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NORMAN: To Oblique Kick Or Not To Oblique Kick, That Is The Question

Sep 10, 2014 - 2:55:50 PM NORMAN: To Oblique Kick Or Not To Oblique Kick, That Is The Question

A passionately debated and recurring topic within the MMA community is the use of oblique kicks to the knees. It's a technique which seemed to be brought to the forefront of MMA consciousness after being utilized by Jon Jones, but it has also been used by Anderson Silva, Brandon Vera, and most recently Alistair Overeem. On numerous occasions, Jones - a lightning rod for controversy - has used the technique, and one the first opponents to vociferously complain was Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.After the bout, Jackson stated, "It should be called the illegal kick. It should be banned and it shows a lot about the fighter's character that he would throw it."Over the weekend, following his fight with Overeem, Ben Rothwell seemed to reiterate Jackson's sentiments on Submission Radio by saying, "I almost yelled at [Alistair Overeem] in the fight. He was doing some real dirty push kicks to my knee, and it’s just a dirty move. It’s not honorable in my mind because this isn’t street fighting."According to Rothwell, oblique kicks should be relegated to street fights; I must say, I've seen a fair number of street fights in person and on YouTube, but have only witnessed the technique applied in professional combat sports.Should oblique kicks be banned in mixed martial arts? Is it too dangerous of a move that it deserves to be completely removed from the sport? I, for one ,would say no. The sport of mixed martial arts is inherently dangerous. Combat athletes are allowed to apply various techniques with the intention of inflicting injury.In fact, the Unified Rules of MMA state the following:The intention of any fighter stepping into a ring or cage is to inflict injury upon their opponent. No one can honestly tell me an oblique kick to the knee is more dangerous than a shin to the head or neck of a competitor. Or that a combat athlete caught in a muay thai clinch and receiving a barrage of knees, will somehow incur less injurious strikes. It is legal for a combat athlete to intentionally attempt to lacerate a liver or repeatedly punch their opponent in the kidneys. Combatants can elbow one another in the eye (unless it's a 12-6 elbow), throw heel kicks to an opponents temple, apply jiu jitsu techniques to various joints with the intent of submitting (inflicting injury) another combatant, yet an oblique kick should be banned?Mixed martial arts fans, we need to be honest in regards to the sport we are watching. It is violent and dangerous, which is part of its appeal. In addition, it is a full contact sport that allows participants to use the full arsenal of skills and techniques within their repertoire. If you're content with watching a professional athlete receive any type of concussive strike in which the end result is a loss of consciousness, then you should be OK with oblique kicks.While hyper extending an opponent's leg may cause short term injury, we should be aware of the long term, and sometimes irreversible damage that can be sustained by head trauma or repeated concussive blows. Gary Goodrige was diagnosed with dementia pugilistica at 46; Chuck Liddell likely also suffers from the same affliction and he's only 45. Krystof Soszynski was knocked out in December 2011 and still suffers from short term memory loss. Alan Belcher and Michael Bisping both had to undergo multiple eye surgeries for detached retinas. These athletes are placing their brains, eyes, vital organs, joints, and overall health - as well as life - on the line for the sake of their sport and entertainment.We are not watching cricket, baseball, tennis, ping pong, golf, or any other non-contact sport. Often fans are watching mixed martial arts performed at the highest level of competition, so let's not pretend that a strike above the knee is somehow more abhorrent than a combatant receiving a concussion inducing knee to the face.[Jon Jones art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]