The crane kick is a fictionalized version of the Mae tobi geri (Japanese: 前飛蹴) created by Darryl Vidal for the 1984 martial arts film The Karate Kid.
[3] The movie's success caused the crane kick to became synonymous with karate in the United States and helped popularize the martial art in that country.
The move is more famously used in the final scene of the picture, in which Daniel uses the crane kick to defeat his arch rival Johnny Lawrence in a karate match.
During his fight with Sensei Wolf -- which occurs in the same location that the match had taken place at in 1984 -- Johnny remembers Daniel defeating him with the crane kick and drops into a similar defensive stance, forgoing his usual strike first mentality.
Starting from a southpaw stance, Machida feinted with his left leg before leaping off his right foot to deliver an upwards right kick to the mouth of former UFC champion Randy Couture, earning a knockout victory.