Let’s face it Mixed Martial Arts is complicated.
If you haven’t trained or watched the sport forever, you’re probably a little lost when the fight hits the mat or a fighter ends up stuck in the cage, but you know a knockout when you see it right?
Striking is relatively easy to understand, two guys (or girls) stand across from each other and try to punch, kick, elbow and knee each other in the face and body until the other one goes down.
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Easy to understand, and everyone loves a highlight reel knockout or back and forth slugfest.
Unlike boxing or Muay Thai, MMA striking is its own unique skillset due to the presence of takedowns and the striking opportunities in and around the clinch.
Each of these 5 fighters has shown themselves to be a cut above the rest of their division when it comes to standup fighting and it’s no coincidence that 3 of the 5 hold UFC belts while the 4th fights in a number 1 contenders bout this weekend.
The list in no particular order:
#5 Valentina Shevchenko
Headling this weekend’s UFC Denver show, Shevchenko is a 17 Muay Thai champion. The amusing part is that she’s not even the best muay thai fighter in her family as her sister is something like 52-2 and a multiple time champion as well.
Shevchenko is a counter fighter who looks to respond to jabs and combinations with a right hook counter and leg kicks. Another one of her specialities is a spinning back fist counter that she very nearly caught Holly Holm with in their fight.
What makes Shevchenko special is the way she uses and controls the distance. Shevchenko looks to be all the way in where her mastery of the clinch gives her an advantage over almost any other 135er on Earth, or all the way out leaving her opponent swinging at air.
Someone, maybe MMAJunkie’s Ben Fowlkes, said that Holly Holm put a hell of a beating on the air 6-8 inches away from Shevchenko’s face in their fight, and it was as accurate as it was hysterical. Nunes also spent most of her time on the feet swinging at air, due to Shevchenko’s brilliant manipulation of the distance.
Don’t be surprised to see Shevchenko finish Pena this weekend and announces herself as a legitimate title challenger.
#4 Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone
My old kickboxing coach Antoni Hardonk once described “Cowboy” as a kickboxing computer who adjusts to your mistakes, and he’s certainly looked correct as Cowboy has been riding an eye-popping 12-2 record since late 2013 with the only losses coming against former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos.
Cowboy’s striking seems to have gone to another level since he ditched walking MMA punchline Henry Smith (he of the tattooed shaved head) and started working with the hottest coach in MMA striking today Brandon “six gun” Gibson. Of those 12 wins I mentioned, 7 have come by way of KO/TKO including his last 3 in the Welterweight division.
Cowboy is mostly known for his head kicks because those cause knockouts, but he is an outstanding body and leg kicker as well. The biggest improvements in Cowboy’s game since working with Gibson have been the addition of the step back knee and the straightening of his punches.
The step back knee allowed Cowboy to punish pressure fighters like Eddie Alvarez and keep them from darting in on him, while straighter punches allowed Cowboy to tee off on Patrick Cote en route to 4 knockdowns before the finish.
And I haven’t even mentioned his Tekken 4 style combo he used to finish Rick Story. The bottom line is that as much one loathes him outside the cage, you can’t have a list of best UFC strikers without the Cowboy in it.
#3 Conor Mcgregor
Great another fighter I don’t like, YAY! As much as I do think Conor Mcgregor is overrated as an MMA fighter, he’s properly rated as a striker.
Mcgregor’s accuracy and timing are uncanny, and he uses his reach and kicks to create an insane amount of pressure on his opponent. But it’s that left hand that truly makes Mcgregor special. It was my contention that part of Mcgregor’s power was him dehydrating himself to make 145 lbs.
That notion was dispelled when he blasted Eddie Alvarez into another galaxy. My new theory is that it’s secretly Thor’s hammer... Mcgregor is no one trick pony on the feet though. He uses an array of snapping front kicks and until recently, spinning round kicks to herd his opponent towards the fence where he paws with his lead right before blasting the left to the head or body.
While Mcgregor’s defence on the feet has grown increasingly reliant on his chin, in his Cage Warriors days he showed off excellent defensive head movement. Another thing that makes Mcgregor special is his counters; we watched as Eddie Alvarez became flummoxed and unable to throw punches because he feared what was coming back.
It remains to be seen if Mcgregor’s overall MMA game can hang with the top of the shark tank that is the 155lb division but there is no doubt he’s a threat to knock any man standing across from him out.
#2 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Joanna Champion (Champy if you’re nasty) is the hipster pick for “best striker in MMA”, and you’ll hear this opinion frequently trotted out by those trying to impress you with how deep their MMA knowledge is.
Whether she’s actually THE best or not, there’s no denying that Champy is one hell of a striker and should be near the top of any list of great MMA strikers. When you think Joanna you think volume and violence. An unending stream of jabs, straights, body punches and kicks that never stops until the final bell or until you drop like Carla Esparza and Jessica Penne.
Jedrzejczyk is a Dutch kickboxer as well, having trained under THE GAWD Ernesto Hoost, and showcases almost flawless technique combine with a legitimate mean streak that makes her a problem for any fighter who plans on standing and trading with her over 5 rounds.
#1 Max Holloway
Last but certainly not least is the youngest fighter on our list, Max Holloway. There are two things that fascinate me about Max Holloway. The first is the way he evolved from a wild, flying knee-throwing brawler who was a “Hawaiian” fighter in all the wrong ways, into a switch-hitting, angle cutting, pressure machine, with superb defence. He also adds a new tool or two every single fight.
In his latest masterpiece – a two round drubbing of former 155 champ Antony Pettis, Holloway showcased a low lead push kick he used to keep “Showtime” from setting properly to launch his kicks, before trapping Pettis on the cage and beating the brakes off of him en route to the first TKO loss of Pettis’ career.
The second thing that fascinates me about Max Holloway is that his striking evolved in Hawaii under the original coaches he came to the UFC under. I’m not sure if Holloway is a prodigy and has been able to figure this stuff out on his own, or if his camp is a lot better than we’ve been giving them credit for.
Either way, having just turned 25 in December there is no telling how Max Holloway may continue to improve and what the limit is of his striking potential.
That’s my list, but it’s by no means definitive, I want to hear from you, who do you think the 5 best strikers in MMA are?
Leave a comment below!
