UFC 136 Results: Frankie Edgar and the 5 Best Technical Boxers in the UFC

Boxing has been an important part of mixed martial arts since the sport’s inception and Frankie Edgar proved that the skill is still arguably the most important one that a fighter can have when he knocked out Gray Maynard at UFC 136.

Edgar took some damage early in the fight, but his resiliency was unbelievable. He battled back in the second, third and fourth rounds before finally knocking out Maynard utilizing superior technique in conjunction with surprising punching power.

It certainly takes more than just boxing technique to become a champion in the UFC, but these five fighters have proven that having the best boxing skills on the promotion can be the difference between being good and being elite.

5. Anderson Silva

MMA Record: 31-4
Knockout Wins: 18

He doesn’t have the traditional technical boxing skills that some of the other fighters on this list possess, but UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s standup technique is just ridiculous.

There are many times throughout the course of his fights when Silva is so confident that he’s not going to get hit that he literally drops his hands and bobs his head around as if to say, “you can’t touch me” to his opponents... And to date in the UFC, he’s right.

Then when his opponent is demoralized, he smashes them with one punch of his own which is usually good enough to pretty much end any fight.

According to FightMetric records, Anderson Silva is the most accurate striker in the history of the UFC, connecting on a ridiculous 68.5% of his significant strike attempts.

4. BJ Penn

MMA Record: 16-7-2
Knockout Wins: 7

Though he’s known for having some of the greatest Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the sport, BJ Penn’s all-around game makes him one of the most dangerous fighters to ever step into the Octagon.

Penn’s confidence in his own ability to punch makes him even more scary because he has the ability to stand right in front of his opponents and exchange with them. Not only that, but he has fought exclusively in the 155 and 170-pound divisions in the UFC which are typically filled with fighters who do not possess great knockout power.

He may not finish every fight by pure knockout, but a number of Penn’s submission victories have actually come while his opponent was phased by a punch.

3. Frankie Edgar

MMA Record: 14-1-1
Knockout Wins: 3

As he displayed last night, Frankie Edgar’s boxing skills are no joke.

Sure, he took a tremendous amount of damage in the first round, but like he said in the post fight interview, he has never really taken much damage in his other fights. Even against top-tier boxers like BJ Penn, Edgar has stood in the pocket and used his quickness to exploit slower, more plodding-like lightweights on the feet.

One criticism that some people have had of him before was that he didn’t have much knockout power, but that can be put to rest after he knocked out the undefeated Gray Maynard at UFC 136.

2. Nick Diaz

MMA Record: 25-7
Knockout Wins: 13

If has been awhile since he has fought in the UFC, but Nick Diaz has improved exponentially since UFC 65 when he knocked out Gleison Tibau.

Many have critiqued Diaz’s style as being almost too careless, as we saw in his most recent fight against Paul Daley for the Strikeforce welterweight championship. Daley, known for being perhaps the hardest puncher at 170-pounds, tagged Diaz numerous times in the first round, but was unable to finish off the kid from Stockton.

One Diaz recovered, he took to picking apart Daley with short, slap-like punches that opened the Brit up for some bigger punches later in the round.

He may drop his hands too much and take too many punches, but there is no denying that Nick Diaz’s boxing has been very effective for him.

1. Junior Dos Santos

MMA Record: 13-1
Knockout Wins: 8

Heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos will have his hands full when he gets his shot at the UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez next month. The two fighters will do battle on the inaugural UFC on FOX card.

Velasquez destroyed Brock Lesnar in his most recent fight, however one would have to believe that his style is going to be different when he fights dos Santos who is arguably the best boxer in all of MMA.

Dos Santos really has it all when it comes to boxing skills. Excellent footwork, a great jab, bone-crunching power, pin-point accuracy and a punching repertoire that has his opponents completely clueless on what’s coming next. As long as the fight is standing, dos Santos should have a good chance at becoming the next champion in the UFC.