In martial arts there are certain techniques that people love to see and simply cannot get enough of, these are techniques that occur very rarely and when executed properly are a sight to behold with the balance of beauty, grace, skill, and power which is put on display.
These techniques are often times classified as high risk/high reward maneuvers as the adverse effects of not properly landing this technique could be devastating. There are a lot of these techniques that no longer leave fans awestruck as they have been watered down if you will; think about the superman punch or the spinning back kick, both of these techniques at one time where considered high-level/high-risk/high-reward techniques but now seem a bit bland even to the casual viewer.
Enter the spinning elbow. In my opinion, I truly believe that this technique is quite possibly one which holds the distinction of having the highest risk-reward ratio in all of martial arts. When one performs a spinning maneuver, for a brief moment in time, their back is exposed and their guard is usually lowered as the arms must be used as a counter-balance to the centrifugal force being generated by the rest of the body.
The spinning elbow is a close quarters technique that increases the probability of receiving damage if not defended against properly. Due to the nature of this flashy technique, its status as a high risk/high reward maneuver is elevated and below we see three of the top spinning elbows in mixed martial arts.
3)Mohammad “Barbod the Unleashed” Sotounzadeh
One of the most beautiful and unorthodox spinning elbows we have ever seen occurred at ONE FC 21 in a preliminary bout that pitted Mohammad Barbod the Unleashed Sotounzadeh against Hesham Hiba. Although Sotounzadeh would go on to lose the bout via TKO, he executed this technique with perfect balance and efficiency.
2) Dong Hyun Kim
In this fight at UFC Fight Night Macao, Dong Hyun Kim puts his martial arts skills on display for the world to see as he delivers a fight ending spinning elbow against opponent John Hathaway. With a beautifully timed execution of a spinning elbow, Kim sends Hathaway plummeting face first to the canvas.
1) Jon Jones
Undoubtedly, this list was inspired by arguably the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Jon Jones. In a contest of unorthodox techniques, what occurred on January 31, 2009 at UFC 94 may have taken the top prize as, at the time, the spinning elbow was nearly unheard of as a practical technique… Jon Jones altered the definition of the term practical that evening against Stephan Bonnar and continues to utilize this technique more efficiently than anyone competing in MMA today.
BONUS: Jordan Cameron
The newest professional mixed martial arts fight promotion in Australia, Hex Fight Series, debuted with an awesome card that included Jordan Cameron landing a “KO of the Year” candidate on Luke Mark Catubig.
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