# Lucky punches



## funkyboogalooo (Jan 28, 2009)

WTF do people go on about lucky punches for? Can someone please try to explain to me exactly what a lucky punch is. 
I don't think there is such a thing. Someone throws a punch and hopes it connects. It connects and someone gets hurt or goes down. Whats lucky about that? you swing you hit. I just don't get it. This comes from someone saying in another thread that a fighter had a lucky punch last night.
Rant over


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## Seperator88 (Jul 12, 2009)

I agree with you, im a little tired of people using that excuse. there are certain circumstances, like when a fighter lunges/ducks into the punch or when the punches misses the side of the face and wraps around and hits the back of the head, thats what I consider lucky. Because i've noticed that anyone getting punched behind the ear to the back of the head always gets rocked.


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## Clivey (May 28, 2007)

you won't catch any respected member of the board mentioning 'lucky punches' just one of those things the noobs like to fall back on when their fighter loses.


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## Drogo (Nov 19, 2006)

A lucky punch is one that you don't expect to connect. People mistakenly think that intent nullifies luck, i.e. that he was trying to hit him, he did therefore it isn't luck. Incorrect. 

There are lots of things I can try to do yet have a laughably low chance of success. If I do succeed the fact that I "meant" to do it doesn't change the fact that I was lucky to do so.


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## alizio (May 27, 2009)

Wanderlei said it best after the Rampage fight, there are no such thing as lucky punches, basically made his fanbase STFU and i respect him taking the loss like a man, wish more fighters and fans would realize there seriously is no such thing as a lucky punch. Like saying a lucky sub, oh he would never leave his neck out there it was a fluke!! If there are lucky punches then there are lucky subs, lucky kicks, lucky takedowns etc etc hell the whole sport is luck then!!

If you replaced "lucky" with "low percentage" i would agree btw


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## funkyboogalooo (Jan 28, 2009)

Drogo said:


> A lucky punch is one that you don't expect to connect.


I don't agree, if you didn't expect it to connect you wouldn't throw it you would save your energy.
Maybe a lame comparison but I do the Lotto every week and expect to win, other wise I wouldn't do it I would save mu money? OK ive never won but the week I think I wont win then I won't do it.


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## xeberus (Apr 23, 2007)

Well lucky punches are ones that probably or normally wouldnt land, but do. For instance, ever throw a blind combination and just happen to land every thing flush and the other guy is like "goddamn" and your like "... yea.. all skill baby" :confused05:

Those are lucky punches, but I suppose you could only call them "lucky" in the same sense as anything else. Because there is no such thing as luck.


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## Seperator88 (Jul 12, 2009)

Drogo said:


> A lucky punch is one that you don't expect to connect. People mistakenly think that intent nullifies luck, i.e. that he was trying to hit him, he did therefore it isn't luck. Incorrect.
> 
> There are lots of things I can try to do yet have a laughably low chance of success. If I do succeed the fact that I "meant" to do it doesn't change the fact that I was lucky to do so.




Couldn't disagree more with you. 

If I would really have to pick out lucky punches in the ufc, it would be more like when Randy slipped, Chuck capitalized and knocked him out.


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## funkyboogalooo (Jan 28, 2009)

Could a mod please spell LUCKY correctly for me in the thread title?


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## xeberus (Apr 23, 2007)

funkyboogalooo said:


> Could a mod please spell LUCKY correctly for me in the thread title?


hey man edit your original post in thread, then go to advanced options etc :thumb02:

you can change the name of your thread


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## funkyboogalooo (Jan 28, 2009)

xeberus said:


> hey man edit your original post in thread, then go to advanced options etc :thumb02:
> 
> you can change the name of your thread


Woohoo thanks. Repped


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## joey__stalin (Dec 31, 2006)

I call Serra's punch on GSP "Lucky." He threw a hook that he obviously wanted to connect. GSP ducked it, making Serra miss his head, and Serra's forearm hit the back of GSP's head. I'd call that lucky...


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## khoveraki (Jun 28, 2009)

I think Lesnar's punch that dropped Randy was "lucky" too. He wasn't winning the standup, and the punched connected with the back of Randy's head - technically an illegal shot and clearly unintentional.


But then we gotta factor in size of his hands, reach, etc, and the likelihood of shots like that goes up.


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## Admz (Sep 15, 2009)

If a completely blind man were to throw wild haymakers and KO someone, that might be considered a 'lucky punch'. Even that point could be argued though.

Other than that, no I believe a 'lucky punch' is just an excuse of a fanboy whose fighter got KTFO.


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## Johnni G (Dec 2, 2009)

Clivey said:


> you won't catch any respected member of the board mentioning 'lucky punches' just one of those things the noobs like to fall back on when their fighter loses.


Actually I think lucky punches are a part of any fighting sport. When you are rocked, about to go down and throw a throw in desperation, not even knowing where your opponent is and then hit him clean and down. That's more luck than skill.


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## NZL (Jul 14, 2009)

Actually, there is such a thing as a lucky punch.

I think most of you are confused to the definition of luck, and reasoning that if the initial intention matches the final outcome then it must not be luck, which is simply untrue.

Luck isn't dependent on this. For example, if I buy a lotto ticket with the intention of winning, and then I win, that would be lucky as hell, maybe that is a slight exaggeration but the same principle applies.
A better example would be a basketball player making a half way shot; yes they intended it, but it is lucky because the probability of it happening is so low. So the fact that they managed to get 1 shot in 15 on this occasion makes it luck. The way they attempt the shot they sink is in no way different to to the way they will attempt the other 14 times and miss. Hence: lucky.

