The MMA world's recently been abuzz with talk of Justin Barry's knockout of Alan Benson at last week's Cage Warriors event. The reason for all the hype is the finishing blow has repeatedly been described as an "inside crescent kick." This would be one of the only instances in living memory of a crescent kick actually causing a knockout in MMA. But there are just a few problems with this narrative.

---

First of all, what Barry actually attempted was an "outside crescent kick" not an inside crescent kick. The difference is the inside crescent swings in front of you from outside to inside hitting with the inner portion of the foot, while the outside crescent swings from inside to outside striking with the outer edge of the foot. The fact is, neither kick's ever proven that successful in full contact competition and seem to have originally been developed for warmups and stage performances. And while it appears Barry was attempting to execute the outside crescent kick, he never actually got that far. As he swung his leg upwards to start the kick, his shin caught Benson directly under the chin and that's what knocked him out. So MMA will, sadly, have to keep waiting for a true crescent kick KO.