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A soccer kick, also known as a soccer ball kick or PK (penalty kick) in puroresu and shoot fighting, and as tiro de meta in vale tudo, is a reference to a kick that is similar to kicks used in association football. It is the colloquial term for a kick performed against a prone position, kneeling, rising or supine position opponent by a fighter who is in a standing or semi-standing position, to any part of a downed opponent. The technique is banned under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts; however, other rulesets, including the ones used by Pride Fighting Championships do permit them. Soccer kicks have been regularly discussed as to potential damage. There has been a regular debate on the usage of them within MMA. Some MMA fans and fighters support them while a fight doctor and politicians have opposed them.
In 2000, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were written with the intention of making the sport of MMA appear more acceptable in a wider society. Under those rules, soccer kicks were explicitly banned and classed as a foul defined as "kicking the head of a grounded opponent." It is noted that while soccer kicks to grounded opponents are fouls, , downward strikes with the back of the heel, are not considered fouls if done to any part of a grounded opponent. In the years after the banning of soccer kicks under the Unified Rules, a number of fans and MMA fighters have argued for them to be permitted under the Unified Rules along with face and foot stomps. Their justification is that soccer kicks and stomps being disallowed hindered fighters who were used to using them under other MMA rule sets. Mauricio Rua, who mostly used soccer kicks to earn victories in Pride, argued that elbows caused more pain than soccer kicks and claimed that soccer kicks were safer than elbows. Rua also argued that elbows were more dangerous than soccer kicks and yet were allowed under the unified rules. Opponents of soccer kicks argued that they needed to be banned in order for the sport of MMA to move forward. They also argued that in the face of opposition to the sport from politicians such as John McCain, soccer kicks had to be banned in order to ensure that the sport was not viewed as illegal "human cockfighting" and could be sanctioned as legal in the United States by Athletic Commissions.
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.
There are still MMA organizations such as Japanese-based Rizin Fighting Federation that allow soccer kicks to the head of downed opponent. ONE Fighting Championship previously had an "open attack" rule, which required fighters to get permission from the referee to use soccer kicks. In 2012, the company changed its rule set to the rules used by Pride Fighting Championship allowing fighters to use soccer kicks without asking for permission from the referee. ONE banned soccer kicks entirely in August 2016 as part of the company's worldwide expansion plans. Their CEO Chatri Sityodtong stated that despite studies showing that soccer kicks are the same as a normal head kick because you cannot generate any more pivotal force, the technique invites "bad publicity".
The soccer kick has also been used in professional wrestling video games. It was used in the 1999 Nintendo 64 game, WWF WrestleMania 2000.
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