California Commission Wants to Ban Oblique Kicks After UFC 331
CSAC executive director Andy Foster says he wants to discuss making lateral knee kicks a foul following an incident at UFC 331.
The California State Athletic Commission may be coming for oblique kicks. Executive director Andy Foster says he wants to discuss banning lateral kicks to the knee, one of the most polarizing legal techniques in MMA, per Sherdog.
The conversation was prompted by an incident at UFC 331 in Los Angeles, where Edmen Shahbazyan complained to the referee during his fight against Brunno Ferreira about side-kicks to the knee, apparently unaware that the technique was legal under current unified rules.
Foster believes the technique can "deal dangerous damage to the knee at certain angles" and wants to consult medical professionals before proposing a formal rule change. Oblique kicks have been a divisive topic in MMA for years. Defenders argue they are a legitimate range management tool. Critics call them a cheap shot that risks career-ending knee injuries.
The technique is already banned in most training gyms as an unwritten rule, but it remains fully legal in professional competition. Fighters like Jon Jones and Dustin Poirier have drawn criticism for using them effectively, though no formal push to outlaw them has gained traction until now.
Foster is also proposing a separate change to how fouls are classified. Rather than the current "intentional" versus "unintentional" framework, he wants fouls labeled as "incidental, reckless, or malicious." The goal is to reduce eye pokes and encourage fighters to keep their hands closed rather than extending open fingers.
Any rule change would need broader adoption beyond California to have a meaningful impact, but CSAC has historically been an influential commission in shaping unified MMA rules.
Ban them. I have felt this way for years and Andy Foster finally saying it out loud is overdue. The oblique kick does not win fights, it ends careers. Every gym I know already bans it in sparring for exactly that reason. If it is too dangerous to practice, it is too dangerous to be legal.
The defenders will say it is range management. Fine. So is a jab, and a jab does not blow out an ACL at the wrong angle. The fact that it took Shahbazyan complaining to a referee, not even knowing the kick was legal, to get this conversation started tells you how few fighters actually want the technique in the sport.
The foul reclassification is the sneaky bigger story. Incidental, reckless or malicious is a much smarter framework than intentional or unintentional, especially for eye pokes. After what happened to Aspinall, anything that makes fighters close their hands is worth trying. California leads, everyone else follows eventually.
