With extraordinary mechanical properties, articular cartilage is one of the most critical factors in human movement and load transmission. With the increase of sports participation and population aging, more and more patients suffer from cartilage injury and related diseases. Accurate acquisition of mechanical properties for articular cartilage is the key process of cartilage injury and functional evaluation. In this paper, the research progress of indirect estimation for mechanical properties of articular cartilage was summarized. Furthermore, some new perspectives were prospected on mechanical characterization of articular cartilage.