him for not taking an easy way out of the fight.
But at the same time, we will never know why the referee or his coaches didn’t stop the fight by throwing in the towel. They allowed him to fight on one leg and get KO’d out cold in the fourth round.
I mean, it was clearly an awful stoppage as Magny couldn’t even stand before the KO.
2. Jose Aldo vs Uriah Faber (WEC 48)
In his prime, Jose Aldo was a savage and will go down in history as, perhaps, the best leg kicker ever. And it wasn’t just the power and damage of his kicks. No, it was the speed and timing that really set him above the others when it comes to striking. Do not look any further from his bout Against Uriah Faber if you need an example.
The two met each other at WEC 48, back in the days when Jose Aldo was a WEC champ. Although Faber came into the bout as a serious contender, Aldo went on to school him on the feet. He smashed Faber by landing 31 vicious leg kicks which were painful to watch. I mean, Faber’s lead leg turned blue even before the fight had ended.
After the fight, Faber told the media that he couldn’t walk for a month and that he was in serious pain. But Faber is not the only victim that fell to Aldo’s leg kicks. No, leg kicks are Aldo’s main weapon and the secret behind his technique is really unusual.
You see, Aldo was a soccer player before MMA. Training soccer allowed him to develop strength in his legs and unique hip rotation when throwing leg kicks. That’s the secret that makes Aldo such a great leg kicker in MMA.
3. Edson Barboza vs Guidici vs Lullo vs Oliveira
Yes, you read that well. Edson Barboza used leg kicks to finish three fights in his MMA career. We are not talking about the damage that led to him scoring KO or TKO. No, he finished three opponents using leg kicks only. That gives you a great insight into why Barboza is a master of this technique in MMA.
Barboza is such a wild kicker mainly because he has a strong base in Muay Thai and Taekwondo. The emphasis in both of these arts is on kicking, and Barboza is a great instance of what happens when you mix them together. You get a pure killer on the feet who throws more kicks than punches.
🚨 Are you enjoying this article? Sign up for our newsletter to get updates weekly about content and soon to be exclusive articles for subscribers only
Out of those three finishes, the one against Oliveira is the most brutal one if you ask us. Barboza went on to land 23 leg kicks in the first round, which makes this round one of the most painful to watch. He needed to land just a couple of more in the second to force the referee to wave off the fight. Oliveira’s leg was all busted up.
Some other famous fighters who fell victim to his leg kicks are Gilbert Melendez and Dan Hooker.
4. Alex Perez vs Jussier Formiga (UFC 250)
Leading up to this bout, we all knew that Perez would try to keep the fight standing. Formiga is one of the best grapplers in the world and you don’t want to mess with him on the ground too much. But no one could imagine that Perez was going to put on a Muay Thai clinic.
Right from the first second, Perez started firing hard low calf kicks. Formiga had a hard time dealing with them, and we are not sure if he even checked a single one. Since there was no audience due to the pandemic, you could hear each kick echoing through the UFC’s Apex center. Formiga tried to counter using good boxing combos and even catching Perez a few times. But he simply absorbed too many calf kicks.
In the second round, Formiga already had a hard time moving. Perez started pushing for a finish by increasing power in the kicks which led to Formiga falling down to the ground.
5. Khalil Rountree vs Eryk Anders (UFC 236)
To be honest, no one in the world expected to see Rountree doing what he did against Anders. Don’t get us wrong, he always had good striking skills. But after visiting Thailand to prepare for Anders, came back as a different fighter.
The first thing we noticed was the stance. It was weird to see him standing in a classic Muay Thai stance and bouncing around. He then started blasting Anders with pinpoint perfect leg kicks. I mean, Anders had a hard time moving after eating just a few of them. You can see on his face that he didn’t expect to face this version of Rountree. He was able to absorb 38 clean leg kicks and somehow survive all three rounds.
6. Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor (UFC 257)
It’s fair to say this fight has become the most famous example of how effective leg kicks are in MMA. And it’s also fair to say we have all overlooked Poirier’s ability to land hard calf kicks. But at the same time, it was clear he was preparing for them. In the end, he spent the entire camp working with Thiago Alves, a great leg kicker in his own right. So it was obvious to expect that Poirier will elevate his kicking game to another level.
Poirier came out strong and with a clear game plan: land as many calf kicks. And in a matter of minutes, the Irishman was in a world of trouble as his lead leg was all busted up.
For some reason, he kept staying heavy on the lead leg, trying to counter vicious kicks with boxing combos. Although Mcgregor was able to clip Poirier with a couple of good punches, the calf kicks he was absorbing were doing much more damage.
Once the leg kicks did their job and Conor became a stationary target, Poirier started letting his hands fly even more. In the second round, he unleashed a barrage of punches to handle Mcgregor his first TKO loss.
7. Anthony Smith vs Jimmy Crute (UFC 261)
This fight wasn’t brutal in terms of damage done, but it is a great instance of how just a single well-placed leg kick can end a fight. You don’t need to land 30 or more to destroy the leg to the point where the opponent can’t stand anymore. No, just a single one is enough to damage the famous peroneal nerve and completely shut down that leg.
Both fighters opened the fight looking strong in the standup and exchanging heavy lather. Smith had a lot of success with the lead jab while Crute was the one landing leg kicks. Just as the fight entered the last minute, Smith landed a hard leg kick just behind the knee. Crute’s leg instantly folded and it looked like he lost all the feeling in his left leg.
Despite standing on one leg, Crute managed to score two takedowns in the last minute which was amazing. Still, he couldn’t even walk back to his stool which forced the doctor to stop the fight between the rounds. All credits to Crute for showing the will to continue, but it was clear that he was not able to continue.
📬 Get weekly updates straight to your inbox
💬 💬 💬 💬 💬 💬
We also have a chat room! (We use Discord) join here
The unleashed network is a network of all martial arts related accounts with ~1 million follows across all our accounts. We are on tiktok, instagram twitter, medium, you name it.
