The tale of the tape for UFC fighters currently features nationality, age, height, weight and “reach”.
Well prepare for the sixth element that we’ve all been waiting for as our very own Cathal Pendred revealed today that the Las Vegas promotion has started measuring legs to get an accurate reading of the kicking reach of competitors.
I just got my legs measured. The @ufc are now measuring the reach of a fighters legs. I’ve wanted to see this for years! #KickReach
— Cathal Pendred (@PendredMMA) January 15, 2015
This aspect of fighting has long been ignored by mixed martial arts promotions as they initially adopted the tale of the tape from the boxing template and just never got around to fixing it.
But all that’s about to change and we’re finally going to see just how much of an advantage fighters such as Jon Jones and Anderson Silva have over their stubby-legged counterparts when it comes to kicking.
If you look at the successful fighters in the UFC today, it becomes clear that kick-based disciplines are at an all time high in the sport with Anthony Pettis, Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida and a host of others all availing of their long legs to connect with kicks.
If you look at the legs of 6’6″ middleweight Luke Barnatt, 6′ 5″ light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson and 7′ 0″ heavyweight Stefan Struve and compare it to the legs of respective divisional counterparts in 5′ 9″ Daniel Sarafian, 5′ 10″ Ilir Latifi and 5′ 10″ Mark Hunt, then you can clearly see the necessity for leg reach to be taken into consideration.
The importance of the introduction of leg reach to the description of fighters cannot be overstated as it is a giant step forward for the sport of MMA to separate itself from the world of boxing.
In 2015 we will see “kick reach” and, who knows, maybe 2016 will be the year we’ll finally be rid of the antiquated 10-point must system.
What a time to be a fight fan!
