Current Champions Represent Evolution in MMA Striking

Mixed Martial Arts has been dominated by ground fighters. From the early brilliance of Jiu Jitsu players to the recent influx of wrestlers, it has long been accepted that you have to have a ground game to compete in MMA.

Often when MMA comes under attack by K-1 or Boxing fans, they assault the level of a typical MMA match's striking. They proclaim any truly talented striker would run through the sport. MMA fans then point to the need for takedown defense and ground games and the arguments never end.

Both sides are right. Often when we see two MMA fighters standing and trading in the UFC, Strikeforce, or DREAM, what we usually are seeing is a NCAA wrestler and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion who have both studied Muay Thai for about two years in a sloppy kickboxing match.

The wrestler doesn't want to be in the Brazilian's guard and the Brazilian can't take the wrestler down, and both feel they have an edge on the feet, so they just stand and swing wildly.

But a brief look around at the champions in MMA and yes, you find the dominating ground fighters in Brock Lesnar, GSP, Jake Shields and Aoki, but more and more champions are climbing to the top by virtue of their striking.

Anderson Silva is not a new name, but Frankie Edgar, Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida, Gilbert Melendez and Gegard Mousasi all could be argued to be the best strikers in their promotion's weight class.

The striking arts are still finding their way in the sport, but could wash over MMA in a wave. For instance, in the early 2000s Randy Couture set off a wave of "dirty boxing" when the striking-style ground fighters had to learn to be dangerous on their feet.

Then in the mid 2000s Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva and "Shogun" Rua brought Muay Thai to the forefront of MMA striking, using the discipline to utterly destroy opponents.

Then I would argue that the late 2000s and early 2010s style everyone wishes to learn is boxing.

The boxing techniques that everyone is learning are not the left hooks and overhand rights that are already in MMA, however, but proper footwork, defensive head movement, and crisp jabs. They are starting to make their appearance all over MMA and are being meshed with other styles of striking.

Kenny Florian, while not a champion, has worked hard on adding boxing to his already well respected Muay Thai skills.

When Florian left Mark DellaGrotte's gym for the Tri-Star gym, Florian sat down with the head striking coach of Tri-Star, Firas Zahabi, and together determined that his Muay Thai needed to evolve and adapt.

Zahabi pointed out to Florian that Muay Thai was a fighting system developed in Thailand, and the fight leagues of Thailand are vastly smaller in weight classes than the UFC. Muay Thai thus doesn't devote a lot of attention to the hands because so few fighters in Thailand have serious power with their hands.

But coming to the UFC at 155 lbs, fighters start having serious go-to-sleep power in their hands, and Muay Thai doesn't have great techniques for closing distance. The Ti's and kicks are great for creating distance, while the clinch, knees and elbows are great for in tight, but the lack of emphasis on the jab means Muay Thai fighters in MMA have a very hard time closing against fighters who can use their hands effectively.

So Zahabi sent Florian to work with boxing coach Peter Welch and the results have been very impressive thus far.

The gold standard of Muay Thai, combined with the deadly hands of western Boxing, is Anderson Silva, who has become a true master of measuring opponents and keeping them at range and punishing them with punches and kicks.

The jab is fantastic weapon to have in MMA because so few fighters use it to any sort of effect, many just paw with their lead hand and a sharp, snapping jab throws many fighters off their game. Gilbert Melendez used his sharp jab to great effect in his five-round domination of Josh "The Punk" Thomson, and all of his standup offense worked off his quick jab. 

Now the ability to punch and jab is just simply not enough anymore. B.J. Penn was hailed a few years ago as the "Best Boxer in MMA," which is a Freddie Roach quote from years ago that Joe Rogan loves to throw around. Certainly Penn has an excellent jab and great, heavy hooks, but many have pointed to his flat-foot stance as a weakness.

A weakness that Frankie Edgar took full advantage of with constant side-to-side movement, never letting Penn set his feet to throw and creating angles to dash in for a quick combination and than dart back out. Regardless how you scored the fight, it was a shrewd strategy using a well refined boxing fundamental to great effect.

Likewise in 2009, Rashad Evans was the champion of the UFC Lightweight division with his lighting fast hands and knockout power. And while the challenger had a strong base in Karate and not boxing, it still proved the point when Lyoto Machida wrote a book on how to defeat Evans by taking advantage of his poor footwork.

Many MMA fighters will circle and move but when push comes to shove they stand right in front of their opponents and trade. Machida moves while striking, controls distance and uses that to create openings to land strikes. Machida doesn't just circle also, he pivots to create angles to strike and keep the pressure on opponents.

Likewise Dominick Cruz won his Bantamweight title with excellent footwork and head movement. Cruz knew that Champion Brian Bowles's greatest weapon was his powerful right hand. Cruz used his jab to check Bowles's advances and then bobbed, weaved, and moved away from the right hand, frustrating the champion.

Anderson Silva, Dominick Cruz, Lyoto Machida, and Frankie Edgar all have excellent ability to use defensive-striking fundamentals to help create their striking offense. This is a strong trend of focus on effective use of the hands, footwork, and head movement, one which I expect to trickledown through the upper levels of MMA, pushing the level of striking forward.

It's one more step in the ever-evolving sport of MMA.