Finally! The MMA Gods have listened to the collective prayers of casual and hardcore fans alike as they have anointed the great Andy Foster to look into a technique that has shelved and ended the careers of many an MMA fighter. The powerful and deadly strike goes by many names but I, as a die-hard Joe Rogan loyalist, call it the OBLIQUE KICK.
This controversial kick has been used by many, but most notably by Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, and Khalil Rountree. It’s no wonder in some circles it’s called the illegal kick because it’s impossible to block or counter. In fact, unlike a submission, you cannot even tap to it. It’s truly amazing we’ve made it to 2026 without it being banned yet.
If you haven’t felt a shiver up your spine at merely reading the words OBLIQUE KICK, then that means you are unfamiliar with the devastating move. Worry not, for there is a video explaining it in perfect detail by the one who arguably made it most famous and used it most effectively. The one, the only, Jonny Bones Jones.
Speaking of interesting history, it is only fair that I mention the UFC OG who harnessed the power of Bruce Lee’s stop kick, Keith Hackney.
Before Jones made the oblique kick famous, the aforementioned Anderson Silva obliterated Thales Leites so horribly at UFC 97 that the Association of Boxing Commissions’ committee had to review the legality of this lethal blow. Ultimately, the MMA Gods decided the ABC were not honorable enough to enact such a monumental change, and the strike remained legal in 2009. ABC committee report.
Who was on the committee in 2009, you ask?
Committee Chair Nick Lembo, New Jersey Jim Erickson, Mille Lacs Andy Foster, Georgia Dale Kliparchuk, River Cree Keith Kizer, Nevada Josef Mason, Colorado Mike Mazzulli, Mohegan Sun Bernie Profato, Ohio
Interesting.
Fighters and fans alike have endured years and years of watching this strike go unchecked. Jon Jones, Joe Rogan, and Rampage Jackson have spent more than a decade running competing marketing campaigns bringing awareness to the masses. Jon Jones obviously a proponent, Rampage Jackson in opposition, as he was the one to suffer the most from Jon Jones using it against him, and Joe Rogan discussing it at length during Jon’s fights and on his podcast, more as a mediator. I do believe Joe Rogan lands on the side of supporting the legality of this strike, as well as wanting MMA to take place on a basketball court.
But despite all of Jon, Joe, and Rampage’s marketing of this strike, no one has brought more viral awareness than Khalil Rountree when he shelved Modestas Bukauskas’ career with perhaps the most effective use of the technique to date. Beware, this video is disturbing.
Shameful.
Now, in 2026, the issue has returned to California’s athletic regulators. Following UFC 331, California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Andy Foster called for discussion of making lateral knee kicks a foul. The renewed attention followed Brunno Ferreira’s use of knee-directed kicks against Edmen Shahbazyan, who complained to the referee during their September 19 fight. The strikes were legal. Shahbazyan won by unanimous decision. It comes as no surprise that Edmen Shahbazyan was complaining! You can’t blame him for thinking this deadly technique was banned! It is 2026! Sherdog’s report, UFC’s result.
Absolutely disgraceful. Is there no honor amongst fighters?
Luckily, the most powerful person out of all the athletic commissions was present at UFC 331, as it took place under his jurisdiction in Cali: Andy Foster. Andy was once the Executive Director of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission but, on November 7, 2012, was hired as Executive Officer of the California State Athletic Commission. Andy would rather be God damned than have this blasphemous technique used in his state. Aaron Bronsteter reports:
Andy Foster has a great responsibility bestowed upon him by the MMA Gods.
- What will he officially call the kick? Lateral knee kick, low-line side kick, stop kick, knee stomp, push kick to the knee, illegal kick - AH, THE LIST IS ENDLESS!
- Defining exactly what the technique is and where it would have to land to be considered a foul.
But will MMA run into another trivial foul like the knees/kicks to the head of a grounded opponent? That would be a terrible side effect of banning this strike.
Hmm…
What I’m about to say could be very controversial, so I do want to preface it with a sincere apology. I know I could be barred from the MMA community for this idea but please, hear me out.
I’m sorry.
What if fighters either blocked the strike or, better yet, countered it? Is this even an option? Can this actually be done?
Well, using my dedicated Qubes OS machine, routed through a Whonix gateway, chained into Tor, pushed through a separate VPN tunnel, isolated behind a hardware firewall and connected over a hardwired Ethernet line to a network I will not be discussing further, I was finally able to uncover the answer.
The answer is yes, it can be done. There have been examples in the past that have flown under the radar. Luckily, those much smarter than I were able to identify them. Most notably, Phantom Punch Breakdowns:
I’m being ridiculous. No one wants to see it in the sport anymore. Not even the UFC is defending the legality of the kick, as Dana White said he and the UFC are backing Andy’s decision to review the technique. It’s ended so many careers that it cannot possibly stand to be legal any longer.
Andy Foster is quite literally a godsend. How is it that he’s survived for nearly 14 years in the hellhole that is California? With their crime and homelessness. Not even the great Tito Ortiz, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy, vouches for this state any longer due to the woke agenda. Andy Foster is a beacon of hope in the foggy darkness that is the Golden State. TKO should truly think about hiring this man to fix other atrocities left unattended, such as the gloves, eyepokes, judging, and refereeing. Sorry, Marc Ratner, your time has come to step down.
The final fight is not over yet. Foster has publicly floated the idea. CSAC has not yet published a formal rule change proposal to ban the technique.
In the meantime, we can only pray no other fighters’ careers are sidelined or come to an end as a result of this technique that should’ve been left as simply an idea in Bruce Lee’s mind.
Andy Foster getting knocked out by Amar Suloev
