Is the front kick used much in mixed martial arts?
Not as much as it should be.
I answered the above question on Quora and thought it would make a nice post here.
For reference, I have nearly 30 years of martial arts training, most of which was striking before I got into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). I hold a black belt in BJJ and a brown belt in Ishin-Ryu Karate. In high school, I did “long pants kickboxing” or what some call “American kickboxing” and the kick was one of the more successful techniques in my experience, so that’s what made me want to answer the question.
So when asked if the kick was used much in MMA? My answer was, It is but not as much as it should be.
The funny thing is when it is used it is done with a lot of success.
The downside to using it, at least in the eyes of armchair fight analysts is that if done too slow, incorrectly, or against an opponent with great wrestling and cardio is that it leaves them open to be taken down. But most kicks do.
The leg kick and calf kick are more popular but the path of the kick is round, so a straight front kick would be faster to hit its target. If a good one lands, it can drop someone and it doesn’t have to be on the chin either to do so.
