Oblique Kick

Last updated: May 25, 2026

What is an oblique kick?

The oblique kick is a long-range striking technique in MMA that targets the opponent’s knee with a pushing, diagonal motion. The foot is driven forward and slightly downward into the front of the kneecap or the area just above it, with the goal of forcing the joint to bend backward beyond its normal range. The strike can be thrown with either the lead leg or the rear leg.

The name is often linked to the oblique popliteal ligament, a stabilizing band of tissue at the back of the knee that the kick can damage when it hyperextends the joint. Other accounts credit UFC commentator Joe Rogan with popularizing the term on broadcasts. Either way, the name has nothing to do with the abdominal oblique muscles.

In a sport that combines striking with grappling, the oblique kick has a narrow tactical job: control range. By attacking the closest part of an advancing opponent, it blunts forward pressure and can leave the recipient with compromised mobility for the rest of the fight. Among MMA’s striking tools, it is one of the few legal techniques whose primary purpose is structural damage to a joint rather than blunt impact.

How the oblique kick works

The kicker raises the knee, then extends the leg straight forward into the front of the opponent’s lead leg, making contact at or just above the knee joint. Contact is usually made with the ball, heel, or arch of the foot rather than the shin or instep. The motion is closer to a stomp angled forward than to a swinging leg kick.

The damage comes from the position of the target. When an opponent steps forward with weight committed to the lead leg, the planted foot leaves the knee no escape route. The force of the kick drives the joint backward against the locked foot, hyperextending the leg and stressing the ligaments that hold the knee together.

That is why the kick is most effective against opponents who press forward in an orthodox or bladed stance. A retreating fighter or one with a light lead foot absorbs much less of the impact.

Oblique kick vs. push kick vs. stomp kick

The oblique kick is often confused with the front push kick (teep) and the stomp kick. All three involve extending the leg straight rather than swinging it, but they hit different targets with different goals.

Kick	Target	Angle	Primary purpose
Oblique kick	Front of the knee or just above	Diagonal forward, slightly downward	Hyperextend the knee, disrupt range
Push kick (teep)	Midsection, thigh, or hip	Straight horizontal forward	Create distance, score, set up strikes
Stomp kick	Knee or thigh of a grounded or standing opponent	Vertical downward	Damage with downward force

The teep is a Muay Thai staple used at long range to keep an opponent off balance and away. The stomp kick travels along a vertical line and is usually associated with martial arts like taekwondo or Wing Chun. The oblique kick sits between the two: forward like a teep, but angled into the knee like a stomp.

Is the oblique kick legal in MMA?

The oblique kick is legal under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, which govern the UFC and almost every other major North American MMA promotion. The Unified Rules list specific banned techniques such as 12-6 elbows (legalized in November 2024), strikes to the back of the head, and groin strikes. The oblique kick is not on that list. It is also permitted in Bellator MMA, ONE Championship, and other major global promotions, including Cage Warriors and the PFL.

The picture changes at lower levels and in other combat sports. Many amateur and semi-pro MMA sanctioning bodies prohibit the strike. Most kickboxing federations ban it outright. Muay Thai rules are mixed: under the International Kickboxing Federation’s Muay Thai ruleset, for example, thrusting kicks within roughly six inches of the knee are illegal, while strikes to the thigh or higher are allowed.

Why the oblique kick is controversial

The technique is one of the most divisive legal moves in MMA because of its injury potential. A clean oblique kick can damage the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), lateral collateral ligament (LCL), or the oblique popliteal ligament itself. Knee surgery and a year-long layoff are common outcomes.

Several high-profile cases have shaped the debate. Robert Whittaker required ACL surgery after taking oblique kicks from Yoel Romero at UFC 213 in 2017, according to The Body Lock. A year later at UFC Liverpool, Darren Till’s kicks tore Stephen Thompson’s MCL. The most cited case came at UFC Vegas 36 in September 2021, when Khalil Rountree finished Modestas Bukauskas with a single oblique kick that immediately tore Bukauskas’s MCL.

