Valentina Shevchenko has sided with a large portion of MMA fans who want the dangerous oblique kick to be banned from the sport.
After an oblique kick cut Modestas Bukauskas’ night short and rounded off a solid performance for Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC Vegas 36, the majority of fans and pundits who follow mixed martial arts have debated whether the infamous technique should be banned.
Current and former fighters have had their say on the issue. Now, UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko has weighed in with her opinion on the potentially devastating kick.
While speaking to Fanatics View, Valentina Shevchenko shared her thoughts on the dangers the oblique kick brings.
“To the knee, it’s a very dangerous kick. Yeah, it’s a very bad kick because you have very bad injury from this kick,” described Shevchenko.
Despite agreeing with those who believe the kick shouldn’t be legal, the 33-year-old explained that competitors should prepare themselves when heading into fights.
“Probably yes [the kick should be banned]. But at the same time, you just have to be ready. You just have to prepare,” Valentina said. “You cannot ban all kicks, right? You cannot ban everything. It’s kind of like it’s mixed-martial-arts. It’s kind of allowed.”
Valentina then went into a little depth of how Rountree’s kick ended the fight the way it did.
“It wasn’t a kick right to the knee. It was kick right to the thigh, a little bit higher than (the) knee. But then, the kick just slid down a little bit, and that’s why [it happened],” stated Shevchenko. “I think most fighters have to think about, it can happen and just start (training) for this, to be ready for this.”
Valentina Shevchenko puts her UFC gold on the line when she faces Lauren Murphy in the co-main event of UFC 266 on September 25.
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