Cartwheel Kick

Last updated: May 13, 2026

What is a cartwheel kick?

In a typical MMA exchange, fighters generate power from the floor through the hips. The cartwheel kick breaks that pattern. The striker plants one hand on the canvas and throws the body sideways into a partial cartwheel. The trailing leg comes down across the opponent’s head or shoulders.

The move comes from capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art, where it is called the aú batido, or “broken cartwheel.” It is a partial cartwheel because the kicker stops the rotation midway. The body folds at the hip, and the airborne leg becomes the strike.

In MMA, the cartwheel kick has two main uses. It can land as a clean strike with the heel or shin on descent, but more often it is a disruption tool. The cartwheel hides the kick’s trajectory, drawing the opponent’s attention sideways while the strike comes down from above.

How the cartwheel kick works

Mechanically, the cartwheel kick combines a gymnastic cartwheel with a strike thrown mid-rotation. The fighter shifts weight to the lead side and plants one hand on the canvas, letting the legs rise overhead from that pivot. Instead of completing the cartwheel and landing on both feet, the body folds at the hips. One leg drives down toward the target while the other stays elevated.

The striking surface depends on the angle. A descending cartwheel kick to the head usually lands with the heel, similar to a downward axe kick. A horizontal version can connect with the shin, closer to a side kick thrown from an inverted angle.

Power comes from rotational momentum rather than ground reaction force. That tradeoff matters. A well-landed cartwheel kick can produce knockout impact because the body and leg accelerate through a long arc, but the same arc telegraphs the move and leaves the kicker briefly inverted and off-balance.

The cartwheel kick in MMA

Brian Ebersole is the fighter most identified with the cartwheel kick in mixed martial arts. A welterweight and middleweight veteran with more than 70 professional fights, Ebersole knocked out Otto Merling with a cartwheel kick at an X-Rules bout in Brisbane in 2008 and then revived the technique in his UFC debut against Chris Lytle at UFC 127 in February 2011. He attempted the kick at the opening bell of the first round, where Lytle blocked it, and again at the start of the third round, where he missed and landed on his backside. Ebersole still won by unanimous decision. He described his cartwheel approach as creating “broken rhythm,” sometimes faking a punch or shot before launching into the move.

Anthony Pettis offered a different version of the same idea. At WEC 50 in August 2010, Pettis, who trained capoeira at Roufusport in Milwaukee, threw an aú batido against Shane Roller in the first round. Bloody Elbow analyst Dave Walsh identified the strike as a recognisable capoeira aú batido, though Pettis ultimately won the fight by triangle choke, not from the kick.

The cartwheel kick has stayed rare since. It demands gymnastic conditioning that most MMA fighters do not train, and it appears almost exclusively from fighters with capoeira training or a similar acrobatic background.

Cartwheel kick vs. spinning heel kick

Most fans see a cartwheel kick and assume it is a variant of the spinning heel kick or the wheel kick. The two strikes look similar in flight but work differently.

A spinning heel kick is a grounded strike. The fighter pivots on the standing leg and generates rotational power through the hips. The heel of the rear leg whips around at chest or head height. Both feet stay close to the ground.

A cartwheel kick is an aerial, inverted strike. The fighter leaves the upright stance entirely and plants a hand on the canvas. The strike happens while the head is below the hips.

	Cartwheel kick	Spinning heel kick
Stance	Inverted, hand on ground	Upright
Power source	Rotational momentum from cartwheel arc	Hip rotation from a planted leg
Striking surface	Heel or shin, descending	Heel, horizontal
Position after	Off-balance, briefly grounded	Upright, ready to follow up
Frequency in MMA	Rare	Common (Edson Barboza, Stephen Thompson)

The cartwheel kick also differs from the wheel kick, a horizontal spinning kick thrown from an upright stance, and from the rolling thunder, a forward somersault kick. All three involve rotation. Only the cartwheel kick puts the striker’s hand on the canvas during the strike.

Is the cartwheel kick legal in MMA?

No major MMA promotion bans the cartwheel kick. The UFC and other organizations operating under the Unified Rules of MMA have no specific prohibition on the technique, and Brian Ebersole’s UFC 127 attempts in 2011 went unpunished. The kick has appeared in occasional professional MMA bouts since without any rule-based intervention.

The relevant rule is the prohibition on striking a grounded opponent. Under the Unified Rules of MMA, a fighter is considered grounded when any part of their body other than the soles of their feet touches the canvas, and a grounded opponent cannot legally be kicked or kneed in the head. This rule protects the recipient of a strike, so it does not apply to a fighter delivering one. A fighter executing a cartwheel kick may technically be grounded by their own hand on the canvas, but that grounded status only matters when the rule is invoked against them as a target.

The picture in Muay Thai is different. Most modern Muay Thai promotions, including Rajadamnern and Lumpinee stadiums, have banned the cartwheel kick, often citing the same grounded-fighter principle but applied to the striker. The rationale: a downed fighter cannot be hit, so a fighter who downs themselves should not be allowed to strike either. MMA does not apply this logic to the striker.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the cartwheel kick legal in the UFC?

Yes. The Unified Rules of MMA contain no rule banning the cartwheel kick. The rule against striking grounded opponents protects the fighter being struck, so a fighter delivering a kick from an inverted position is not affected.

Who first landed a cartwheel kick in MMA?

Brian Ebersole landed a cartwheel kick knockout against Otto Merling in 2008 under X-Rules in Brisbane. Anthony Pettis later threw a capoeira-style aú batido at Shane Roller at WEC 50 in August 2010, identified by Bloody Elbow’s Dave Walsh as an aú batido.

Why is the cartwheel kick banned in Muay Thai?

Most Muay Thai promotions, including Rajadamnern and Lumpinee, enforce the rule that any contact between a non-foot body part and the canvas ends the action. Because the cartwheel kick requires the striker’s hand to touch the ground, it falls foul of that rule. MMA’s Unified Rules apply the grounded-fighter principle only to the recipient of a strike, so the kick remains legal there.

Is the cartwheel kick the same as the aú batido?

In capoeira, the aú batido is a specific variant of the cartwheel kick in which the body twists at the hip and one leg whips down in a martelo, or hammer kick, motion. In MMA, the broader term “cartwheel kick” covers both the capoeira aú batido and looser cartwheel-and-strike variations.

How dangerous is the cartwheel kick for the fighter throwing it?

The kick exposes the head and torso to counter-strikes during inversion and leaves the fighter off-balance on landing. Black Belt Wiki lists balance loss and a low head position as the main risks. Even Brian Ebersole, the kick’s most successful MMA exponent, missed his second attempt at UFC 127 and landed on his backside.

---

Sources

1. Wikipedia. “Cartwheel kick.” Accessed May 13, 2026.
2. Wikipedia. “Anthony Pettis.” Accessed May 13, 2026.
3. Bloody Elbow. “Judo Chop: Anthony Pettis Unleashes the Aú Batido on Shane Roller at WEC 50.” August 19, 2010.
4. Bleacher Report. “MMA Knockout of the Day: The Brian Ebersole Cartwheel That Actually Worked.” March 4, 2011.
5. MixedMartialArts.com. “The art of the cartwheel kick.”
6. Evolve MMA. “How To Do The Cartwheel Kick In Muay Thai.” May 8, 2024.
7. MiddleEasy. “Blast To The Past: Brian Ebersole’s cartwheel kick knock out.” July 11, 2012.
8. Black Belt Wiki. “Cartwheel Kick” (Martial Arts Technique page).

Related MMA Terms