Total MMA Top 10: High Kicks
Posted by Marc Staehling on September 2nd, 2008
As a 12-year old boy first discovering the UFC in 1994, I can remember thinking this was pretty much the coolest thing I’d ever seen. As a fan of Enter the Dragon (1973), and even moreso Bloodsport (1988), the early UFCs made those films a reality for me. Finally a tournament with “no rules” to decide what martial art was superior. With three out of four tournament wins, and countless submissions, Royce Gracie and his grappling-centric approach showed many what would work in an actual fight. As much as I yearned for them, there were no spectacular roundhouse kicks that I had seen from the likes of Jean Claude Van Damme and Loren Avedon in the movies. As the sport grew and evolved though, kicking techniques became much more commonplace, and currently kicks are some of the most dangerous techniques in a fighter’s striking arsenal, and have provided some of the most spectacular finishes in MMA history.
In this first installment of the Total MMA Top 10, I have compiled a video-list of the ten greatest high kick finishes in MMA history. My only rule is that no winning fighter can be listed more than once(sorry Mirko).
10. Gilbert Yvel vs. Gary Goodridge (Pride 10 - 8/27/2000)
Pride 10 took place at the Seibu Dome with over 30,000 spectators in attendance, and what they saw was one of the most important shows in the company’s history. Wanderlei Silva beat Guy Mezger in a great fight, Ken Shamrock had some heart troubles, and Kazushi Sakuraba had his famous bout with Renzo Gracie. The fourth fight of the night featured Gary Goodridge(who fought on more Pride shows during its early years than anyone not named Sakuraba or Shoji) and badboy Gilbert Yvel, returning for his second Pride bout after dropping his debut to Vitor Belfort. The fight doesn’t last long, and shows just how devastating a single kick can be.
9. L.C. Davis vs. Rafael Dias (IFL - New Jersey, 4/4/2008)
The IFL had its share of explosive high kick KO’s. Ben Rothwell decapitating Devin Cole comes to mind, but that pales in comparison to this featherweight bout from the IFL’s second to last show in New Jersey from April of this year. In a fight that looked like it was headed to a judge’s decision, L.C. Davis decided that it was time to end the fight…with 4 seconds left. Wow.
8. Gary Goodridge vs. Don Frye (Pride Shockwave - 12/31/2003)
While he was victimized by Yvel at Pride 10, “Big Daddy” Goodridge did get a chance to put someone to sleep with a high kick, and it was none other than Don Frye at probably the weakest NYE card Pride put together on 12/31/2003. This was actually their third fight, with Frye winning the first two—both in the UFC—in convinving fashion. This marked the end of his run in Pride before eventually returning to get bludgeoned by James Thompson in 2007.
7. Mamoru Yamaguchi vs. Stonnie Dennis (Shooto in Korakuen Hall - 5/4/2005)
Mamoru is the only man to hold SHOOTO titles in two different weightclasses(Bantamweight-123 and Featherweight-132). Not only that, but he possesses some excellent kickboxing skills, firing off combos with precision technique. American Stonnie Dennis found out about Mamoru’s striking acumen first hand in this 2005 bout that goes back and forth for 96 seconds before Yamaguchi hits the mark with authority.
6. Rory Markham vs. Brodie Farber (UFC Fight Night 14 - 7/19/2008)
Rory Markham knows how to make a debut. This bout from July of this year is a front-runner for KO of the year, and will be on highlight reels for years to come. It takes a few shots to wake Rory up, but once he gets set after being pushed back by Farber, he unleashes a hellacious right kick that puts him to sleep, immediately. Pretty spectacular stuff from the Miletich product.
