In this article, we are going to explore the best leg kickers in MMA history, both active and retired, and discover what made their kicking techniques in MMA so special and effective. You will also learn more about their careers and how they used leg kicks to succeed in MMA.
10. Mauricio Smith
Smith was one of the very first elite kickboxers to shift over to MMA back in the early 90s and show the world that kickboxing is one of the most important martial arts in MMA. Although there were a couple of good standup fighters before him, Smith was the one, in our opinion, who opened the doors to other kickboxers to come and test their skills against fighters from other martial arts.
As a world kickboxing champion in multiple organizations, Smith utilized leg kicks to great effect on his road to becoming the first African-American UFC champion in 1997. What truly set him above the others was his calmness inside the ring, his ability to keep his opponents at a distance and destroy them with hard low kicks.
We don’t want to exaggerate his skills, but his leg-kicking technique kind of reminds us of his colleague and the best K-1 fighter of all time Ernesto Hoost.
Some of the most famous victims of his’ insane kicks were Mark Coleman and Tank Abbott, whom Smith both beat up to the point where they barely stood in the octagon.
9. Mirko CroCop Filipovic
To be completely honest, we would have to devote the entire video about CroCop to explore all of the secrets behind his devastating kicking skills, but, let’s say that the famous quote “right leg hospital, left leg cemetery” gives you a great insight into what CroCop was all about.
CroCop came into MMA from kickboxing where he had a lot of success competing in K-1 during the glory days of the organization where he holds wins over some absolute legends of kickboxing like Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky, and Sam Greco. Like that’s not enough, he went on to win the K-1 world title in 2012 and become just the second fighter to win world titles in both MMA and kickboxing, and he did it while being way out of his prime days.
Although the Croatian is famous for his devastating left high kick that knocked many fighters into orbit, do not forget that he had the ability to beat his opponents using low kicks to the point where they couldn’t stand anymore. Of course, we are talking about his fights against Hidehiko Yoshida in Pride and Hong Man Choi in “Dynamite”, which CroCop both finished inside the first round utilizing incredibly quick and powerful low kicks.
8. Forest Griffin
Throughout his entire career, the UFC Hall of Famer, Forest Griffin, had always been underrated when it comes to leg kicks and for some reason, people rarely bring him into the conversation when talking about the greatest kickers in MMA.
Nevertheless, Griffin regularly used leg kicks in just about every fight he stepped in, and although he lacked the power to do a lot of damage with a single one, his kicks would eventually add up and take away the mobility of his opponents.
Leg kicks have played a big factor in Griffin’s career, and it’s fair to say they won him the UFC Light Heavyweight title against Rampage Jackson. At UFC 86, he went on to absolutely destroy the movement of Rampage by landing an astonishing 35 heavy leg kicks.
A couple of other famous names who felt the power and speed of his kicks were the former UFC champions, Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin.
7. Hayato Sakurai
For the ones not familiar with him, Sakurai is a former Japanese MMA superstar who had a lot of success fighting for various eastern promotions like Shooto, Pride, and later Dream FC where he was a welterweight champion. Stylistically, Sakurai excelled in every field of MMA fighting. From shoot wrestling, Judo, BJJ, to Muay Thai, he truly was a master in multiple fighting styles and a tough matchup for anyone.
What he genuinely loved doing was blasting his opponents with quick and powerful low kicks right from the opening bell, throwing each one with full power and not stopping up until his opponents couldn’t stand anymore. Once they become sitting ducks, Sakurai would get more confident with his hands, start swinging with violent intention and chase a knockout.
6. Bas Rutten
Better known in MMA circles as “El Guapo”, Rutten is another pioneer of MMA who certainly knows a thing or two about how to tactically use leg kicks to finish or immobilize the movement of your opponent. Especially when you consider that he is a 5th-degree black belt in Kyokushin karate and a 2nd-degree black belt in Taekwondo which is an ideal combination of techniques for developing vicious kicks.
Although he was able to win the UFC title, Rutten is best known for the fights he had in the Japanese “Pancrase” promotion where he completely dominated the competition throughout the 90s, fighting up to seven times in a single year. His standup game was very versatile back in the day due to his background in various arts and much ahead of anything that the opposition had to offer at the time.
You see, Rutten is best known for revolutionizing the famous kick to the liver, which was the trademark move he used to finish many of his fights. However, he also had very powerful leg kicks, and interestingly enough, he closed his MMA career by finishing Ruben Villareal with powerful leg kicks in 2006.
