‘Mushroom kick’ explained – Daniel Rodriguez talks Schilling’s corner advice at UFC Vegas 23

Maybe there was a little extra magic in Daniel Rodriguez’s training camp for UFC Vegas 23: Vettori vs. Holland. ‘D-Rod’ put on an absolute clinic against his opponent, power-punching action fighter Mike Perry to open the event’s main card on ABC.

By the time the final bell had rung, Rodriguez was credited with landing 129 of 235 significant strikes thrown. A 54% clip, all the more impressive when considering he ate less than half as many shots in return.

The one thing Rodriguez didn’t land, however, was the mysterious “mushroom kick,” called for by cornerman Joe Schilling between the second and third rounds. With the BMF Ranch fighter dominating the fight, Schilling issued a direct instruction to his athlete: “Remember that kick from the ranch, when we were on mushrooms? The spinning kick. Throw that shit.”

Rodriguez spoke to reporters about the corner instruction after the bout, including what the “mushroom kick” (as he called it) is, and why he didn’t throw it.

“Yeah. Alright, I’m gonna be real,” Rodriguez explained. “This one time, we were on mushrooms and I was doing some weird, crazy, spinning Karate stuff. Man, it was crazy. So, we had been working on this; it’s pretty much just a heel kick. He wanted me to throw it, but I was just having so much success with my hands, I just didn’t do it. But, yeah, you guys will see it one day. The mushroom kick! The mushroom kick!”

Rodriguez picked up the unanimous decision victory for his performance against Mike Perry, grabbing a 30-27 on two score cards and a 30-26 from the remaining judge. That win provided a much needed bounceback from his first Octagon loss, a razor thin decision to Nicolas Dalby back at UFC 255 in November of last year. The defeat was Perry’s second straight, and his seventh in his last ten fights.