MMA is a very unique but young sport. It does not have an unmitigated and storied history as a sport, although the fascination with fighting has always led martial artists to experiment with their craft.
There has been a wide variety of secrets shared, trades globalised and techniques perfected by various hardcore traditional martial artists around the world for millennia. But never had we seen it all come together so beautifully and gracefully as in the world of MMA.
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A subculture wholly dedicated to single handily hypothesising, researching and experimenting with the arts. The aim being to plunge into the bottomless pit of pursuing perfection and mastery but never concluding and crystallising on how a complete martial artist is meant to react. All is subject to change. All is subject to perception.
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It is a science based on situational awareness and innumerable possibilities exhibited by the human body. A perfect blend of ruthless pragmatism combined with the spirit of exploration. It is about balancing the act.
Traversing beyond a mere logical sequence of thoughts transcribed as moves was always the underlining driving force. One that has been sufficiently realised but yet demands a focused attention in spite of it. The prototypes that this process resulted in has given us a more than just a few major prospects.
The matchless strengths that these athletes have figured out in themselves, through years of trial and error have become their most lethal weapons. Weapons that many before them wielded but couldn't quite set up well enough to pull the trigger on command. That is where the genius of these athletes came in handy on the technical aspect of the sport.
Inadvertently, creating a level of competency that also ended up becoming their unique selling proposition. There are two ways to be exceptional, but both involve being highly well-rounded.
The first is the rather obvious one of being good enough in all areas so as to cause problems for the opponent wherever the fight goes. It is a simple strategy to come up with but an arduous one to implement and perfect.
The second one involves being extremely competent in one area and constructing your game around bringing out the best in your specific choice of fighting. Also, forcing the opponent to give into your frame, resulting in a very familiar mode of expression for the highly specialised fighter.
This is how a boxer fantasises transitioning into MMA, not having to worry about utilising anything but his primary skill. This is often a pipe dream but the few who manage to pull it off typically stand out as brilliant martial artists with an edge.
This list includes a good mixture of fighters that utilise one or the other approach to force their game on their adversary, while concurrently reacting appropriately to the stimulus from the opponent.
Here are five fighters who have pushed the sport to new avenues and don't plan on looking back anytime soon.
#1 Dominick Cruz
The first thing that comes to mind when most people think of Dominick Cruz is graceful and perplexing footwork. This is his bread and butter, one that he can rely on to execute, in an immaculate trademark Cruz fashion.
Something that he knows is so inimitable that it goes without saying, finding the right sparring partner to imitate Cruz is nothing less than being on the quest for a unicorn.
The ordeals the Cruz had to go through, forced him to look at his game from an objective standpoint and while he was out of action, he spent the majority of his time studying tapes on legendary boxers and kick-boxers.
Analysing their movement and breaking it down to the very minutia and turn it into bite sized implementable pieces that he could then be integrated into his own game.
After having to relinquish his belt due to being sidelined with injuries for more than three years, Cruz was forced to take a deeper look at life. The hiatus forced him to be creative in finding something purposeful to fill his time with.
As a godsend, the job of an analyst for UFC on FOX helped him chisel his craft of analysing fights, as well develop an almost surgical, cerebral approach to trash talking, which has been a breath of fresh air in a world full of banal, repetitive and remarkably unremarkable trash talkers.
Cruz also took the time to explore the big questions in life such as his purpose in living and the meaning he chose to ascribe to his existence. In wrestling with these questions, he stumbled upon many subjective truths that played themselves out in his life.
The truth that he was always complete and abundant, regardless of whether he had the belt as an outside label. The truth that he never needed many things he thought he was in dire need of. And in an awe inspiring interview with Ariel Helwani, he confessed that his deepest realisation was that he didn't need a belt to be happy.
Already a master of the sport of MMA and a trail-blazer with his unique style of fighting, now equipped with a bulletproof mindset, Cruz then went on to do the unthinkable as he ended the reigning champ TJ Dillashaw's dominant streak, by winning a split decision with only one fight to his credit in over three and a half years.
A feat that has been rightfully called the greatest comeback story in MMA and perhaps all of combat sports history.
#2 Demetrious Johnson
Demetrious Johnson is a very special person and martial artist. That is perhaps, the understatement of the century.
After being uncared for completely, despite being the most dominant champ in the UFC today, Demetrious Johnson's achievements speak for themselves.
Johnson has been called a mini Georges St-Pierre, a comparison that I feel is unfair to GSP and his accomplishments. But it is not one that surprises anyone. Having the longest title reign since Anderson Silva with nine title defences to his name and being the number one pound for pound fighter in the world, in many ways, Johnson has surpassed GSP in his accomplishments.
He has been criticised for not having enough competition in his division to challenge anyone of his aptitude. Thus, undermining the value of his title reign. An accusation that is short-sighted in its composition and misconstrued in its demeanour.
The men's flyweight division was always considered a deep shark tank but not so much after Demetrious Johnson virtually wiped it out.
Defeating the number 1st, 2nd and 3rd contenders many times over and out-classing the rest, it is only to be expected that people would find faults in the division itself rather than being in awe of the Champion who made such a situation a reality in the first place.
Joe Rogan, Robin Black, Frank Mir and Dan Hardy all call Johnson a textbook MMA fighter, albeit not in a way as to call him ordinary by any means, but to emphasise how his execution of practically any and every technique that he displays blends so seamlessly into his overall game.
Because of wiping out his division, Johnson is now on the verge of a move back to Bantamweight. A move that could result in extremely entertaining fights including a rematch with former foe Dominick Cruz.
Either way, Demetrious Johnson will always put up highly entertaining and sophisticated fights for the fans as he has only touched his prime.
