5 UFC fighters who abandoned their grappling in favor of striking

#4. Jon Jones

The former UFC light heavyweight champion has a formal background in Greco-Roman wrestling. In Jon Jones' first professional bout, he made great use of his wrestling roots, suplexing his opponents en route to landing in the UFC where he did much of the same.

As 'Bones' climbed the divisional ladder, his arsenal of takedowns deepened as he took on higher-ranked foes.

At some point, Jones found a striking style well-suited to his lanky frame. Under Mike Winkeljohn, 'Bones' developed a fighting system that was uniquely his. As the years went by, his wrestling declined as he focused on improving his striking, eventually culminating in a version of Jon Jones that was more comfortable side-kicking and push kicking a one-legged Thiago Santos rather than taking him down to the ground.

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#3. Rafael dos Anjos

Prior to joining forces with renowned striking coach Rafael Cordeiro, Rafael dos Anjos was a legitimate Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who often sought to end all of his bouts via submission.

However, upon crossing paths with Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA, 'RDA' underwent a complete transformation that saw him become a terrifying pressure fighter who went on to capture UFC gold in the lightweight division.

The Brazilian's primary tools involved sweeping punches and kicks that barricaded his foes as dos Anjos sandwiched them between the fence and himself. He all but abandoned his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu roots, until faced with an opponent like Kevin Lee who consistently dragged him to the ground with takedowns.