Top 10 Worst Stylistic Match-ups in MMA

Matching up two top fighters against each other seems like a no-brainer, but when you start to break down the way the fights would actually go, sometimes what appears to be a good fight turns out to be a one-sided domination.

Here are 10 of the worst stylistic matchups featuring top-level fighters:

10. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Randy Couture

People aren't screaming about this matchup right now, but it was eagerly anticipated by some when Couture fought for this bout after his 2007 victory over Gabriel Gonzaga.

According to UFC propaganda and his history as an underdog, "You can never count out Randy Couture," but despite such sentiments, there really isn't a whole lot that Couture could accomplish against Emelianenko, especially when he would need to do it over the five-round distance.

You can't beat Emelianenko by leaning him up against a fence for five rounds, and getting the "Captain America" gift of a judges' decision.

Sure, the cage works against him, but Emelianenko is good at staying off the fence, and on the ground, Couture is vulnerable to both sweeps and submission attempts as we saw against Nogueira.

Also like we saw against Nogueira, Couture doesn't have the offensive artillery to even bother Emelianenko on the feet.

9. Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson has the punching power and wrestling ability, but aside from that, he doesn't have the other skills required to really do anything to Silva over the championship distance.

On the feet, Henderson has the power to hurt Silva if he connects, but Henderson's one-handed offence is far too predictable to trouble as good of a striker as Silva.

Henderson's wrestling was at least somewhat effective against Silva, but he still struggled to get takedowns, and once on the ground, he didn't have any weapons to really get Silva out of the cage.

Furthermore, Henderson has gassed later on in some fights, as he did in his fight against Rich Franklin. Had the fight gone on for another two rounds, I think Franklin would have won.

Since Henderson can't finish Silva, and is prone to gassing, I can't see him winning over five rounds against the champ.

8. Dan Henderson vs. Jake Shields

This fight is going to be headlining the upcoming Strikeforce card, despite being a quite predictable matchup in favor of Henderson.

Jake Shields relies upon his top-position "American Jiu-Jitsu" to win his fights.

Oddly enough, he's made it look like he's won the striking portion of some of his fights on the statistic sheets by landing a bunch of pitter-patter leg kicks.

Those who have actually watched Shields fight have seen him struggle on the feet against Yushin Okami and look like a fish out of water against Paul Daley.

Those pitter patter leg kicks aren't going to bother Henderson, and since it's going to be tough for Shields to take Henderson down, Shields is going to be stuck in a striking battle.

For all of Henderson's technical warts when it comes to striking, he's still likely to knock Shields' block off, or otherwise come away with the decision.

7. Anderson Silva vs. Robbie Lawler

Pat Miletich and current Strikeforce commentator Mauro Ranallo have talked about the possibility of a Silva vs. Lawler fight, but it wouldn't have been pretty for Lawler.

Lawler has some wrestling skills, but not enough ground savvy to deal with Silva there.

On the feet, this fight is all Anderson Silva.

6. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum

Werdum appears to be the next opponent for Emelianenko, but despite his worthiness as a challenger, he doesn't present Emelianenko with much of a challenge.

Werdum is a groundfighting expert, but he's going to struggle trying to submit Emelianenko, who is a bit of a submission expert in his own right.

The bigger problem for Werdum is that he struggles when he isn't able to bring the fight down to the ground, and doesn't have the greatest wrestling.

He struggled mightily against Antonio Silva, who is not nearly the fighter Emelianenko is when it comes to wrestling or striking.

Try as I might to imagine a way for Werdum to make this one competitive, I still see Emelianenko winning within the first round of the fight.

5. BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez

The UFC was running out of marketable challengers for the lightweight title, and since Sanchez wasn't going to be able to beat the top five guys at welterweight anyway, a move down made sense for both parties.

A lot of people instantly came to the correct conclusion that Sanchez wouldn't be able to cause any problems for Penn, as Penn is better than Sanchez in almost every single aspect of MMA.

My own personal thought at the time was that Sanchez might have been able to have some success wearing Penn down if he was able to use the kind of strategies to minimize Penn's technical advantage.

While watching the fight it became clear to me that not only did Sanchez not have the technical abilities to even cause Penn problems, but that he didn't come in with any effective techniques or strategies.

Rather than trying to find a new way to win, Sanchez clung on to a lame single-leg attempt for most of the fight.

This fight should be a reference against the idea that a fighter with better cardio can simply push the pace towards victory.

Pushing the pace requires a certain level of technique that Sanchez just did not have.

4. Nick Diaz vs. Top 10 Welterweights

Much has been made recently about how well Diaz would do now in the UFC's welterweight division. Some have even gone so far as to say that Diaz should be considered a pound-for-pound fighter.

Diaz has been on a decent winning streak recently, but he's done so against guys who really weren't great stylistic threats to him.

In the welterweight elite are guys like St. Pierre, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and others who would have the wrestling and submission skills to put Diaz on his back and keep the fight there for as long as it takes.

Diaz might have the boxing skills to frustrate some of these fighters, but he doesn't have the knockout power to finish these wrestlers if they can just take Diaz down whenever they are in trouble.

Diaz might be able to pull off the occasional win inside the welterweight division's top 10, but even if he does so, he's never going to have a continued streak of success that would allow him to become a champion or a perennial contender in the UFC.

3. Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin

Dana White said that he made this fight to be an exciting challenge for Anderson Silva.

It turned out to be one of the biggest blowouts between two elite fighters in MMA history.

Griffin's forward-moving striking style is tailor-made to get crushed by a someone who does the same things, but on a far higher level.

When the matchup was first announced, I felt like it would be terrible for Griffin because Silva would clearly have the answer for Griffin's leg kicks, and Griffin didn't even have the punchers chance against Silva because he is not really a power puncher.

2. BJ Penn vs. Shinya Aoki

Shinya Aoki is considered by some to be the second best lightweight in the world, but he would have almost no chance against the UFC champion.

Shinya Aoki isn't about to submit Penn, and he probably isn't even going to take him down.

While the fight remains standing, the fight will be about as big of a blowout as you could find in the upper echelon of the sport. Penn would be expected to knock out Aoki early.

1. Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields

When people complain about the UFC's stance against co-promotion, a potential fight with Jake Shields often comes up.

However, despite having some legitimate top 10 welterweight credentials, Shields doesn't have what it takes to even make a fight with St. Pierre competitive.

Not only can St. Pierre stuff Shield's takedowns and win the fight on the feet, but he can also take Shields down and have success on the floor.

If Shields was somehow able to take St. Pierre down, he might be able to make things interesting, but he's not going to take St. Pierre down, and he's going to get beaten up if he's trying to work off his back.

Other Bad Matchups:

Ronaldo Souza vs. Jake Shields, Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch, BJ Penn vs. Lightweight division, Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen, Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett, Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz

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