Technique Talk: Max Holloway's Intercepting Body Kick

A brief look at Max Holloway's trick for defusing one of Dustin Poirier's most potent attacks.

In Max Holloway’s second fight with Dustin Poirier, it was Poirier’s ability to cover distance on a retreating Holloway that allowed him to rack up huge amounts of damage. A similar dynamic was at play in their third fight - both Holloway and Poirier tend to back up in straight lines when pressed, and much of their success came from exploiting this tendency through blitzes and shifting combinations.

Poirier’s massive first round in their second fight was kicked off by his shifting combinations, set up by his subtle rear hand lead. I covered the tactic in my article on Magomedrasul Gasanov:

One of Poirier’s trademark moves is shifting forward behind his rear hand to track a retreating opponent and wallop them with his new rear hand out of an orthodox stance. But he doesn’t just throw the rear hand and go automatically, he’s constantly flicking it out to bait and draw and check the opponent’s reaction.

He’ll flick out his rear hand and duck in at times, then when his man responds by backing up, he’ll fill the space with a forward shift and blitz them down:

The key here is that the noncommittal rear hands disguise his intentions and give him lots of information on how his opponent will react. Poirier’s comfort in the pocket is astounding, but it’s bolstered by his ability to anticipate reactions he’s already seen through less committed offerings.

While Holloway hadn’t entirely bucked his tenancy to give ground straight backwards, he was aware of the opportunities it presented Poirier and resolved to take them away this time. He proved much more willing to plant his feet and counter, ducking down underneath Poirier’s shifting combinations and running him onto hooks. One of the trickier ways he stymied Poirier’s forward movement was with an intercepting body kick.

I’ve been critical of some aspects of Holloway’s kicking game in the past. Despite his versatile repertoire, awkward mechanics and weight transfer on his round kicks, as well as a tendency to throw with his kicking hip pulled back limit their utility as a consistent, fight-controlling weapon. But he’s always used them well as ancillary tools, and his body kick proved an excellent way to control the initiative against a fighter looking to push him back in bursts.

A common archetype in Muay Thai is a kicker who stands in a square, narrow stance and uses quick, precise, scalpel-like kicks on the counter. If you see a Thai in a wide, set stance with weight on the front foot, they’re typically more of a thudding power kicker, but standing square and narrow keeps the weight distributed to quickly pick up a leg on a moment’s notice.

Holloway’s movement and footwork bear closer resemblance to that sort of kicker (like View Petchkoson, pictured above) than the heavier, more sure-footed and rhythmic steps of a more traditional open-side kicker like Superlek or Sitthichai.

One important key to kicking on the counter is moving efficiently while at the same time keeping the weight distributed to quickly bring the leg up on a hair trigger. Holloway’s weight distribution tends to be very even, prioritizing ease of movement over ability to deliver power or employ defensive head movement, and that even weight distribution kept him in position to time his kicks.

Another key to kicking off the backfoot is that it often comes off a hopping pivot. Holloway will shift his weight slightly onto the kicking leg as he backs up, then suddenly take a slight hop, the ball of his planting foot pushing off the ground and elevating slightly, then rotating in the air before touching back down in its post-pivot position. A hopping pivot allows one to cheat slightly on the weight transfer and get the kicking leg up immediately, which is important when using it to intercept an advancing opponent, as any delay can mean running out of space.