#3 Stephen Thompson
Stephen Thompson should perhaps be the poster boy of what one can accomplish if as a child, one is exposed to martial arts and it’s stunning and fierce world of competition and incessant practice.
Work ethic then is something that must now come naturally to Thompson, considering the thousands of hours he had already put in martial arts before entering the world of MMA.
Being a world class kickboxer with an astounding record of 57 wins and no losses, Stephen came into the sport of MMA as a very dazzling prospect and one that many promotions were looking out for.
After making his UFC debut with a record of only 5-0, Thompson took the first step on his way to the Welterweight championship. Apart from one loss against veteran Matt Brown, Thomson hardly ever lost a round on his rise to the top. But the Brown loss forced him to reconcile with his weakness in wrestling.
Thompson then relocated to train with his brother-in-law and former Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman in New York. This served as the missing piece in his game and worked wonders to keep the fight standing up.
Thompson then again went on an absolute tear with a seven-fight win streak, including being the first man to stop the extremely durable former Welterweight Champion Johnny Hendricks. A win that resulted in a title shot against champion Tyron Woodley, which became an instant classic and ended in a majority draw with a rematch underway.
Thompson is perhaps one of a kind, in utilising a traditional American kickboxing stance in which he has his hands down and recruits an unexpected amount of kicks from his front foot. A foot that has been trained extensively in his kickboxing career to be more agile than usual and with swift, pendulum-like movements.
Thompson shares a lot of movement patterns with Dominick Cruz but without a mixture of offensive wrestling. He gives it his own twist, using threatening front foot kicks to maintain distance and startling spinning attacks without worrying too much about a takedown.
The fighting style that Thompson employs is truly one of a kind and is almost impossible to emulate. Acting as a torchbearer after Lyoto Machida for bringing back traditional martial arts to MMA, Stephen Thompson is a truly creative Mixed martial artist.
#4 Doo Ho Choi
If you looked at Doo Ho Choi and didn't already know that he was a stone cold killer fighter in the Octagon, there is no possible reality in which you could take the right guess.
Apart from looking like a stereotypical Asian nerd and someone you'd ask for help in Math at High School, Doo Ho Choi is an eccentric cat but one that is the future of mixed martial arts. There would be no surprise if you find him challenging for the title in less than a couple of years in the UFC.
With perhaps the most orthodox boxing/striking technique on the list, you may be surprised why he made to this list. Well, sometimes the answer to complicated questions is a simple tweak and not every answer is as complicated as its question.
For Choi, most questions can be answered with blistering speed and pinpoint accuracy. Something that he has used to amass an impressive record for himself, winning in dramatic fashion in the blink of an eye. His right hand seems to carry the same touch of death that Mcgregor's left-hand does.
A special tool that makes every opponent unusually vary of his strength, leaving gaps to implement a game plan that a fighter whose striking is not feared, does not have the luxury to implement.
Choi is an agile mover and yet, more than comfortable to stand in the pocket and trade. He embodies a willingness to take risks, something that is not expected from a fighter of his calibre and thus ends up catching his opponents off-guard. Though, in moments of anguish, his quick counter punching does more than enough to get the job done.
Merge that with a wonderful sense of natural balance and take down defence and you get a recipe for disaster for any opponent. A fighter who is ready wherever the fight goes, even if he is forced to hammer it out till the bitter end.
In the fight against veteran Cub Swanson, we learnt a few things about Choi.
Firstly, it is extremely hard to put him away and, more often than not, it is a hopeless antic to press him to a stoppage victory. The fact that he has a granite chin is now of no surprise to the masses.
Secondly, he does not give up in the face of dire adversity and it is obvious that he is going to be a force in the Featherweight division, after the learning experience of being in there with a veteran and taking his best shots.
Fantasising and match-making Choi with existing stars in the Featherweight division is like creating a string of dream fights, a colossal promise for a fighter with only four fights in the UFC.
#5 Max Holloway
While Conor Mcgregor rose to fame in emphatic fashion, knocking out long-time champ Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds, never to return to the Featherweight division, a young and extremely malleable Max Holloway silently put in the hours to make his own rise to the top of the heap.
Previously having fought Mcgregor and being the only man before Nate Diaz to stretch him out to a decision victory, Holloway earned a tonne of respect despite being on the losing end against Mcgregor.
Never the one to trash talk his way to title shots or call fighters out, Holloway built his nine-fight winning streak after the Mcgregor loss, one fight at a time. Concentrating on the task at hand and finding a way to win, not caring much about the method to do so.
This lack of speciality and fluid adaptability then paradoxically shot Holloway to fame and he quickly found himself competing against the elite.
Submitting the veteran and Jiu Jitsu black belt Cub Swanson, stopping submission specialist Charles Oliviera, out striking a dangerous striker and knockout artist in Jeremy Stephens and then going on to become the first person to stop former Lightweight king Anthony Pettis with strikes, Holloway is only one step away from being the undisputed Featherweight king in the UFC.
A feat that is not particularly unrealistic now considering the numbers. Thrown in the fire in his UFC debut with only a 4-0 record, Max Holloway has more wins in the UFC than Jose Aldo or Conor Mcgregor has fights. At only 25 years of age, Holloway has become a veteran in his own right and finds no end to still improving his skills in the arts.
What is peculiar about Holloway is that he is not necessarily a knockout artist or a submission specialist, or even a traditional martial artist guy but simply a martial artist that utilises movement (the most important trait to have as a next generation Mixed Martial Artist) in all its permutations and combinations to support his strengths.
‘This makes the fights that Holloway is involved in extremely entertaining to watch as there is no limitation as to how he can or will finish the fight.
‘Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.’ - Stephen Hawking
If this is the case then we have a gem on our hands with Max Holloway, a fighter who is still in the infancy of his career and is already a step away from the pinnacle of the sport.
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