Man, there is so much in this interview that Luke Thomas did with Chris Weidman’s coach Ray Longo that even though I’m posting a snippet, you owe yourself to check the whole thing out. Thomas gets to the bottom of the whole “destruction” leg check that Chris Weidman used against Anderson Silva at Ray Longo’s urging, the origins of it, legitimacy of it and why some people don’t like it.
If you’ve practiced muay thai you probably understand why this interview is so interesting as some of Ray Longo’s views on muay thai and fighting are, well, interesting. I keep using that word, but I’m letting you, the reader decide. [source]
So, why is that so prevalent? That seems so ineffective and hardly a victory if you check someone. You have to absorb in the process, too.
Even in Thai boxing, you know what it comes down to? It’s like ‘let’s see who has the hardest shin’. That’s really what it comes down to. Either the kicker or the guy checking it. It’s like a macho thing. It’s like me and you, let’s head butt each other. Does anybody come out on the winning end of that? Does one guy have a harder head? Can you condition your head to be harder? Somebody’s got a headache after that. I don’t think it’s any different. It’s a technique that stinks, it really does. If you don’t have a good shin and a conditioned shin, there’s going to be a lot of guys who don’t throw that leg kick because they don’t want to get it checked, no matter how it’s checked because that pain stinks and that could affect the fight.