Why make such sweeping statements based on one wannabe Muy Thai thug? A well placed kick COULD have been effective depending on the person throwing it and the circumstance. Would it GENERALLY be effective? Probably not.    I think the Gracie Family established very well that if a striker doesn't have a ground game he's like a fish waiting to be shot in a barrel.    It's Ironic(concerning your topic) that Sakuraba turned Royce Gracie's leg into a pulp over the course of an hour long fight.    I agree that in the vast majority of fights kicks are not going to be effective because out the circumstances involved with a street/bar fight. Close quarter fighting techniques are going to win the day.    But in a one on one fight without outside interference striking with kicks can be brutally effective. Just look at Anderson Silva. He's a top 3 pound for pound fighter in the world. Because he has a well developed wrestling and grappeling game, he can strike his opponents into pulvarized meat with whatever strike he wants.    Will this work in a bar fight? Do well rounded fighters get in bar fights?    Most people who train Muy Thai outside of Thailand if they aren't Dutch seem to be pretty crappy.