5. Antoni Hardonk
Antoni Hardonk is widely regarded as one of the scariest leg kickers in the history of the sport and you can often hear various MMA experts like Joe Rogan saying Hardonk’s kicking skills are the best in the business which means a lot considering that Rogan himself is an expert in this field.
Like most devastating leg kickers on this list, Hardonk also came into MMA from kickboxing and to say his skills have transitioned well would simply be an understatement. Right upon joining the UFC in 2008, Hardonk went on to put on a kickboxing class in his debut at UFC 65 and finish Sherman Pendergarst with heavy leg kicks inside the first round. Just three fights later, he would show the power of his kicks once again, this time by finishing Colin Robinson with four perfectly timed leg kicks.
4. Pedro Rizzo
Pedro Rizzo is a UFC legend who was among the most popular fighters during the late ’90s and early 2000s mainly because of his exciting fighting style and the fact that he left carnage in just about every fight he stepped in to compete.
But what truly made him unique were the vicious leg kicks he used to throw with pinpoint perfect technique and a lot of power. He was a master in destroying the calf of his opponents and following each kick with a barrage of punches that often ended in brutal knockouts.
If you want to learn how to throw perfect leg kicks or see what damage they can do, do not look any further than Rizzo’s fight against Dan Severn in which the Brazilian needed only two hard inside leg kicks to send Dan down to the canvas. The other great examples of how Rizzo used to combine his kicks with the punches were his bouts with Tank Abbott, which by the way is painful to watch, and Mark Coleman.
3. Marco Ruas
Marco Ruas is a legendary Brazilian fighter who fought in Vale Tudo matches long before the name “mixed martial arts” even existed. He is a true pioneer of modern MMA who, despite being one of the highest-ranked BJJ and Judo black belts in the world, is also remembered for his amazing standup skills, notably the kicks. In fact, Ruas was among the first fighters to acknowledge the importance of cross-training between different fighting styles and being good at all aspects of MMA.
Even though leg kicks existed long before him, Ruas was one of the first ones to strategically use them to beat his opponents, and win the UFC 7 tournament by kicking the hell out of Paul Valerans in 1995.
2. Thiago Alves
Alves is a true UFC legend and a man who holds a record for the most fights in the UFC’s welterweight division, out of which most were exciting standup brawls. Although Alves never won the UFC belt, he was and still is a fan favorite fighter who will go down in history as one of the greatest leg kickers in MMA history.
We dare to go even further by saying that Alves and Aldo were the ones who together popularized this specific technique in modern MMA.
Win or lose, Alves was always ready to put on a show for the fans and is a great representation of how effective Muay Thai techniques are in MMA, notably the calf kicks which he often used to immobilize the movement of his opponents early in the fight, and then put them out utilizing the wide range of his striking arsenal. Don’t look any further from the way he destroyed Josh Koscheck at UFC 90 and Chris Lyte at UFC 78 with pinpoint perfect leg kicks if you need any examples.
Today, he is one of the main striking coaches at American Top Team Academy where he is helping top UFC fighters to elevate their standup game to another level.
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1. Patrick “Pat” Barry
In the eyes of many fans, Pat Barry is not just one of the nicest and most entertaining fighters. No, he is also among the best leg kickers in MMA, and it’s very hard to argue against that as he destroyed many of his opponents utilizing this specific technique only.
Barry shifted from professional kickboxing to MMA in 2008, and he kicked off his career by finishing two of his first three opponents using leg kicks. In his second fight, for instance, he faced fellow kickboxer Simon Diouf who crumbled after receiving just two clean calf kicks. In his UFC debut, Barry went on to put his kicking skills to work once again and completely destroy Dan Evenson with a barrage of perfectly timed and placed leg kicks.
You see, the science here is very simple, the only thing you need to do is to look at the size of Barry’s legs, which mixed together with perfect kickboxing technique made him a scary individual on the feet. To be honest, being hit with the baseball bat probably hurt much less than Barry’s kicks. And it wasn’t all about the power as Perry used to set up his kicks perfectly and throw them from all angles.
If you enjoyed our list, be sure to give us your opinion in the comments below, and support our work by subscribing to our channel. See you next time!
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Final Thoughts on Best Leg Kickers in MMA
Over the course of MMA history, there have been many great leg kickers who utilized this specific technique to perfection. This list is certainly not complete as it is almost impossible to pick the 10 best leg-kickers without leaving out some. Thus, feel free to give us your picks in the comments, and help us create a part 2 in the future.
