Since its foundation, the sport of mixed martial arts has seen a complete revolution. Although MMA is still a young sport, it has seen a good part of the memorable figures.
We have seen hunters who have changed the way fans and analysts have changed fights through their MMA insight. We have seen hunters who have entertained fans in and out of the Octagon. We have seen hunters who often make press conferences and interviews more important after the fight than the fight itself.
I go in random order by five fighters who have somehow influenced the sport of mixed martial arts.
George Saint Pierre
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In an era before the superstars came to the fore, there was a French Canadian who stormed the MMA world. George Saint-Pierre was the first hunter to show the effectiveness of wrestling as a weapon. Originally from a karate background, Saint-Pierre controlled the art of wrestling after his loss against Matt Serra. GSP was the perfect example of a mixed martial artist. The good weight was able to combine pinpoint with wrestling in a way that no one had seen before.
GSP was the first to show how wrestling could be used as an effective tool in MMA at the highest level. As soon as Saint Pierre took you down, he was able to completely dominate and cancel out his opponent. He was able to defend his title several times by implementing his grab-heavy style.
The majority regards GSP as the best welterweight of all time, with a record of nine title defenses, which still has to be defeated. The French Canadian did this while controlling all forms of martial arts, especially struggling.
To this day, Saint Pierre casts a large shade over the Welterweight division and will do this for decades.
Anderson Silva
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When he made his debut in the UFC, a lot was made of how Anderson ‘the Spider’ Silva’s was striking. Many had spoken about how Silva’s stand was revolutionary. Before the UFC, the Brazilian made his name in pride and cage anger, as well as the shooto middleweight champion. However, when Silva made his Octagon debut, everyone saw that it was more than just hearing say. Anderson Silva was a striker, unlike everything fans had ever seen. He was fast, elusive and could stand in front of you without being hit.
Silva had no particularly powerful framework, but his striking insight, combined with his movement, was a feast for the eyes. The Brazilian had a long, wire -like build, but was able to put the most destructive hunters to sleep. Silva is still seen as the largest middleweight of all time despite the fact that they have eleven losses.
When it comes to striking, Silva is the first name that comes to mind. Fighters such as Israel Adesanya often talk about the influence that the spider had on making his style.
To this day, no one has succeeded in fascinating the audience with their flashy, striking style such as Silva. The Brazilian is considered the largest middleweight of all time and is considered the greatest striker of all time.
Khabib Nurmagomedov
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When it comes to wrestling in mixed martial arts, one name comes up in me. Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The Russian entered the UFC with a 16-0 record and a reputation to be a formidable wrestler. As a two -time world champion in Combat Sambo, the ground game of Khabib was known. After his few fights, struggling the Russian was a display and he never looked back.
Nurmagomedov-Rag-Wolde and dominated every opponent he went against. Most big hunters are confronted with adversity, but Khabib was usually not in the Octagon. The Dagistani had never fallen or cut and only lost a handful of rounds in his illustrious career. Your entire career undefeated is one thing, but every hunter with whom you are confronted to show as if they don’t belong to you there is a different performance in itself.
Now, when a hunter dominates with the help of his wrestling, it is referred to as “khabib’d”. When a wrestler comes to the UFC with a small resemblance to the Russian, everyone draws comparisons with the Russian. All you have to do is see how great the shadow of Nurmagomedov has been referred to the career of Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev. Both are hunters of world class, but neither can combat comparisons with Khabib.
The eagle is undoubtedly one of the best talents the MMA world has ever seen.
Conor McGregor
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We are now coming to the man who has put the UFC on the map. When Conor McGregor grew up, fighting in MMA was not seen as a feasible career option. As the UFC grew, McGregor dreamed of entering the UFC and it is a source of income.
It is fair to say that he actually changed those dreams.
Conor McGregor is the first superstar of the UFC. He is someone who fascinated the audience inside and outside the Octagon. Nowadays it seems that every hunter in the sport tries to imitate the notorious.
Whether it is about his fighting style or his antics, McGregor’s blueprint is clear in sport. Before the Irishman, nobody had tried to be a world champion two weight, and since then there have been three. Trash-Talking was largely discouraged, but since McGregor it has been almost omnipresent on press conferences, in which some even repeat the lines of the Irishman.
The reputation of McGregor came to a point that there were clamours for him to fight Floyd Mayweather in a multi-million pound boxing match. Although this fight may have brought McGregor’s career into a downward spiral, it has obtained a generation of wealth that no one could have touched in the UFC. The way the Irishman wore himself made fans tuned time and again. The top four most popular PPVs in UFC history were all maps with McGregor on it.
The amount of money that Conor McGregor earned for the UFC was unprecedented, and therefore the notorious was allowed to pursue a payment day with Floyd Mayweather.
His best days can lie behind him, but there is no doubt about the impact that this phenomenon had. Love him or hates him, when discussing the UFC, the name of Conor McGregor will always be on the lips of fans.
Jon Jones
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When it comes to influence among his colleagues, few keep a candle to Jon Jones. Although McGregor was perhaps the first superstar to have seen the UFC, Jones was the one who got the ball rolling. Heaven won a UFC title at just 21 and was the limit for the light heavyweight. The young American surpassed everyone who stood in front of him and did this in a unique style.
Jones defended his light heavyweight title eleven times and during this reign he had submissions, knockouts and decision wines.
Bones came into sport as a wrestler, but became a dynamic striker by the end. The resident of Albuquerque was able to use his wrestling with a variety of creative strikes. Jones was the first man in the Octagon who used elbows. He was also the first to use the devastating sloping kick, who damaged the knees of many of his opponents.
Some of the techniques that Jones used are now implemented at the highest level of MMA. Jones is seen as the Michael Jordan of the sport. His influence on his colleagues is unprecedented. When bones would enter the cage, there was an inevitability that he would win. Just like Khabib, he was never brought down, such as McGregor, he won titles in two different weight classes, such as GSP, he had a well -rounded game, and just like Silva he had a really unique style.
Jones combined some of the most ruthless techniques in MMA with a championship mentality and did this in the early twenties. The American is seen by many as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, and it is not difficult to see why.
Jon Jones is really the definition of a generation talent and is without a doubt one of the most influential hunters of all time.
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