Do leg kicks ever win fights? I saw Paul Varlans get beat very early in UFC by a smaller guy almost purely with leg kicks, Paul just failed to block them entirely and ended up falling on his backside and getting a hiding. Does that ever happen these days? Secondly, do you guys consider leg kicks as having an equivilant in boxing? Is a leg kick like a jab? Setting up other moves and scoring points? Or is it more like body-punching, reducing an opponents mobility, hoping to cash in later? Finally - who was the guy that beat up Varlans and won that UFC? Whatever happened to him? Anyone remember?
It was Marco Ruas that beat him up with leg kicks. Igor Vovchanchyn on the other hand, an even smaller fighter, just gave him a severe beating with his fists. Varelans was a bum. Anyways, they're more closely related to body punching than a jab, as they do sap the mobility of the opponent and can be brutal if done effectively.
In mma leg kicks rarely win a fight. Now in K-1 leg kicks are brutal and has won many fights. When a boxer comes into a k-1 fight. First thing his oppenent does is take out his legs and the fight is won by pure leg kicks.
Watch Liddell-Jardine for a good example of leg kicks winning a fight. Granted, Liddell didn't get stopped, but the clear decider in that fight was Jardine's legwork. Leg kicks/body-punching is a very good comparison. They sap strength from the lower body, often leading to easy KD's like you described.
leg kicks are jsut straight up deadly if used well. the best recent examples of leg kicks i would say the forrest v page fight. jardien uses them really well. the worst display i have ever seen on leg kicks was roger huerta they were so telographed and landed like non on kenny. if used well they are a major factor in a fight.
Thanks, Ruas, that's been driving me crazy. Varelans was an awful nice guy though. Right. And thanks to everyone else that's posted. I'll have a nose on YT for these fights you guys have mentioned. Anyone know what became of Marco Ruas?
Cro Cop broke Yoshida's leg in pride with lowkicks, and finally after stalling for time twice and dragging Yoshida to his feet basically, the ref eventually had to call the fight. [yt]GUW8PuNaLJw[/yt] Anotny Hardonk beat Collin Robinson in 17 seconds with two absolutely brutal low kicks followed by a jab, but the kicks did it. [yt]b4cB5YgZmpU[/yt] Those are the two most memorable off the top of my head. Ricardo Arona knocked Alistar Overeem down with a leck kick, looks like it might have injured Overeem, and then went on to beat the hell out of him. Interesting because Overeem is the noted kickboxer and Arona is a BJJ guy, but has really powerful low kicks. [yt]Lb5XxUB7GNA[/yt]
Mostly trained other fighters, he had his own school/system called "Ruas Vale Tudo." His star student was Pedro Rizzo, also known for his devastating leg kicks; Ruas also trained Renato "Babalu" Sobral before Babalu moved on to Gracie Barra. He also had sort of an "old timers" match with Mo Smith last year in the IFL that he lost. Ruas is interesting because he was one of the first big name mainstream Brazilian MMA fighters to come from Luta Livre, which has always been the main rival of BJJ in Brazil; he definitely wasn't the first successful Luta Livre guy, but he was the first guy many people outside of Brazil saw be successful with it.
The most recognizable difference is that Luta Livre is no gi while BJJ uses a gi. Luta Livre is also more tied to wrestling whereas BJJ is more tied to Judo in terms of where they came from, but they have roots in both. There are stylistic differences but they are broad generalizations, as each have fighters that disprove the generalities; Luta Livre is more focused on the takedown, BJJ places more emphasis on positional dominance before submission, Luta Livre tends to be more free with submissions and has alot of guys who are very good at leg locks. Luta Livre was also originally viewed as the more available to the public because it was cheaper if not free, whereas BJJ was viewed as more eliteist. Alternately LL was viewed as less refined, its all about whos side you are talking to, lol. What it really came down to though when the rivalry was at its peak, was really just tribal, which "side" a fighter was on. From the late 90s on the rivalry has really died down, fighters now belong to MMA teams, and Luta Livre guys train with BJJ guys and vice versa; Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira was a famous LL guy who now trains with BTT, a team started by BJJ guys, Rousimar "Touquinho" Palhares is another BTT guy who originally trained in LL, Babalu moved to Gracie Barra after leaving Ruas Martial Vale Tudo, which was a LL based team. The "war" is pretty much over, mostly due to the widespread growth of MMA meaning that there are other people for them to fight, so instead of Brazilian Grapplers infighting, they sort of banded together, plus BJJ is just more popular world wide so it is what more people train in. On the other hand, almost all MMA teams train at least half the time without a gi, so its not like Luta Livre has been destroyed, its just that the two have sort of blended together, as most of the techniques were the same anyway, it was just a tribal thing causing the rivalry. Here is a video in portugese about it, I don't understand what they are saying, but it shows some nice footage. [yt]YdoIxYzZr2Q[/yt]
leg kicks are the most under used weapon in mma today.. anyone with good leg kicks and good takedown defence would murder brock lesnar..
