Chin (combat sports)
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In combat sports such as boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts, a fighter's chin is a figurative term that refers to an ability to tolerate physical trauma to the chin or jaw without being knocked unconscious. The fictional Rocky Balboa character of the Rocky franchise epitomizes the concept of a boxer with a granite chin.
Overview[]
A fighter with a "good chin" refers to a fighter with the ability to absorb blows to the chin or jaw without being struck unconscious, which can also be called a "granite chin", an "iron chin" or similar. Generally, the jaw portion of the skull, and specifically the point of the chin, is the area most vulnerable to a knock-out blow and therefore having an exceptional tolerance to punishment in this area is a great advantage to a fighter.
A "bad chin", "suspect chin", or "glass jaw" refers to fighters with limited ability to absorb punishment to the chin or jaw. Some boxing experts, such as Teddy Atlas, believe it to be a mindframe.
The 'chin' of a fighter is widely considered genetic, but is very affected by the amount of punishment the fighter takes throughout his/her career. Many instances of athletes with a 'good chin' have ended in the athlete relying too much on the attribute, thus slowly building up brain damage. Brain damage then in turn affects the brain's ability to recover from trauma, weakening the person’s ability to take a punch.
Certain factors are speculated to be the size and shape of the skull, strength of the neck as well as overall strength and weight. Other factors could be less visible, such as the brain being more efficient at replenishing the electrolyte balance after trauma, or more cerebrospinal fluid to protect the brain.
A fighter's chin could be affected by weight cutting (excessive water weight loss, malnutrition), or repeated blows to the head that cause brain damage (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy) among other things.
Notable chins[]
Boxing[]
The following boxers have been known to possess a strong chin:
- Arthur Abraham[1]
- Tomasz Adamek[2]
- Muhammad Ali[3]
- Canelo Álvarez[4]
- Carmen Basilio[5]
- James J. Braddock
- Joe Calzaghe[6][7][8]
- Julio César Chávez, Jr.[1]
- Christy Martin[5]
- Randall "Tex" Cobb[3]
- Chris Eubank[9]
- Tommy Farr[5]
- George Foreman[10]
- Carl Froch[11]
- Gene Fullmer[5]
- Joe Frazier
- Kid Gavilán[5]
- Gennady Golovkin[1]
- Harry Greb[5]
- Marvin Hagler[5]
- Larry Holmes[12]
- Evander Holyfield[10]
- Bernard Hopkins[13]
- Glen Johnson[14]
- Vitali Klitschko[10]
- Jake LaMotta[5]
- Juan Laporte[15]
- Rocky Marciano[5]
- Riddick Bowe
- George Chuvalo
- Oliver McCall[10]
- Wayne McCullough[13]
- Ray Mercer[10]
- Carlos Monzón[5]
- Ruslan Provodnikov[1]
- Sugar Ray Robinson[3]
- Barney Ross[3]
- Salvador Sanchez[3]
- James Toney[13]
- David Tua[13]
- Nikolai Valuev[16]
Kickboxing[]
The following kickboxers have been known to possess a strong chin:
- Remy Bonjasky[17]
- Francois Botha[17]
- Choi Hong-man[17]
- Francisco Filho[17]
- Daniel Ghiţă[18]
- Mark Hunt[19]
- Alexey Ignashov[20]
- Semmy Schilt[17]
- Ray Sefo[21]
- Bovy Sor Udomson[22]
- Lloyd van Dams[17]
Pro wrestling[]
- Mick Foley[23]
Mixed martial arts[]
The following list of mixed martial artists are known to have a strong chin:
- Yoshihiro Akiyama[24]
- Stephan Bonnar[25][26]
- Shane Carwin[27]
- Carlos Condit[28]
- Patrick Côté[29]
- Nate Diaz[30]
- Nick Diaz[25]
- Junior dos Santos[31]
- Brian Ebersole[32]
- Frankie Edgar[33]
- Fedor Emelianenko[34]
- Tony Ferguson[35]
- Don Frye[36]
- Kazuyuki Fujita[37]
- Leonard Garcia[38]
- Kelvin Gastelum[39]
- Clay Guida[25][40]
- Dan Henderson[25][41]
- Heath Herring[42]
- Mark Hunt[19][43]
- Quinton Jackson[44]
- Jon Jones[45][46][47][48]
- John Lineker[49]
- Chan-Sung Jung
- Chris Lytle[50]
- Ian McCall[51]
- Roy Nelson[52][53]
- Khabib Nurmagomedov[54][55]
- BJ Penn[56]
- Yoel Romero[57]
- Diego Sanchez[25][1]
- Kazushi Sakuraba[58]
References[]
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(help) - ^ a b c d e "UFC Power Rankings: Nick Diaz and the Top 5 Chins Right Now". Bleacher Report. 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
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(help)[dead link] - ^ "UFC 131 Results: Shane Carwin's Face after Junior dos Santos Bloodied It". Bleacher Report. 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ^ Dustin Filloy (2014-09-17). "Ranking the 7 Best (and Worst) Chins in MMA History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Dustin Filloy (2014-09-17). "Ranking the 7 Best (and Worst) Chins in MMA History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
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- ^ "Justin Gaethje Wasn't Stunned at Tony Ferguson's Chin, Doesn't Understand Recent Knockouts". 28 May 2020.
- ^ Lima, Orlando (2011-08-26). "Don Frye vs Tank Abbott - The 50 Best Submissions in the History of MMA". Complex.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ^ O'Brien, Daniel (14 January 2010). "Worst Life Ever: The Story of Kazuyuki Fujita's Skull". Cracked.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ^ . mmaweekly. 2007-04-07 http://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-69-review-matt-serra-shocks-the-world-2.
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(help) - ^ Diggin’ Deep on UFC Vegas 34: Can Cannonier crack the chin of Gastelum? Dayne Fox, Bloody Elbow (August 20, 2021)
- ^ Vince Carey (2011-06-05). "TUF 13 Finale Results: Clay Guida Finally Has What It Takes to Win a UFC Title". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
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- ^ Yantielli, Marco (2009-06-06). "The Real Iron Men: The Top Ten Toughest Chins In MMA History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- ^ "Mark Hunt Recalls the Several Times He has Seen the Grim Reaper". bjpenn.com. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
- ^ Darren Wong (2010-03-02). "The Top 10 Threats To Fedor Emelianenko (and 12 Non-Threats)". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ^ https://www.sportbible.com/ufc/news-dana-white-picks-his-ultimate-ufc-fighter-20200610.amp.html.
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- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20120317052432/http://www.squabbles.com/2010/08/roy-nelson-shows-granite-chin-in-loss-to-junior-dos-santos/. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "The Golden Bell: The Secret to Roy Nelson's Iron Chin". fightland.vice.com. 2014-09-09. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
- ^ Steven Oldham. "Khabib Nurmagomedov's 'steel chin' was on show vs Justin Gaethje at UFC 254".
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- ^ Dustin Filloy (2014-09-17). "Ranking the 7 Best (and Worst) Chins in MMA History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ^ "Joe Rogan on Yoel Romero: "The man is made out of some other worldly material"". 18 August 2019.
- ^ "Kazushi Sakuraba Most Brutal Beatings Tribute". blitzcorner.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
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