5 times that a UFC fighter switched up their style to find success

While success in the UFC was once dependent on a fighter mastering a single style such as jiu-jitsu or kickboxing, these days, to survive in the octagon, fighters have to be fully-rounded in all areas.

With well-rounded skills now required to succeed in the UFC, it should come as no surprise that a number of fighters over the years have basically changed their style completely to reach the top.

We’ve seen fighters emerge from high-level wrestling backgrounds, only to develop deadly knockout power. Similarly, some kickboxers have suddenly become more than capable of finishing opponents with submissions from their back.

So with that considered, here are five times that a UFC fighter changed their style to find more success.

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#5. Kamaru Usman – UFC welterweight champion

Kamaru Usman has developed a brutal striking game that has brought him success in recent years

Reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman arguably had the most successful year of any fighter in 2021. He defended his title on three occasions, defeating Gilbert Burns, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington.

It’s probably safe to say that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is now at the peak of his popularity with the fans too. That isn’t just because of his massive success in the octagon. It’s also because he’s largely changed his style of fighting, for the most part for the better.

When he first debuted in the promotion back in 2015 following his run on the 21st season of The Ultimate Fighter, Usman’s bread-and-butter was his powerful wrestling game. No opponent could stop his takedowns. While he did claim a couple of finishes in his early days, for the most part, his fights went the distance.

This earned ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ a reputation as a dull fighter and led to accusations of lay-and-pray, an insult often thrown at previous wrestling-based fighters such as Josh Koscheck. However, in his title victory over Tyron Woodley in 2019, Usman demonstrated a much-improved striking game and he hasn’t looked back since.

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ now not only looks to primarily stand with his opponents, but his heavy hands seemingly carry a ludicrous amount of power too. Burns and Masvidal found that out last year when they were knocked out by the champ.

Usman still has his wrestling game to fall back on should he need it, but judging by his recent fights, he’s got more than enough in his arsenal to stand with any opponent. That means it’s hardly a surprise that the fans are now treating him like a major star.

#4. Justin Gaethje – Lightweight contender

Justin Gaethje has developed a more controlled style, leading him to more success than ever

Throughout his time as champion in the WSOF organization and even during his early days in the UFC, Justin Gaethje held a reputation as perhaps the wildest brawler in MMA.

‘The Highlight’ seemingly had no regard for his own wellbeing, as he was willing to go toe-to-toe with any opponent. However, while his approach of whipping brutal leg kicks at his foes to set up his crushing right hand largely worked, it clearly wasn’t ever going to be all that sustainable.

That idea was proven correct in 2017 and 2018, as Gaethje lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his MMA career. He fell to defeats against Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez, both by TKO. Those losses appeared to inspire Gaethje to change his ways and since that’s happened, the results have been pretty dramatic.

‘The Highlight’ is still a consummate striker who looks to avoid fighting on the ground with his opponents, but can no longer be considered a crude brawler who looks to throw nothing but wild haymakers.

Instead, Gaethje’s striking is now a far more controlled, precise attack, with ‘The Highlight’ setting up his bigger punches with jabs, combinations and a lot of patience. It’s been successful too, as it’s led him to huge wins over the likes of Tony Ferguson and Donald Cerrone.

Sure, the old brawler is still in there somewhere, in fact it emerged in his wild fight with Michael Chandler last year. However, it’s fair to say that Gaethje’s safer style is probably going to extend his run at the top for a lengthier time than he would’ve managed prior.

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#3. Charles Oliveira – UFC lightweight champion

Charles Oliveira's stand-up game catching up to his grappling led him to gold in the octagon

The holder of the record for most submission victories inside the octagon with a total of 15 tapouts to his name, it’s safe to say that Charles Oliveira is an absolute monster on the ground.

However, if you rewind just a few years back, it would probably have been fair to say that ‘Do Bronx’ was one of the few throwback fighters left competing in the promotion, as the rest of his skillset appeared to largely lag behind his submission game.

