BouncyJones

I was watching UFC Unleashed this evening and they had GSP vs. Hughes II. I'm wondering about the head kick GSP throws which effectively ends the fight. He obviously catches Hughes trying to catch a lower kick.

Is this a question of:
- timing
- anticipating
- a bit of luck
- genuinely setting it up with the eye movement (as GSP says after the fight)

I am not a fighter, but would love the thoughts of all fighters out there. When you see a pro get caught out that bad, what does it come down to? Is it like in football where if you run the ball enough the play action pass becomes a good option (ie, to follow the analogy, if you throw enough low kicks, a head kick will do the deed)?

Cheers!

Rated

Well, I'm not a fighter but I think it was a bit of luck plus awesome setup. GSP hurt Hughes very badly with the leg kicks, if you saw the post-fight conference, Hughes admits that the second time he went down was not because of a groin shot but because his legs just gave out.

I guess it was just instinct for Hughes to defend the kicks and it was just the wrong time to try and grab it. I'm really surprised he wasn't KO'd by that shot since it was a perfectly executed head kick (shin hit the side of the head as opposed to the feet).

SpecC

GSP said that he set that one up. He looked down for a low or inside leg kick which he had been using all fight, then he threw a different kick which hurt Hughes pretty badly.

Edit: I believe he said this in a post fight interview somewhere.

Bob Pataki

Considering GSP nearly finished Hughes at the end of the previous round with a superman punch and flurry, even if the LHK was luck, the way he was battering Hughes was not and the finish was going to come, intentional or not.

6toes

Yeah I think GSP-Hughes III is enough proof of that. As for the LHK, I couldn't tell you if it was set up but it was awesome .

vandalian

I go to kick him low, he look down, so I kick him in the head.

Mjr

This may sound a bit odd, but there isn't a massive difference between a low kick and a head kick in muay thai, the HK snaps high at the last minute. I can't actually see the video again, but he can control which kick he throws after his foot has left the ground.

vandalian

For discussion's sake.

joshua7789

Not to that the outcome would have been any different, but Hughes had taken two or three solid dick kicks prior to the big head kick. Im willing to bet that if you kick someone in the junk enough, protecting there junk is going to become a primary concern and he might have been a little less wary of head kicks at that point.

Xerxes

He said that he practised the move a lot in training so I'm going with set-up.

I don't believe in the concept of luck/lucky punch in MMA.