UFC Illegal Moves: Can You Kick an Opponent on the Ground?

The UFC and most other MMA promotions follow the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts adopted by the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) for their fights. Anything out of that rulebook is considered an illegal move in the UFC. Well, there are quite a few of them that the fighters need to have in the back of their mind all the time.

The former UFC bantamweight champ, Aljamain Sterling‘s UFC 259 title victory clarified that knees to the head of a grounded opponent are an illegal move in UFC. But the case isn’t much different with kicks either. Throwing a kick to the head of the grounded opponent can result in an instant disqualification of the fighter. However, it’s legal to attack the legs of a grounded rival with kicks.

The UFC 294 presented another display of an illegal knee inside the octagon. It ended the light heavyweight fight between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker in a no-contest. However, several fans may be wondering if there are any examples of illegal head kicks in the UFC or not.

Has any fighter thrown an illegal kick in the UFC to date?

It’s perfectly alright to kick your opponent in the head while standing. But the game changes entirely once he gets grounded. Landing a head kick in such a situation can end the fight then and there. However, UFC fighters have been pretty much vigilant towards following this rule.

The UFC light heavyweight Johnny Walker stands as the only fighter who ever tried to land an illegal head kick on his rival. Fortunately for Walker, the kick did not connect, saving him from getting disqualified. The entire incident took place at UFC Fight Night 144 when Walker faced Justin Ledet.

However, the illegal head kick isn’t the only strike that the fighters have to refrain from. There are a plethora of others as well. Some fans also may have witnessed instances where a UFC fighter tried to apply them.

List of other illegal moves in UFC

MMA is often considered being the sport of blood and injuries. This is why the rules are of immense importance. They can often be the barrier between a fighter’s life and death as well. It can be agreed that the current set of rules serve pretty well to ensure that a UFC fighter doesn’t sustain unrecoverable damage. Here’s a look at the list of illegal moves in the UFC other than kicking or kneeing a grounded opponent.

• Eyepokes
• Headbutting
• Hair Pulling (mostly females)
• Fish Hooking
• Groin Attacks
• Rabbit Punches
• 12 to 6 elbows
• Finger-locking the gloves
• Fence Grabs

It’s quite apparent that avid UFC fans may have known about quite a few of these. But every fighter needs to be cautious about illegal moves that might end their fight in defeat, even if they were in a commanding position. Hence, the pundits who say that fighting requires a sound mind apart from a tough physique are indeed correct.