Kicks are one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal in mixed martial arts so you should spend as much time working on them as you do practicing your punching techniques. One-dimensional strikers who are only good at punching typically don’t do well in mixed martial arts since kickers can simply pick them apart from range.
Make sure you incorporate styles like Kickboxing and Muay Thai into your mixed martial arts training to ensure your striking skills are well-rounded enough to keep up with the competition.
Once you’ve learned all the basic kicks used in mixed martial and some basic combinations, it’s time to move up to more advanced kick combos.
Eight Effective Advanced Kicking Combinations Used In Mixed Martial Arts
Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the kick combos that have been proven to be effective inside the cage:
1) Lead Teep, Switch Kick , Cross, Hook, Rear Roundhouse Kick
This combination mixes things up pretty well, making it challenging for your opponents to predict what’s coming next. The teep and the switch kick are set-up strikes you throw to establish the range and keep your opponent guessing before you throw the other strikes.
Focus on speed and power when throwing these strikes, before putting serious power on the cross to the head, the hook, and lastly, the right kick that follows. The cross and hook should be thrown hard, but the right kick to the body is the real money maker here. Throw it with everything you have and aim for your opponent’s liver. It’s a fight-ending attack if it lands cleanly.
2) Step Back, Inside Leg Kick, Cross, Low Kick
This combination starts with you stepping back to confuse your opponent and then immediately whipping your lead leg at your opponent, aiming for the inner part of their thigh, which we call an inside leg kick.
Follow the inside leg kick with a powerful cross before ending the combination with a low kick thrown with your rear leg. Your opponent’s head makes a good target too hence you can replace the low kick with a head kick instead.
3) Jab, Cross, Lead Teep, Rear Roundhouse Kick
Start the combination with a basic jab-cross combination, then follow immediately with a lead teep to your opponent’s body. The push kick will push your opponent out of range which allows you to throw a rear roundhouse kick to their midsection, throwing them off-guard.
4) Lead Jab, Lead Hook, Lead Teep, Rear Roundhouse Kick
This combination starts by throwing a lead jab to your opponent’s head, followed by a hook from the same side before landing a lead teep on their midsection. From there, immediately follow up with a rear roundhouse to the head or liver. If you are a southpaw, your combinations would look exactly like the video above.
5) Jab, Cross, Left Hook, Spinning Back Kick
Here’s a crafty way to set up a powerful spinning backkick. MMA fans love their spinning attacks so add a few of these to your toolkit to win some fans over.
Start by throwing a basic jab-cross combination to get your opponent to bring their hands to the front of their face, then try to weave a lead hook behind their guard. Jab, cross combinations are an effective way to set up lead hooks so put lots of power into the hook since there’s a good chance it lands.
Regardless of how clean the hook connects, throwing it puts you in a perfect position to launch into a spin. Fire off the spinning back kick, aiming for their midsection. The first three strikes you throw should have your opponent thinking high when you go low.
6) Hook, Feint Hook, Spinning Back Kick
Here’s a combination done by Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon from ONE Championship which you can impress fight fans with. You start with a lead hook to your opponent’s head, then you feint another lead hook to have their guard high before spinning into a back kick, landing with your lead leg.
If you see an opening to the midsection after throwing the hook, you can also opt to land the roundhouse before entering into your spin.
7) Jab, Lead Hook, High Kick
This combination mixes up your attacks nicely. Start with a jab to establish range, and follow up with a hard lead hook to the head or torso. Follow through the combination with a high kick to your opponent’s head.
8) Jab, Jab To The Body, Teep, Slide Teep
Here’s another combination that mixes high and low attacks. Start the sequence with two quick jabs, with the first aimed at the head, while the other targets the torso. Immediately push your opponent away with a teep to the body and when they regain their balance and move forward, throw a slide push kick to their torso to make them off-balance again.
Mastering Advanced Punch Combinations
Some of the things you can do to master these advanced kicking combinations include:
- Shadowboxing: Shadowboxing is how seasoned strikers master any technique. Find a spot you can freely move around, preferably one with many mirrors, and work on your combinations until they become second nature to you. Start slow so you can get the proper technique down before speeding things up.
- Focus Mitts: Focus mitts are another effective way to perfect your striking techniques. Find an instructor or training partner to hold pads for you and practice your combos as often as you can. Your instructor or training partner can give you feedback on the things you’re doing right or wrong.
- Heavy Bags: Heavy bags help you to make your combinations more powerful so don’t miss any opportunities to work on these. Don’t just mindlessly throw combinations when using the heavy bad; instead, move with the bag as if it were an opponent.
- Sparring: Sparring is where you get a chance to practice your newly learned combinations on resisting opponents. It’s the most effective way to improve your timing and accuracy.
Practice Until You Master Them All
Try out these combinations and add them to your arsenal. Once you have slowly mastered all the combinations on our list, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with inside the cage.
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