Supposedly Rich Franklin, whose style is primarily striking, broke his left hand Sat night against David Loiseau. (RF is left handed) True, DL suffered trauma to his face from the strikes he was taking from RF. BUT RF was at a disadvantage with the broken hand. I've read before, on this forum I think, that the hand usually loses (breaks) to the head. Soft/hard, Hard/soft strinking,etc.
My question is this. Could the head be deliberately used to break the opponents hands? I know at first this sounds nuts, but the top front of the forehead is incredibly hard, and although the skin may split,(Evan Tanner anyone?) it would stand a good chance of breaking the hand of the striker. Although the timing would be critical for this, timing is always critical. The consequences of missing, taking a hard blow to the head in a bad place, seems no worse than say opening your side to throw a hard cross, etc.
Ever since reading the article (I believe it was on these forums) about the higher incidence of broken hands after fights compared to real bone damage to heads in striking contests, I have wondered about this. After the Franklin/Loiseau fight last night, I'm even more curious.

:mod: I hope I broke no rule regarding spoiler with this post. If so please delete. Thanks.
Mike

Well, ive got a few things to say about this.

1) Ive seen a couple of fights where a guy may have broken his hand and still won (RV vs DL) and Gatti Vs Daamgard(SP).

2) I cant say this for all fighters, but what glory is there in winning this way? Purposly breaking someones hand just shows you have to be cheap to win.

3) Probabally wouldnt be worth it, would result in a massive cut on the head and a possible knockout, or at least getting rocked majorly.

Well.....

The one thing that everyone who trains in MMA should realize is that "the idea of control in the dynamic of a fight is an illusion".

By fight, I mean where someone is evenly matched to you and there is no clear outclassing advantage. This applies not just in sport but in self defense as well.

Damaging someone's hand by perfectly forcing them to punch you in the top of the skull is as much accidental as it is incidental. To plan for it and train it as a tactic of choice doesn't seem wise to me. If it happens, great.

I can see someone coming out with the "Iron Skull" system of breaking knuckles, only to have the hardcore MA people argue with them after training to break open coconuts.

1. The glove protect the hands.

2. MMA gloves allow grabbing but compromise protection.

3. The quickest way to finish someone is to hit them in the head.

4. Sometimes you break your hand.

Catch 22. It just seems like a silly argument.

LOL @ the 'Iron Skull'

Imagine the training mcvideo one could make...

Ok, thanks for the replies, I guess it would be a cheap way to win.

If I am not mistaken, I think that early Savate/Boxe Francais used to recommend blocking face strikes to the top of the head, in order to break the opponent's hand.

I wouldn't recommend it myself, but the crown of the skull is very strong. I will see if I can find that link.

A lot of fighters break bones in their hands or have bad arthritis in their hands. Mayweather, De La Hoya and many others have done so. The bones in the head are harder than those in the hands. I think that hitting an elbow could do it too. Hey, it's another reason for grappling.

MattJ,
That sounds like what I'm trying to describe. Not so much head-butt the fist, but taking the blows on the hard part of the forehead. Maybe sucker him in to throw a hard right, lower your head enough so that he ends up hitting your forehead point. The crux of the matter is- can I take a hard enough punch so that he breaks his hand, before I get knocked out? Which happens first, the knockout or the broken hand? I remember a K1 competition where Bob Sapp couldn't continue even after winning his round over Hoost because he broke his hand.
Plus I like the idea of the psychological impact of, instead of blocking an opponents punch, you lower your head, and he breaks his hand. Next fight, guy thinks twice about headhunting.