Foster's Oblique Kick Ban Proposal Draws Sharp Criticism

California Athletic Commission head Andy Foster wants to ban oblique kicks from MMA competition, calling the technique too dangerous after UFC 331. UFC CEO Dana White publicly backed the proposal, setting off debate over where safety rules should end and fighting should begin.

MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew pushed back hard on the idea in his weekly mailbag, arguing that the move fails to meet the threshold for catastrophic injury. "No one is going to die from having their knee flamingoed by an oblique kick; no one will even have horrific, life-altering damage," Meshew wrote. He pointed out that heel hooks tear up far more knees in competition than oblique kicks ever have, yet no one seriously considers banning leg locks at the professional level.

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Why Oblique Kicks Don't Meet The Ban Standard

According to Meshew's breakdown, MMA rules fall into three categories: entertainment value, public perception, and safety. Groin strikes got outlawed because audiences find them dirty and unacceptable. Shots to the back of the head stay banned because fighters die from them. Oblique kicks meet neither standard — there is no public outcry demanding their removal, and a blown knee, while painful, does not rise to the level of blinding or death.

The proposal echoes earlier calls to ban calf kicks when they first became popular, a movement that fizzled once fighters adapted their defense. Meshew compared Foster's stance to those failed efforts, writing that both stem from the same misunderstanding of what competitive fighting entails.

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Foster has not announced a formal timeline for bringing the proposed rule change to a vote. The Association of Boxing Commissions typically coordinates rule changes across state lines, though California can implement its own standards for events held within the state.

Reported via:

• MMA Fighting — Mailbag: Banning oblique kicks would be extremely silly