Showtime Kick: Has it opened the door?

First off, props to Anthony Pettis for the coolest thing I've yet to see in MMA.

But it led me to an interesting thought: What if this is just the beginning?

I often find when I think about MMA in my head, I go to wacky, zany outcomes where guys try wild things like guys doing cartwheels rolling around the ring, jumping off the cage beating dudes up. Everytime I'd wonder "Why does nobody try this?", I'd always remember oh yeah, it's just in my head and none of that is actually possible to do in a REAL MMA fight.

And yet, here we are. Does this incredibly unique new angle of attack inspire other fighters to the point of say, in 5-10 years, we've got guys propelling off the cage on the regular? Does a day come where the original Showtime Kick becomes old and people say 'Man, people do that all the time, WAY better'?

Perhaps I'm just being optimistic about where I one day want MMA to be, but to me stuff like this just shows that we're really only getting started, and the best has yet to come.

Your thoughts?

 I've thought for a long time that guys should use it more.  There have been a few examples, I believe Jeremy Stephens pulled off a superman punch off the cage and a couple of others that I dont remember the details of but I definitely think you'll see more of it.  And you will see some EPIC fails along with some good stuff.  You have to keep stepping things up and this is a natural direction. I hope the commisions dont screw it up for us!

Archer0545 -   I hope the commissions don't screw it up for us!


this

I don't think it will too much. This seems more like a one-off than anything else to me. I do think that we'll see some more in the B-leagues, but in UFC/Strikeforce I think it'll be pretty much business as usual. I seriously doubt we'll be seeing something as awesome as the kick every show or even every 5-6 shows.

I dont think will see anything like it again like the sato arm bar imo Phone Post

I believe it opened Ben's face, not a door.

 Alan Belcher used the cage to throw a superman punch against Akiyama at UFC 100

people use the cage all the time to put their opponents against it wear them down and beat on them so i dont see why a striker wouldnt use the cage for offense and push off from it and strike but the pettis kick was nothing short of amazing

Remember what happened when Urijah tried to spring off the cage wall and throw that back elbow... Brown ended his title reign for good.

funktard - I don't think it will too much. This seems more like a one-off than anything else to me. I do think that we'll see some more in the B-leagues, but in UFC/Strikeforce I think it'll be pretty much business as usual. I seriously doubt we'll be seeing something as awesome as the kick every show or even every 5-6 shows.

they said the exact same thing about high kicks back when Pete Williams KO'd Coleman. Remember when Goodridge fought Frye and they said a high kick would NEVER work in a real fight.

Oh how the times have changed. Maybe one day this will be commonplace. There was a time when the wall walk was unheard of.

I think the kick definitely opened up a lot of people's eyes as to what is possible in the cage.  The creativity will start flowing and we will slowly start seeing more of these "unheard of" maneuvers.

Yeah, but now people are going to be trying wacky stuff like that and its going to cause them to lose fights.

Its all about sticking to the basics. If I were to fight I would just like to keep my hands up and fight smart and win fights.

jacobdoerr - Yeah, but now people are going to be trying wacky stuff like that and its going to cause them to lose fights.

Its all about sticking to the basics. If I were to fight I would just like to keep my hands up and fight smart and win fights.


Okay then I'll skip all your paper views like I do GSPs

When a guy lifts his opponent off the air, I've often wondered when someone will do either of these two things:

-slam him into the corner post at a bad angle (if done properly I think you could really mangle someone).

-just start spinning around to disorient him. It would disorient the guy holding him a little, but not as much as the dude he was carrying. Then, slam him down while he's all confused and go to work on him.

I wonder what the rules are regarding moves like that?

unfortunately we will probably see the exciting wec fighters get lnp and outpointed in the ufc and our dreams of creative combat will come crashing back to a dull gray/franky.

long live the showtime kick

Seeing that kick gave me an MMArgasm.

jaseprobst - When a guy lifts his opponent off the air, I've often wondered when someone will do either of these two things:

-slam him into the corner post at a bad angle (if done properly I think you could really mangle someone).

-just start spinning around to disorient him. It would disorient the guy holding him a little, but not as much as the dude he was carrying. Then, slam him down while he's all confused and go to work on him.

I wonder what the rules are regarding moves like that?


I've always kinda wanted to see the old Gorilla Monsoon style spinning airplane move done to someone when they are in high guard. Just grab their legs and start spinning and throw them across the cage.

Would have been especially funny if McCorkle did it to Struve.