 Although a soccer kick is a foul when delivered to the head in the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts which prevail in North America , the technique was commonly employed in Pride Fighting Championships in Japan . Fighters Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua were notable practitioners of the soccer kick in MMA . Under the Unified Rules , some MMA fighters attempted to use tactics with the " kicking the head of a grounded opponent " rule , which defined a fighter as grounded if they had any part of their body apart from their feet on the ground . This meant that fighters , such as Jon Jones , would often try to provoke illegal soccer kicks by putting their hand on the ground or as a way to avoid strikes such as the soccer kick after a failed takedown . However , in 2013 , referees were encouraged to interpret the rules that if a fighter is deliberately intending to provoke an illegal soccer kick and one was used , then the referee could decide that it was a legal move . 
