What Does Dana White’s Agreement to Ban Oblique Kicks Mean for the UFC?

Recently, the topic of banning oblique kicks as a strike in MMA has gained steam. Now, one of the sport's top voices has added to the fire. 

What Does Dana White’s Agreement To Ban Oblique Kicks Mean for the UFC?

The UFC may be heading toward a significant change in the way fighters are allowed to attack the legs. UFC CEO  Dana White has backed California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster’s proposal to make oblique kicks, specifically lateral kicks directed at the knee, illegal in MMA.

White was asked about Foster’s comments following the latest episode of Dana White’s Contender Series and made his position clear.

“Listen, he’s the most powerful guy in the commission anywhere in the world, and he’s the best. And we don’t disagree.”

That doesn't mean the UFC has already banned the technique. The Unified Rules of MMA would need to be amended, and athletic commissions would have to adopt the change.

White’s support matters because the UFC has historically worked within the Unified Rules and has supported efforts to update them.  Perhaps more importantly, this debate is not happening in a vacuum.

Why Are Oblique Kicks Suddenly Under the Microscope?

The conversation gained fresh attention after UFC 331 in Los Angeles. During Edmen Shahbazyan’s unanimous decision win over Brunno Ferreira on Sept. 19, Shahbazyan appeared to complain to referee Mike Beltran about Ferreira using side kicks toward his knee.

The technique was legal under the current rules, but the moment highlighted a problem that MMA has wrestled with for years:  Many fans, and apparently some fighters, are still unclear about exactly where the line is drawn when attacking the knee. The issue had already been building.

At UFC Paris earlier this month, Michael Page used an oblique kick against Nursulton Ruziboev, who subsequently required hospital treatment and knee surgery. Ruziboev had also recently returned from double ACL surgery, making the incident particularly uncomfortable to watch, although the injury circumstances are more complicated than simply attributing the damage to one kick.

There is also precedent involving Khalil Rountree Jr. In 2021, Rountree stopped Modestas Bukauskas with an oblique kick that severely damaged Bukauskas' knee and kept him out for an extended period. These examples have made the technique impossible to ignore.

UFC's Complicated Relationship With Oblique Kick

The irony is that the oblique kick has become part of modern MMA strategy precisely because it works. Jon Jones helped popularize the technique at the highest level. Used correctly, it's not simply a strike designed to injure an opponent. It can disrupt stance, control distance, discourage forward pressure and make wrestling entries more difficult.

That's why banning it would have consequences beyond removing one kick from a fighter's arsenal. A fighter like Jones built entire sequences around controlling an opponent's movement. Robert Whittaker and other elite fighters have also incorporated attacks to the legs as part of broader defensive and offensive systems.

Remove the oblique kick and coaches will have to find other ways to accomplish some of those same objectives.

Important Historical Detail Regarding Oblique Kicks

Interestingly, this is not the first time athletic commissions have considered banning linear strikes to the knee.

An Association of Boxing Commissions committee discussed the issue in 2009 after the Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites fight. The committee ultimately recommended keeping linear knee strikes legal for professional MMA, while the issue was treated differently at the amateur level. Medical opinions at the time acknowledged that certain strikes to a planted knee could produce serious injuries, while other officials argued that the technique could be defended and that other legal strikes could be more damaging.

That history is important because it shows why the current discussion should not be reduced to “Dana White wants to ban Jon Jones' signature move.”

The question is whether the sport's understanding of knee injuries has changed enough to justify changing the rules.

What Would an Oblique Kick Ban Mean for UFC Fighters?

If the proposal eventually becomes part of the Unified Rules, fighters would lose an effective tool for controlling distance and attacking an opponent's stance. The bigger challenge would be defining exactly what constitutes an illegal oblique kick.

A kick to the thigh is legal. A traditional low kick is legal. Attacking the leg is fundamental to MMA. The rule therefore cannot simply say that kicking toward the knee is illegal without creating confusion for referees and fighters.

The language would have to distinguish between legal leg attacks and a kick deliberately directed into the side or front of the knee joint. That could become the hardest part of the entire process.

For the UFC, however, there is also a larger issue at stake: fighter safety versus the evolution of technique.

MMA has never been a sport without risk. The Unified Rules already prohibit numerous techniques because regulators have decided certain forms of damage are unacceptable. The question now is whether oblique kicks belong in that category.

Dana White's support suggests the UFC is prepared to have that conversation. It doesn't mean the ban is official yet. If Andy Foster succeeds in changing the Unified Rules, the UFC could enter a new era where one of the most recognizable leg attacks in modern MMA becomes a foul.

That would change far more than the rulebook. It would change how fighters manage distance, defend takedowns and build their entire game around the legs.