Some UFC Fighters Have Legs That Shouldn’t Exist

UFC leg reach statistics reveal fighters with body proportions so extreme, their legs look almost impossible

The Reluctance of the UFC to Include Leg Reach in Their Stats

After numerous calls by Joe Rogan to do so, the UFC started to measure leg reach in late 2015 and included it as a stat for each of their fighters. For some reason, they were reluctant to include this stat for their fighters.

Maybe it’s because leg reach doesn’t really give an accurate prediction of how successful fighters will be with their kicks. Flexibility and speed are more important. It doesn’t help that a good number of fighters in the UFC hardly ever throw kicks.

The Diaz brothers, the Nogueira brothers, Roy Nelson, Jake Ellenberger, and BJ Penn are examples of guys who wouldn’t throw kicks even if their lives depended on it. However, the measurement is not entirely useless.

Benefits of Long Legs in MMA

Having long legs can give you a huge guard. This can deter your opponents from getting in your guard as they don’t want to be susceptible to submissions. It’s not a fluke that Stefan Struve has more than 16 submissions in his career. Fighters with long legs are able to use their knees more effectively, especially in the clinch. Delivering standing knees to the face can be quite a challenge if you have short legs.

How Leg Reach Differs From Arm Span Across Fighters

Leg reach, unlike arm span, doesn’t really differ by much between individuals. The difference between the average leg reach of a middleweight and a bantamweight fighter is only around four inches. However, the difference in the average arm span between these two divisions is six inches.

How Leg Reach Is Measured in the UFC

Leg reach in the UFC is measured from the hipbone to the heel, not from the inseam. The inseam runs from the uppermost part of the thigh to the ankle, which underestimates a fighter’s true leg length by several inches.

In the diagram above, the correct method is shown by line B, which starts from the hip down to the ground. Lines A and C illustrate the wrong method — measuring from the inseam to the ground — which can give inaccurate results.

Height and Leg Reach

Two fighters might be the same height and yet their leg reach might differ by a huge margin. For instance, Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou both stand at 6’4″. Yet, Ngannou’s leg reach measures 44″ whilst Stipe’s measures only 39″. This simply means most of Stipe’s 6’4″ height is concentrated in his torso whilst Ngannou’s is concentrated in his legs.

Being tall usually comes with a long leg reach. It is not surprising that fighters like Gustafsson and Jones have legs longer than 44”. However, this is not always the case. A good example is former middleweight title contender Paulo Costa. Despite standing at 6’0”, Costa has shorter legs than UFC superstar Conor McGregor who is just 5’9”.

There are also cases of short fighters who possess an extraordinary long leg reach. Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley possesses a 42.5” leg reach despite being only 5’9”. He has a longer leg reach than former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez who stands at 6’1”. Below are 5 MMA fighters with the most impressive leg reaches to ever step in the octagon.

1. Ning Guangyou

Ning Guangyou is a Chinese mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division. Standing at 5’4″, he has a significant height disadvantage as the average bantamweight fighter stands at 5’7″.

The remarkable thing about him is that despite standing at a diminutive height, he has a leg reach of 40″. The average of his competitors is around 38″. His leg reach puts him on par with the average of fighters in the lightweight division.

Interestingly, he has the same reach as James Krause, who stands at 6’2″ and competes in the lightweight division. He also possesses a longer reach than Nate Diaz and Keith Berish, who both stand at six feet tall. Probably the most astonishing thing is that he has a longer leg reach than Stipe Miocic, who stands at 6’4″.

• Leg Reach: 40”
• Height: 5’4”
• Division: Bantamweight
• Percent longer than the average bantamweight: 5%
• Predicted height with this leg reach: 5’10”

2. Taylor Lapilus

Taylor Lapilus is a French mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division.

He’s truly a genetic freak. Standing at just 5’6″, he possesses a mind-blowing leg reach of 43″. This guy might have one of the shortest torsos in the UFC.

He is one inch shorter than the average bantamweight fighter, but his legs are five inches longer than the average in his division. His reach is closer to what is seen in the light heavyweight division.

