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This weekend’s UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Brunson event saw Khalil Rountree pick up a win over Modestas Bukauskas. The route to victory was just as controversial as it was brutal. That's thanks to Rountree's use of an oblique kick to finish the fight.
Over the years, we’ve seen numerous UFC fighters use somewhat questionable, or downright illegal, moves to their advantage inside the octagon, often winning fights with them.
Rountree’s use of the oblique kick has been equally condemned and praised online. While the debate about the strike rages on, there’s no denying how effective it was in putting Bukauskas away.
And as the debate surrounding whether the kick should be banned continues, here's a look at five times UFC fighters used questionable moves to their advantage in the octagon.
#5. Oblique kick - Khalil Rountree vs. Modestas Bukauskas at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till
Khalil Rountree wasn’t the first fighter to use the oblique kick to great effect in the UFC. Jon Jones basically introduced the move in his fight with ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Both Darren Till and Robert Whittaker have also unleashed it against unwitting opponents.
But nobody until Rountree had ever used the oblique kick to such devastating effect. ‘The War Horse’ used the strike to stop Modestas Bukauskas at the UFC’s most recent Fight Night show. The kick has left ‘The Baltic Warrior’ requiring knee surgery.
It was hard not to be impressed with Rountree’s use of the kick. He reportedly recognised that Bukauskas would be susceptible to it due to the fact that he heavily plants his lead leg in order to throw jabs. But despite this, nobody really wants to see a UFC fighter land in hospital following a fight, particularly when the trip is likely to result in surgery.
The oblique kick is currently not an illegal strike in the UFC. But a number of fighters, including 'Rampage' Jackson, Vinc Pichel, Uros Medic and Belal Muhammad, have suggested it ought to be.
And given how successful Rountree’s use of it proved to be, there’s probably a chance that it’ll become an even more common strike in the near future. That may force UFC officials to look into whether or not it really belongs in the octagon.
#4. Fishhook – Bryan Caraway vs. Erik Perez at UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Khabilov
The UFC’s rule book, which follows the Unified Rules of MMA, lists a number of banned techniques. They include headbutts, groin strikes and small joint manipulation.
Among the banned techniques is the fish hook, which essentially sees a fighter insert their fingers into the mouth or nose of their opponent and pulling. It goes without saying that the technique is frowned upon in nearly all martial arts circles.
However, this highly unsavory technique has been used in the UFC, and surprisingly enough, the incident in question didn’t take place in the promotion’s Dark Ages. Instead, it happened on a 2014 UFC Fight Night card in a bantamweight bout between veteran Bryan Caraway and prospect Erik Perez.
The first round of the fight saw Caraway take Perez’s back. And as ‘El Goyito’ worked to defend a potential rear-naked choke, the camera clearly showed Caraway inserting his fingers into the Mexican’s mouth and yanking for all he was worth.
Incredibly, the move went completely unnoticed by referee Raul Porrata. Perez survived the round, only to succumb to a choke in the second round.
Naturally, though, online fans were shocked and appalled by the use of such a questionable move. They were further stunned when Caraway appeared to admit to it in a Facebook post. He stated that he didn’t realize he’d done it until after the fight. He immediately apologized when he was told about it.
That didn’t make things much better, though, and despite his win, ‘Kid Lightning’ saw his reputation with the fans go downhill after the fight.
#3. Faceplant/Pedigree – Alan Belcher vs. Patrick Cote at UFC 113
Among the UFC’s banned techniques is any kind of move that spikes a fighter onto their head. That's essentially the equivalent of professional wrestling’s largely outlawed piledriver.
Thankfully for UFC fighters, and their necks, we’ve never seen a piledriver used inside the octagon, although the move did appear at times in Japan’s Pride Fighting Championships.
But in his fight with Patrick Cote at UFC 113, Alan Belcher pushed the rules to their absolute limit. And in doing so, he used a similar, highly questionable technique to set up a rear-naked choke finish.
The incident in question saw Cote shoot in for a takedown, only for ‘The Talent’ to block it before underhooking the Canadian’s body. He then lifted him into the air and drove him into the ground face-first.
The move resembled pro-wrestler Triple H’s infamous ‘Pedigree’ move. Despite Belcher not underhooking Cote’s arms, the effect was basically the same.
‘The Predator’ was so stunned that he was unable to defend, and Belcher quickly spun onto his back, locked up a choke and forced him to submit.
The fans in attendance at the show were horrified by what they’d seen, although to be fair, some of their reaction was perhaps down to Cote being a hometown fighter. Even so, whether or not the technique used by Belcher was actually illegal, or simply questionable, remains debatable over a decade on.
#2. Punches to the back of the head – Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin at UFC 103
Although they’re sometimes seen as unavoidable, punches to the back of the head are an outlawed technique in the UFC due to the excess damage they can do to a fighter taking them.
A number of fighters have had points deducted for using them, Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 being one example, and some have even been disqualified. However, there's one fighter who seemingly got away with punches to the back of the head on a regular basis.
That fighter was UFC legend Vitor Belfort. The Brazilian’s use of this illegal technique is fascinating from a number of different standpoints, most notably because he never carried the reputation of being a dirty fighter.
In reality, Belfort probably didn’t necessarily mean to land punches to the back of the head of his opponents. Most of the time, it looked like he was simply throwing flurries with such ferocity that he didn’t really care which part of his opponent’s head he was hitting.
However, his use of punches to the back of the head in his 2009 clash with Rich Franklin was so egregious that it’s hard to understand why referee Yves Lavigne didn’t call foul.
Even the shot that initially dropped ‘Ace’ appeared to slightly connect with the back of his ear at best. The flurry that followed was almost certainly illegal. However, Lavigne failed to spot this, allowing Belfort to claim a first-round TKO win.
And incredibly, it wasn’t the only time Belfort used this technique to tremendous effect in the UFC. A similar flurry, complete with shots to the back of the head, ended the night of Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133.
#1. Shoulder crank – Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira at UFC 172
Perhaps no other fighter in UFC history has been accused of using questionable techniques in the octagon quite as often as Jon Jones.
The former UFC light heavyweight kingpin not only introduced the controversial oblique kick to the promotion in his 2011 clash with ‘Rampage’ Jackson, but he’s also been known to land eye pokes on his opponents on a regular basis.
Even his lone loss in the UFC came via disqualification after he used illegal downward elbows to stop Matt Hamill. However, the most questionable move ‘Bones’ ever used in the octagon wasn’t actually an illegal one, even if some fans might’ve considered it immoral.
The technique in question was used by Jones in his fight with Glover Teixeira at UFC 172. The move saw him crank the shoulder of the Brazilian with such force that his labrum was torn.
While nothing in the UFC’s rules suggested this move was illegal, usually a fighter would have the chance to submit before suffering such an injury. In this instance, Teixeira was given no warning.
And worryingly, it appeared that Jones had lifted the technique directly from Japanese fighter Shinya Aoki. He'd snapped the arm of Keith Wisniewski using the same move almost a decade earlier.
Whether Jones could be accused of being a dirty fighter due to his use of this move is highly debatable, but it’s definitely one of the more questionable things he’s done inside the octagon.