5. Rashad Evans vs. Sean Salmon (UFC Fight Night 8 - 1/25/2007)
After the reality show and his first few UFC fights, fans and pundits alike had labelled Rashad Evans a boring fighter, and one who simply can’t finish fights. His brutal stoppage of Jason Lambert showed people another side of Rashad, but it was this bout broadcast on Spike TV that showed the world what “Sugar” was capable of. One of the scariest KO’s in recent memory, especially due to the fact that before going off the air the UFC didn’t say anything about his condition, as well as the unecessary shots Rashad threw after the fact. Randy Couture on colour commentary puts it best: “Oh…my…God!”
4. Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Stephen Palling (Shooto in Korakuen Hall - 5/3/2004)
Although it might not have looked like it in his WEC debut against Leonard Garcia, Hiroyuki Takaya is one of the best strikers in the world at 145 lbs. This bout from 2004 is a primo example of what the “Streetfight Bancho” is capable of. Most big finishing kicks are excecuted with the back leg, usually the dominant powerful leg. Not here though, which is what makes this so spectacular. Takaya lays out Palling with his front leg following a slight crow-hop. Beautiful finish.
3. Mirko Filipovic vs. Igor Vovchanchyn (Pride Total Elimination - 8/10/2003)
Mirko Filipovic is easily the king of the high-kick. While there are several examples to choose from including felling the giant Aleksander Emelianenko and laying out Wanderlei Silva, this bout from the Summer of 2003 is the easy choice. After stopping Heath Herring in June, CroCop went on to face another top foreigner in “Ice Cold” Igor Vovchanchyn. What happened would be seen on highlight reels for years to come, and would skyrocket CroCop’s popularity in Japan, and secure him a title shot later in the year.
2. Pete Williams vs. Mark Coleman (UFC 15 - 5/15/1998)
This is the one of the first, and one of the most famous high kick finishes in the sport’s young history. Fresh off his stunning loss to Maurice Smith, “The Hammer” took on relatively unknown Pete Williams. As Williams survived, Coleman got visibly tired, and when the overtime period started he had nothing left. Listen carefully to hear William’s corner shout out for him to throw the high kick moments before the finish.
1. Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Mirko Filipovic (UFC 70 - 4/21/2007)
Quite simply, this is one of the most incredible finishes in the history of the sport. The high-kick machine Filipovic one fight away from a title shot, battling a very good fighter, but a very good fighter known for his jiu-jitsu. After dominating the entire first round on top of the Croatian battering him with elbows, a stand-up in the action(unwarranted mind you) brought a groggy CroCop to his feet and what followed is a finish for the ages. The ramifications of the result can’t be discounted. With the loss, the possibilty of CroCop vs. Couture vanished, and so with it seemingly Mirko’s passion and fighting career. Once again, “The Natural” provides the most apt analysis: “Oh my God!, Oh..my..God! I cannot believe that.”
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Gomi v. Kuwabara should get an honorable mention if only for Gomi showing a diamond cut chin and casually picking up the ref’s pen after the scored knockdown.
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Great list man! It looks like you really put some time into putting it together. Are there any high kicks you wanted to include but didn’t, because you couldn’t find the video?
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:55 pm
“Are there any high kicks you wanted to include but didn’t, because you couldn’t find the video?”
I couldn’t find a decent clip of Maurice Smith’s kick against Conan Silveira from Extreme Fighting 3.
Other honourable mentions include:
Taiei Kin vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa(beautiful kick with the front leg)
Amar Suloev vs. Luis ALberto(WVC 11)
Yves Edwards vs. Josh Thomson
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:17 am
I hadn’t seen the Petey vs. Coleman finish in *forever*. Thanks, Marc.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:44 am
Ochumet easy! Already all, pancakes, know about it except me
November 23rd, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Great article. That high kick puts an end to Cro Cop desire of fighting. He was all pumped up following his win against Wandi in Pride, didn’t show an respect at his first fight in the octagon, and then… Bang!!!
July 31st, 2009 at 2:04 pm
That’s good man, keep it going.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Good story for me but please more details.
August 6th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Good information to me.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Stunning blog and good article. High 5 for u man !