Home / News / Marcus Foligno hits Adam Lowry with a grounded knee strike to the head that would be illegal in even the UFC

Marcus Foligno hits Adam Lowry with a grounded knee strike to the head that would be illegal in even the UFC

By Chris Cerullo

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February 9, 2022 9:40 am

Tuesday night seemed to be a night of chaos around the National Hockey League. Minnesota’s Marcus Foligno decided to add his contribution during a fight with Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry late in the Wild’s 2-0 loss.

Foligno delivered a grounded knee strike to Lowry’s head while Lowry was on the ice after the fight. That’s a strike that is illegal even in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, better known as just the UFC.

The squabble that led to the fight starts over by the benches as Foligno initially tangles with star forward Mark Scheifele of the Jets. A group of Wild and Jets players then separate themselves from open play and get tangled up where Foligno picks out Lowry and gloves were soon dropped.

Foligno, who had already fought Lowry in the first period, eventually gets the takedown and that’s where things get a little out of hand with a grounded knee strike to the head from Foligno that would get you booted from an MMA match. All it earned the rugged Minnesota winger in the NHL was an extra two minutes in the box for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Here’s the full MMA rule from the Association of Boxing Commissions.

A grounded fighter is defined as: Any part of the body, other than a single hand and soles of the feet touching the fighting area floor. To be grounded, both hands palm/fist down, and/or any other body part must be touching the fighting area floor. A single knee, arm, makes the fighter grounded without having to have any other body part in touch with the fighting area floor. At this time, kicks or knees to the head will not be allowed.

“Crossed wires a little bit,” Foligno said to Michael Russo of The Atheltic after the game. “Just trying to stick up for my teammates and try to finish an opponent. That’s it. Just getting ticked off with just some things that those guys do from time to time. Just heat of the battle.”

“I saw them complaining about maybe I got my leg in there or something, but that was me just kinda ticked off and trying to get at him,” Foligno continued. “There was no intent to not throw with your fist or use another body part. For me, it was just a heat of the battle.”

Intentional or not, it sure seems like a match penalty offense was missed by NHL officials. We’ll have to see if the Department of Player Safety has anything to say about it.

Update (9:57 AM):

Screenshot via Bally Sports North

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