The Spinning Wheel Kick
Acrobatic kicks are thrilling to watch, but actually landing them effectively can be very hard.
Edson Barboza is one fighter who can pull such techniques off effortlessly thoug, and he proved just how devastating they can be when he unleashed a spinning wheel kick against Terry Etim at UFC 142 in 2012.
The force of the impact from the kick instantly KO’d Etim, who was frozen stiff with one arm stuck in the air as his body toppled like a tree onto the mat and then remained unconscious for a long time afterwards.
It remains one of the all-time classic UFC knockouts and since then the spinning wheel kick, and it’s closely associated sibling, the spinning hook kick, have found more popularity in the sport, with the likes of Junior dos Santos, Vitor Belfort, Uriah Hall and Lando Vanatta also finding success with these spectacular fight-enders.