And this is exactly where the phrase ‘a punchers chance’ comes from. A purest puncher will always go in with the same tactic against, say, Frank Mir. Punch Mir in the face and knock him out. How often will it happen? Hardly ever. What are the odds it happening on this particular night? Fuc*ing slim. Would it be lucky if he landed a punch that knocks him out cold? 

You bet your ass it would be.


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## alizio (May 27, 2009)

actually Brock hit Randy behind his ear, not in the back of his head, if you want to see clear back of the head look up Franklin vs Belfort.


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## payableondeath (Jun 13, 2007)

I dont think there is such a thing as luck. Sometimes things happen you dont expect, but thats not luck thats just suprise. For instance the KO of GSP by Matt Serra, not luck, but suprising yes. am I right??


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## Squirrelfighter (Oct 28, 2009)

I think some people confuse the term "lucky punch" with "instinctive punch." 

I would term a lucky punch as more of a lazy punch that would be aimed to do little to your opponent but move their guards around and instead of a slight impact, staggers them or knocks them right out. With staggering ones, you always see a especially long pause before a takedown or aggressive routine since the brain has to shift gears so dramatically.


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## Nefilim777 (Jun 24, 2009)

I think people are confusing the 'lucky' punch with the ideas of punchers chance. As in; everyone has a punchers chance, even if you're facing a guy far more skilled as a fighter, you can throw a haymaker, connect, and seriously rock them, hence the 'punchers chance' term. I guess the rest comes down to definitions of luck.


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## Lloyd (Oct 15, 2006)

The closest thing to a lucky punch i've seen was the off balance jab that Seth Petruzeli landed on Kimbo Slice. The punch wasn't intended to be a knockout punch and landed right on the button.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzZj3Alof_8


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## Cartheron (Sep 5, 2007)

Luck doesn't exist.


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## Nefilim777 (Jun 24, 2009)

Lloyd said:


> The closest thing to a lucky punch i've seen was the off balance jab that Seth Petruzeli landed on Kimbo Slice. The punch wasn't intended to be a knockout punch and landed right on the button.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzZj3Alof_8


Here:


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## Lloyd (Oct 15, 2006)

Nefilim777 said:


> Here:


Thanks dude i always wondered how to do that.


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## AlphaDawg (Nov 16, 2009)

A lucky punch to me is when Fighter A tools on Fighter B the entire fight and Fighter A is caught with a 1 punch. For example, say BJ Penn got KO'd by Sanchez(LOL funny I know) in the 5th round, after getting destroyed for 5 rounds straight. It's not like he's the better fighter, he just got lucky.


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## DJ Syko (Jan 6, 2008)

theres no such thing as a lucky punch(to a certain degree) but i do think theres is such a thing as an unlucky punch, if that makes sense lol. Like when GSP got tagged off Serra, it wasnt lucky that Serra hit him because he was obvisouly trying to, but i do think it was unlucky for GSP to get hit as he was off balance i think when it happened due to a slip. Does that make sense to you guys? lol.


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## HellRazor (Sep 24, 2006)

A lucky punch is one that the viewer doesn't expect to do land, and/or do any damage, but it does.

It is said that luck is the residue of design.


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## sworddemon (Feb 4, 2007)

AlphaDawg said:


> A lucky punch to me is when Fighter A tools on Fighter B the entire fight and Fighter A is caught with a 1 punch. For example, say BJ Penn got KO'd by Sanchez(LOL funny I know) in the 5th round, after getting destroyed for 5 rounds straight. It's not like he's the better fighter, he just got lucky.


This.


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## BrianRClover (Jan 4, 2008)

Clivey said:


> you won't catch any respected member of the board mentioning 'lucky punches' just one of those things the noobs like to fall back on when their fighter loses.


Agreed for the most part, but I bet you'll hear some of the most senior and respected members and newbies alike say it if Hardy pulls that off on GSP.


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## Indestructibl3 (Apr 2, 2009)

funkyboogalooo said:


> I don't agree, if you didn't expect it to connect you wouldn't throw it you would save your energy.
> Maybe a lame comparison but I do the Lotto every week and expect to win, other wise I wouldn't do it I would save mu money? OK ive never won but the week I think I wont win then I won't do it.


How on earth can you think you won't win one week compared to the next? There is roughly an equal chance every week of winning the Lotto - whereas there is not an equal chance every time of connecting on a punch. For example, in a lottery with 40 balls - you gotta choose 6, so there is a (1/40 x 1/39 x ... x 1/35) = 1 in 2,763,633,600 chance (disregarding order in this case) of winning the jackpot, whereas you can't really generalise the percentage success that you'll land a punch.


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## Davisty69 (May 24, 2007)

I would say that a lucky punch is one that wins a fight for the inferior fighter. It has nothing to do with the inferior fighter being lucky. It is just a term to imply that on paper, that guy shouldn't have won. However, he landed the perfect punch to win him the fight. And, because every strike in MMA has the possibility of ending the fight, it is bound to happen sometimes when you wouldn't expect it to. 

Basically, people simply use the term to express their surprise that so and so fighter beat so and so superior fighter. That's my opinion at least.


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