Oliveira often struggled to take his opponents down and on the feet he found himself outgunned on a number of occasions. That was most notable in his losses to opponents like Paul Felder and Cub Swanson. However, when he moved permanently to the lightweight division and began to pack on some more muscle in 2018, Oliveira slowly began to adjust his style.

Rather than focus purely on his submission skills, which remained as dangerous as ever, ‘Do Bronx’ also began to develop a powerful striking game, as well as improving his wrestling dramatically too.

The results were dramatic. The Brazilian picked up the first knockouts of his career in 2019 over Nik Lentz and Jared Gordon. He then firmly outwrestled Tony Ferguson in 2020 to set up a title shot.

When he did claim gold in the octagon for the first time, Oliveira didn’t use his submissions to do so. Instead, he knocked Michael Chandler out with a left hand, proving that changing his style to add to his arsenal was the best thing he could ever have done.

#2. Fabricio Werdum – former UFC heavyweight champion

Once considered a pure grappler, Fabricio Werdum developed a wicked striking game that led him to UFC gold

When former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum made his PRIDE debut back in 2005, he brought with him a reputation as one of the greatest grapplers on the planet, something he demonstrated quickly in wins over fighters such as Alistair Overeem and Alexander Emelianenko.

However, losses to fighters like Sergei Kharitonov and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira demonstrated that his stand-up skills lagged far behind his ground game. That problem followed him to the octagon and led directly to his losses to Andrei Arlovski and Junior dos Santos.

The latter defeat saw Werdum washed out of the promotion, but after a strong run in Strikeforce, ‘Vai Cavalo’ returned to the octagon in 2012 as an entirely different animal.

Sure, his biggest win away from the UFC came via submission over the legendary Fedor Emelianenko, but he’d also developed a violent striking style based around pressure and clinch work that made him more dangerous than ever.

Werdum demonstrated those skills by battering Roy Nelson on his return to the octagon. He then continued to use his stand-up to great effect, eventually knocking out Mark Hunt to claim the interim heavyweight title before brutalizing Cain Velasquez in the clinch to earn the undisputed title too.

Sure, Werdum’s love for the stand-up game did cost him his title to Stipe Miocic in 2016, but it’s safe to say that his switch of styles away from a purely ground-based game definitely led him to huge success.

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#1. Georges St-Pierre – former UFC welterweight champion

Once considered a striker, Georges St-Pierre developed his wrestling until nobody could stop his takedowns

Perhaps no other fighter in UFC history has switched their style up to find quite as much success as former welterweight great Georges St-Pierre. The Canadian held the promotion’s 170-pound title from 2008 through to 2013, defending it successfully on nine occasions in the process.

It might’ve been hard for some newer fans to believe, but when ‘GSP’ debuted in the octagon in 2004, he was widely recognized as a karate-based striker with a bit of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu game to fall back upon.

St-Pierre’s debut win over Karo Parisyan gave fans a glimpse of his grappling, but that was quickly forgotten when he used his striking to knock out Jay Hieron on his second visit to the octagon.

‘GSP’ would continue to rely on his striking first and foremost throughout his early years, famously knocking out Matt Hughes to claim UFC gold for the first time in 2006. However, after he was stopped by Matt Serra in a huge upset in 2007, he clearly decided to switch his style up for good.

St-Pierre began to focus on a more wrestling-based attack, largely looking to ground his opponents rather than stand with them. To say it worked well would be an understatement.

The Canadian largely dominated every opponent he faced in the octagon from that point onwards, from B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch to Thiago Alves and Nick Diaz. St-Pierre’s wrestling became so good, in fact, that he even considered switching to the sport for the 2012 Olympics and would routinely take down even highly credentialed wrestlers in the octagon.

While he came under criticism for a supposed safety-first approach at times and also used his striking against foes like Jake Shields and Josh Koscheck, nobody could really argue with his success, as he’s still renowned as arguably the greatest champion in the promotion’s history.