Should MMA really ban those potentially knee-shredding oblique kicks? Mailbag

Should the MMA community rally around the push to ban oblique kicks to the knee, or do we need to be clearer about what exactly we dislike about it first? Plus, how is it possible that the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua fight has been made and still Eddie Hearn and Dana White are arguing about it?

All that and more in this week's mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA on X or @Ben_Fowlkes on Threads.

Visit esporist.org for more information.

@LaManchaMMAx: From a pure sporting perspective. Is it better to ban oblique kicks? Regardless if it's illogical. Do we get why they want to ban them?

I totally get why people are talking about banning the straight-on kick to the kneecap. I also don't know if the ban idea holds up to any sort of rational scrutiny.

First, let's ask ourselves why we want to ban it. I'm guessing the stated reason will be because the perceived risk of injury from this move is unacceptably high. But let's be honest with ourselves and admit that the real reason is because it seems gross and unseemly and just generally kind of like a cheap move for pro fighters to be doing to each other.

Is that enough reason to ban it, though? And what would the text of that rule even look like? This sport allows fighters to kick each other's legs in all kinds of ways. So what, the direct kick straight to the kneecap is the only one that's banned? What if I launch the same exact kick at your thigh or your ankle? What if I just stick my foot out there and you run into it with your knee? Seems to me we could be headed for some 12-to-6 elbow situations all over again.

Plus, plenty of totally legal moves that pro fighters do to each other are likely to cause injuries. People get kicked in the head, kneed in the face and slammed onto the backs of their skulls with great regularity. They get arms snapped and ligaments torn by submissions. The rounds are scored, first and foremost, according to who inflicts the most damage. That's literally the judging criteria! So why is this the one form of damage that is suddenly unacceptable?

I think the answer is: because we just don't like how it looks. And honestly, that's just not enough for me. Especially since the threat of career-ending injuries from this seems mostly theoretical at this point, with very few actual cases.

Britain's Anthony Joshua (L) and Albania's Kristian Prenga trade blows during their heavyweight fight at the Jeddah Superdome on July 26, 2026.- via Getty Images

@Beastin364: Thoughts on the Fury vs. AJ announcement? I had given up on them getting this done tbh

I think ultimately there was too much money on the table for all sides not to figure it out eventually. A part of me is still skeptical. I've been of the "let me know when they're in the ring together on fight night" school of thought for a while now. But I'm encouraged by this development and by the fact that they decided to do it in the U.K., which only makes sense. I also think doing it on Netflix creates the opportunity for an absolutely massive event, which boxing could use right now.

But my god, have you ever seen two grown men act as childish about relatively frivolous details as Eddie Hearn and Dana White? They're like two prima donna actors arguing over whose name should be in bigger letters on the movie poster.

Except, no, that's not accurate. The actors are more important to the final product than they are. They're more like two executive producers bickering endlessly about the order in which their names appear in the openings credits, and meanwhile we all just want to watch the movie! Their petty beef and their egos have been an obstacle to this thing all along, and now they want to argue about who deserves the credit for making it happen. Unbelievable (but actually totally believable).

@Screenplaya: Has anyone ever won a title in a more egregious manner than Ciryl Gane? Foul the champ so horribly that he eventually has to relinquish, earn interim belt over LHW you also fouled, get named lineal champ. A real rags-to-bulls*** story.

It's a tough situation for Ciryl Gane.Jeff Bottari via Getty Images

It's not exactly an honor won through glorious combat, is it? And I have a feeling that this might follow Ciryl Gane around for a while.

Say he beats Josh Hokit at UFC 334 in November. Will that make us look at him as the baddest man on the planet? I doubt it. We all saw him get manhandled by Jon Jones and outwrestled by a one-legged version of Francis Ngannou. Beating a contender who we're not even sure what to make of yet wouldn't erase all that.

I don't think anything short of a legitimate and decisive victory over Tom Aspinall would earn Gane the full measure of respect due the undisputed UFC heavyweight champ. And because of his own wayward fingers, he may never get the chance.

@justlikelasagna: Everything outside the UFC cage is still straight poppycock, but inside the cage, different story. Tsarukyan's elbow vaulted him into a title fight, Pitbull finally Pitbull-d, and then there was Sharaf! Which was the most impressive win?

It's got to be Sean Sharaf. That man was hand-picked to be the next Gable Steveson victim. Counted out by matchmakers and oddsmakers. Thrown to the blue-chip wolf. Still he showed up at the press conference and called that man out right to his face, then knocked him out in 12 seconds. It's got to be one of the single greatest UFC performances that transformed a nobody to a somebody in record time.

@TommyLoce: Was Charles Jourdain losing to a guy on a 4 fight skid and literally quitting before his body fully hit the canvas perhaps the most Canadian "thing" ever witnessed on live television?

First of all, I'll hear no slander against the great nation of Canada or its people. I don't know how anyone could follow this sport and question the toughness of Canadians, especially since one of them is and will always be a true MMA great in every possible sense. But if you need more evidence of the toughness that exists north of the border, watch literally any NHL game. That league is littered with Canadians, and those guys will get their faces split open and be back on the ice as soon as they can get stitched up.

Second, according to Charles Jourdain, he lost his eyesight in the third round of the fight against Marlon Vera. He was dropped by a punch and was about to take even more of them, in the service of a lost cause, and for what? Just to prove his mettle to the jabronis on the internet? There's all kinds of ways of quitting in this sport. One of the main ways to win is by submission! And plenty of the people who cover up and wait for the ref know full well what they're doing. They just don't want to be criticized for tapping to strikes, as if the distinction is really all that important.

Jourdain has been a pro MMA fighter for 10 years, and in the UFC continuously for the last seven of those years. Nobody achieves that without being uncommonly tough. He doesn't need to take pointless extra punishment just to prove it to us.

@ewillcock: Can you relate some MMA fighters to their muppet character equivalents?

Merab Dvalishvili = Fozzie Bear

Sean Strickland = Gonzo

Ronda Rousey = Miss Piggy

Paulo Costa = Sam Eagle

Mackenzie Dern = Janice

Arman Tsarukyan = Animal

Matt Serra = Rizzo the Rat

Statler and Waldorf = The Boys In The Back

No one is Kermit. No one in this sport is that pure of heart. Not one person.

Read full story at source