Fighters are split. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson told ESPN in 2013 that the strike “should be called the illegal kick” after losing to Jon Jones. Stephen Thompson told BJPenn.com it “should be made illegal.” Aljamain Sterling, Kelvin Gastelum, and Belal Muhammad have publicly called for a ban. On the other side, Dustin Poirier’s coach, Mike Brown, told MMA Fighting that he would “rather have a torn ACL than massive head trauma,” and Dan Hardy, Joe Schilling, Jimi Manuwa, and UFC commentator Michael Bisping have all argued the kick is part of the sport. The MMA Rules Committee said in 2021 it would evaluate the strike’s safety; no rule change has followed as of 2026.

Can an oblique kick be defended?

Unlike a roundhouse leg kick, an oblique kick cannot be checked by lifting and turning the shin into the incoming strike. Because the kick lands with the ball or heel of the foot against a vulnerable joint, the defender always loses that exchange.

Common defensive responses include sidestepping out of the line, switching stance so the targeted leg moves back, lifting the lead foot to take weight off the knee, or catching the kick and countering. Each option has trade-offs. Catching the foot opens a fighter to punches, since both hands drop in the process. Stance matters too. Bladed stances, like the karate stance Stephen Thompson uses, expose the lead knee. Square stances reduce that exposure but leave the head more open to punches.

Tristar coach Firas Zahabi, speaking to LowKickMMA, has argued that a fighter who exposes their knee in a sideways stance accepts the risk and should learn to defend it, like any other legal strike.

Where the oblique kick came from

The strike has roots in several traditional martial arts. Versions of it appear in Wing Chun (where it is sometimes called the “cross van” kick), French Savate (the chassé bas family), Japanese Kenpō, and Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do. In each case, the kick was used to control distance and attack a closing opponent’s lead leg.

Inside the cage, Royce Gracie used an early version in the first UFC events to keep strikers at bay before changing levels for a takedown. The modern offensive form is most associated with Jon Jones, who introduced it as a regular weapon during his light heavyweight title run. His coach, Mike Winkeljohn, the head striking coach at Jackson Wink MMA in Albuquerque, integrated the kick into Jones’s range-control system, and it became a signature of his fights with Quinton Jackson at UFC 135 in 2011, Lyoto Machida, and others.

Since then, fighters including Anderson Silva, Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker, Darren Till, Michelle Waterson, and Khalil Rountree have used the technique at the highest level.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who invented the oblique kick?

No single martial art owns the technique. It appears in Wing Chun, Savate, Kenpō, and Jeet Kune Do, all of which predate MMA. Jon Jones popularized the modern UFC version starting around 2011.

Has anyone won a UFC fight directly with an oblique kick?

Yes. Khalil Rountree finished Modestas Bukauskas at UFC Vegas 36 in September 2021 when his oblique kick caused an immediate MCL injury and forced referee Herb Dean to stop the fight.

Is the oblique kick legal in Muay Thai?

It depends on the federation. Most kickboxing rulesets ban it outright. Some Muay Thai rulesets permit the kick to the thigh but disallow it within a narrow zone around the kneecap.

Why does the oblique kick cause so much knee damage?

The force is directed backward into a planted, weight-bearing leg. With the foot locked to the floor and the body pressing forward, the joint has nowhere to go, and the ligaments take the load.

Did Joe Rogan name the oblique kick?

Jon Jones has credited Joe Rogan with popularizing the name in MMA commentary, though the strike itself existed under other names in older martial arts long before Rogan called it that on the air.

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Sources

1. UFC. “Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.” Accessed May 2026.
2. The Body Lock. “The Oblique Kick: Understanding MMA’s most controversial leg kick.” Updated April 2023.
3. GroundedMMA. “What Is an Oblique Kick in MMA/UFC?” Updated May 2023.
4. BJPenn.com. “Should side kicks to the knee be illegal in MMA? Stephen Thompson shares his thoughts.”
5. MMA Fighting. “Mike Brown on oblique kicks in MMA.” 2021.
6. Sportskeeda. “Kelvin Gastelum believes oblique kick should be made illegal.” September 2021.
7. MMA News. “MMA Rules Committee will evaluate the safety of the oblique kick.” September 2021.
8. Elite Sports. “What Moves Are Banned in The UFC?” March 2025.

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