UFC 124 Results: Georges St-Pierre and the 20 Most Technically Sound Fighters
At UFC 124, Georges St-Pierre successfully defended his welterweight title against Josh Koscheck in a display that once again showed how technical and methodical he is as a fighter. He continues to get better and better each and every time that he steps into the Octagon.
Being able to understand your opponent and to be able to use that knowledge to your advantage is something that only the truly great fighters can do. But there is more to it than just understanding your opponent. You must be able to jump on a weakness, adapt within a fight, do anything that you can in order to win.
That is a quality that only the most skilled and technical fighters possess. You have to measure this based on their entire fighting pedigree, not just one specific aspect and that can be a very tricky thing to do. Here is a list of the 20 greatest technical fighters in MMA history.
Georges St-Pierre
1 of 20
What is there left to be said about the man that hasn't already been said in the last 24 hours? There are very few fighters like him today. He has evolved into arguably the most complete fighter in MMA today. He can box with you, he can wrestle you, he can fight with you, he can do anything that he wants. He is so fast, so smooth in his execution that there appears to be no one in the UFC welterweight division that can beat him.
Anderson Silva
2 of 20
One of only two fighters who can really challenge GSP for the title of best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Anderson Silva has one of the greatest technical styles in all of MMA. He has such great all-around technique and his speed makes him that much more lethal when he is in the octagon. He is a polarizing figure inside the Octagon, but you can't deny the greatness of the man.
Fedor Emelianenko
3 of 20
For the longest time Fedor was the crown jewel of the heavyweight division in MMA. His career record and winning streak are the stuff of legend and he has more than lived up to that reputation every single time he fights. He has the skills and technique of guys like GSP and Silva while carrying an extra 40-50 pounds. He is probably the best heavyweight fighter of all time because of his unbelievable technique and speed.
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Matt Hughes
4 of 20
The legendary Matt Hughes staked his claim on this list with years of great performances. He won the UFC welterweight title two times and has the most wins in UFC history (18). A master fighter who worked on perfecting his craft when he was a state champion wrestler in high school and then when he competed in professional jeet kune do championships.
Jose Aldo
5 of 20
A real shame that Jose Aldo was forced off the New Year's UFC show so that he could display his fantastic fighting chops on MMA's biggest stage. Aldo has made his name knocking people out, but he is such a great fighter in all aspects of the game. He is only 24 years old and still has a room to grow, but he has already shown so much to this point in his career.
BJ Penn
6 of 20
You name it and odds are good that BJ Penn can do it. He has tremendous knockout power, just ask Matt Hughes. He has a great submission game. He is fast and a gifted take down artist. With Penn, the only question has been how motivated is he. When he wants to be, he is among the best in the world. When he loses interest, he is easy to beat.
Randy Couture
7 of 20
"The Natural" had something that very few people in MMA have. He brought a well-rounded wrestling game with him into the octagon, plus he was a master at the art of the ground-and-pound. He was a key component in making UFC into what it is today and a lot of that is due to his great skill as a fighter.
Lyoto Machida
8 of 20
Don't let the two straight losses take away from Lyoto Machida's uncanny technical ability in MMA. He may not be the flashiest fighter in the world but he does something that very few guys can do: he takes his defense and turns it into his offense quicker than anyone else. One of the great technical fighters of all time.
Royce Gracie
9 of 20
Any list of great submission artists starts with Royce Gracie. This list of technical fighters will include him because of everything that he did to go along with his submission game. The Gracie family jiu-jitsu is legendary in the history of UFC and Royce remains the best of the family in MMA.
Rickson Gracie
10 of 20
Some would say he is a better submission fighter than Royce. How many fights he actually has depends based on who you ask but you cannot deny the unbelievable technical prowess of the eldest Gracie brother. Even at 52 years old, Rickson is still fighting all over the world showing off that great Gracie jiu-jitsu.
Urijah Faber
11 of 20
The California Kid had fallen on hard times recently, up until his strong victory over Takeya Mizugaki. He had a 13-fight win streak from 2005-2008 and he won in every way imaginable. It's a testament to who he is as a fighter and how technically skilled that he is that he can put together an incredible streak like that. Things may not be running quite as smoothly as they once were but Faber is working on getting back to that level.
Bas Rutten
12 of 20
One of the unsung kings of MMA, Bas Rutten was a star in the sport before he retired after winning the UFC heavyweight title. An unbelievable tactician in the ring, he would zone in on one area of his opponent and would pummel that until his hand was raised in victory. He doesn't really get talked about enough among the other legends of MMA but his name belongs up there with any of them.
Mark Coleman
13 of 20
There was a time, way back in the day, when wrestlers weren't thought of as legit competitors in MMA. Along came Mark Coleman, and he killed that theory dead. He was primarily a wrestler early on in his career. Eventually he evolved his game and is even credited with innovating the criminally underused ground-and-pound style in MMA.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
14 of 20
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is known as a submission specialist, but it's his technical fighting game that allows him to be so successful as a submission fighter. You have to have a handle on how to work an opponent in order to be able to lock in a good submission hold. Nogueira has that ability and for that he makes this list.
Alistair Overeem
15 of 20
The Strikeforce Heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem, can do it all. He can stand up and fight with anyone, he can go to the ground and fight with anyone. He just went over to Japan and won a K-1 world kickboxing tournament, just because he is Alistair Overeem and he can.
Tito Ortiz
16 of 20
Tito Ortiz, in his prime, was good enough to have beaten anyone. He was lightning quick, he had power, he had a great ground game, he could do it all. He may not be the fighter that he once was but back in the day, but he was one of the absolute best to step into the Octagon.
Takanori Gomi
17 of 20
Having never seen Takanori Gomi fight, I am basing this pick on research that I did. By all accounts there is nothing that he can't do as a fighter. I watched a little bit of his work on the Internet and I can't argue with that thesis. He is best when he is standing but he can beat you in anyway. He is as fast as anyone that I have seen. He has a great punch to go along with his terrific technical game. He will make his UFC PPV debut at the New Year's show against Clay Guida.
Frankie Edgar
18 of 20
Frankie Edgar has really evolved his fighting game so much since the beginning of his career. When he first started he was a decent fighter who might be able to get by against lesser competition. All that has changed now. He is one of the absolute best pound-for-pound guys in the world. He uses his technical fighting and speed to wear down his opponents. He did twice against BJ Penn and he will look to do that again when defends the UFC lightweight title against Gray Maynard on January 1st.
Pat Miletich
19 of 20
The first ever UFC lightweight champion, Pat Miletich, began his career with a strong boxing-only style of fighting and a great submission style. He evolved his game, learning karate to go along with his powerful punching game and submission to become a more disciplined fighter. He became a savvy ring technician as time went on and he began to make a climb up the fight mountain because of it.
Ken Shamrock
20 of 20
Maybe the first mega-star in the UFC, Ken Shamrock is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. He worked with a submission style of fighting but he was great in all aspects of the game. He had power, which he used to set up his deadly submissions. He could wrestle, he could do it all. He was the first ever UFC heavyweight champion in 1995, called the superfight title back then.
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