It is interesting to note that he has a longer leg reach than some heavyweight fighters like Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez. They stand at 6’4″ and 6’1″ respectively. He also has the same reach as heavyweight competitors like Josh Barnett, Ben Rothwell, Antonio Silva, and Frank Mir. All of these men are no shorter than 6’3″.

• Leg Reach: 43”
• Height: 5’6”
• Division: Bantamweight
• Percent longer than the average bantamweight: 13%
• Predicted height with this leg reach: 6’2″

3. Magnus Cedenblad

Magnus Cedenblad is a Swedish mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division.

Standing at 6’3″, he is quite tall for his division considering that the average height is 6’1″. However, what really sets him apart is his unbelievable leg reach of 48″.

This might not appear astonishing at first until you consider the fact that Stefan Struve has the same reach and is seven feet tall. Cedenblad’s legs are a whopping six inches longer than the average of his competitors.

Christian Colombo also has a leg reach of 48″, but his length is not as impressive because he stands at 6’5″. With the exception of Struve and Colombo, Cedenblad currently has the longest leg reach in the UFC.

• Leg Reach: 48”
• Height: 6’3”
• Division: Middleweight
• Percent longer than the average middleweight: 14%
• Predicted height with this leg reach: nearly 6’8″

4. Alessio Di Chirico

Alessio Di Chirico is an Italian mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division.

Standing at six feet, he is only one inch short of the ideal height for a middleweight. However, his leg reach is a different story. Di Chirico measures at 45″, which is three inches longer than the average in his division.

Astonishingly, his leg reach is longer than the average in the heavyweight division, which is around 44″. Strangely, he has the same reach as Jon Jones, who stands at 6’4″. He also has the same reach as Travis Browne, who is seven inches taller than him.

• Leg Reach: 45”
• Height: 6’0”
• Division: Middleweight
• Percent longer than the average middleweight: 7%
• Predicted height with this leg reach: nearly 6’5″

5. Jack Hermansson

Jack Hermansson is a Swedish mixed martial artist who currently lives in and fights out of Norway.

He competes in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He stands at 6’1″, a perfect height for his division.

With a leg reach of 46″, his legs are longer than over 85 percent of the fighters in the heavyweight division. His legs are four inches longer than the average fighter in his weight class.

He has a longer reach than heavyweight fighters like Andrei Arlovski, Derrick Lewis, and Alistair Overeem. They all stand at no less than 6’3″.

• Leg Reach: 46”
• Height: 6’1”
• Division: Middleweight
• Percent longer than the average middleweight: 10%
• Predicted height with this leg reach: nearly 6’6″

Average Leg Reach in Each Division

Leg Reaches of Some Famous UFC Fighters

While they may not be particularly impressive, here are some leg reaches on some of the top stars who have come through the UFC.

• Jon Jones: Jones has a leg reach of 45 inches which is around two inches longer than the average leg reach in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Jones’ long legs allow him to effectively utilize the oblique kick to keep his opponents in range.
• Brock Lesnar: Lesnar has a leg reach of 44 inches which is around the average leg reach of a fighter who competes in the heavyweight division of the UFC.
• Khabib Nurmagomedov: Nurmagomedov has a leg reach of 40 inches which is around the average leg reach of a fighter who competes in the UFC’s lightweight division.
• Conor McGregor: McGregor has a leg reach of 40 inches which is around the average leg reach of a fighter who competes in the UFC’s lightweight division.
• Anderson Silva: Silva has a leg reach of 42.5 inches which is about half an inch longer than the average leg reach in the UFC’s middleweight division.
• Georges St-Pierre: GSP has a leg reach of 42 inches which is about an inch longer than the average leg reach in the UFC’s welterweight division.
• Ronda Rousey: Rousey has a leg reach of 38 inches which is around the average leg reach of a fighter who competes in the bantamweight division of the UFC.
• Israel Adesanya: Adesanya has pretty long legs for his division. He possesses longer legs than even the average heavyweight fighter and his leg length of 44.5″ is around 6% longer than the average middleweight.

Top 5 Longest Leg Reaches in UFC History

Top 5 Shortest Leg Reaches in UFC History