UFC 129 Fight Card: GSP, Jake Shields and the 15 Best Grapplers in the UFC

When Jake Shields and Georges St-Pierre collide this Saturday night for the UFC welterweight championship, will we be watching the two best grapplers in the entire UFC?

That is up for debate, but they are both certainly at the top.

St-Pierre has black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but Shields's jiu jitsu is on another level.

Shields has an amazing wrestling game, but St-Pierre's takedowns and takedown defense are considered the best in the business.

Takedowns, position, control, sweeps and most importantly (theoretically), submissions; these are the criteria for effective grappling in MMA.

How do the elite grapplers in the UFC stack up?

This is how I see Jake Shields, Georges St-Pierre and the top 15 grapplers in the UFC.

UFC 129 St-Pierre vs. Shields: News, Results, and More....

Honorable Mention

Matt Hughes

Cain Velasquez

Frankie Edgar

Rousimar Palhares 

Gray Maynard

Lyoto Machida

15. Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz does not have much in the way of a wrestling game but makes up for it with his crafty and devastating submission game.

He holds submission victories over respected strikers like Marcus Davis and Melvin Guillard, but the 26-year-old Diaz also reeled off three straight submission victories from 2007-2008 over respected grapplers Junior Assuncao, Alvin Robinson and Kurt Pellegrino.

14. Phil Davis

Phil Davis was extremely conservative in his grappling in his last victory—a battle with Rogerio Nogueira.

Although that was his approach for that particular fight, Davis is still regarded as one of the most dangerous grapplers in the sport.

A NCAA Division I national champion, Davis has wrestling credentials as good as anybody, and he is picking up the submission game with surprising speed.

With an undefeated record and two impressive UFC victories via submission, Davis's grappling attack is one of the most potent in the game.

13. Jason Miller

UFC fans, say hello (again) to Jason "Mayhem" Miller.

After his loss to Georges St-Pierre in his UFC debut in 2005, Miller went on a five-fight submission victory streak, and he remains one of the most puissant middleweight submission artists in the world.

Miller happily engages in ground battles against esteemed grappling specialists like Ronaldo Souza and Jake Shields, holding his own, and yet, the only submission defeat of his career was an early first-round guillotine back in 2002.

Returning to the UFC at UFC 132, Miller has his hands full against Aaron Simpson but looks to captivate new fans with his ground stylings.

12. Brock Lesnar

As an NCAA Division I heavyweight wrestling champion, Brock Lesnar has become one of the best grapplers in the sport with his championship work ethic.

Lesnar lost his last fight when Cain Velasquez was able to neutralize most of his wrestling, but Lesnar remains the premiere wrestler in the heavyweight division.

He also showed how evolved his submission game has come along with an impressive second-round submission over Shane Carwin.

11. Urijah Faber

A standout Division I wrestler at UC Davis, Urijah Faber has been studying other grappling arts such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, to great effect for his MMA career.

The former featherweight champion of the world uses his submission game and wrestling talents to put his foes in peculiar situations which he can adapt to and take advantage of.

Now the No. 1 contender for the bantamweight title, Faber holds impressive submission victories over such notable opponents as Dominick Cruz, Jeff Curran, Takeya Mizugaki and Raphael Assuncao.

10. Chael Sonnen

Standout collegiate wrestler Chael Sonnen has shown some deficiencies in his submission game but often makes up for it with his aggressive and controlling style.

That style is so effective, in fact, that Sonnen has earned decisive decision victories over highly regarded grappling specialists in Dan Miller, Nate Marquardt, Paulo Filho and Yushin Okami.

9. Dong Hyun Kim

Undefeated Dong Hyun Kim has emerged as the premiere Judo practitioner in the UFC and one of the top contenders in the UFC's stacked welterweight division.

In his last two bouts alone, Kim demonstrated elite grappling skills.

Against Amir Sadollah, Kim completely outclassed his opponent in a dominant display of grappling knowledge and execution.

His most recent bout, against Nate Diaz, was much more competitive, but Kim was able to keep a distinct grappling edge on his opponent for two rounds.  

8. Randy Couture

Randy Couture is one of the most accomplished MMA fighters and champions in history.

The majority of that success has come from Couture's ability to impose a grappling-based attack.

Whether pressuring his opponents from the clinch or from top position, Couture is an expert at controlling the pace of his fights and forcing openings otherwise unavailable to lesser men.

Now, Couture winds down his career at 47 years of age but still posses a formidable threat to Lyoto Machida, and thus, any MMA fighter in the world.

7. Josh Koscheck

NCAA Division I wrestling champion and four-time All-American, Josh Koscheck's wrestling credentials are as good as any in the UFC.

Throughout his career, Koscheck has used that excellent wrestling background to his advantage.

In his 2009 bout with fellow wrestler Anthony Johnson, Koscheck showcased his grappling superiority and submission skills with a rear-naked choke victory.

6. Jon Jones

Following in Georges St-Pierre's footsteps, Jones uses striking and unpredictability to open up a devastatingly effective grappling attack.

A champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, Jones also studies Judo to be arguably the greatest takedown artist from the clinch in the sport.

The light heavyweight champion is not just an amazing takedown specialist, he is also a devastating finisher with submissions.

His victories over Jake O'Brien and Ryan Bader with modified guillotines showed that Jones is a demon on the mat and a force to behold.

5. BJ Penn

You might not know how amazing BJ Penn's grappling is if you have not watched all of his fights.

Often choosing to out-box his opponents, BJ Penn is also a world champion Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist who has adapted his craft well for MMA.

In his last fight against talented wrestler Jon Fitch, Penn showed just what else he can do with his grappling by taking Fitch down and gaining the more dominant positions for the first two rounds.

Although Penn would fade in the third round, he has shown that when he puts his mind to it, he can out grapple just about anybody. 

4. Jon Fitch

Mixing wrestling and Brazilian jiu jitsu into a hybrid system named Guerilla jiu-jitsu, Jon Fitch has become a near unstoppable force in the welterweight division.

In 15 UFC fights, Fitch has lost only once, being a decision loss to current champion Georges St-Pierre.

The relentless Fitch describes his style as being like a meat grinder, and the apropos description succinctly describes how he consumes his opponents style and wears them down.

3. Demian Maia

Demian Maia is the best pure Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist in the UFC.

Usually, his opponents best strategy is to avoid the ground all together with Maia, so that he cannot work his wizardry.

Even standout wrestler Chael Sonnen knew to play conservatively with Maia, but Maia still tossed Sonnen to the ground with a beautiful trip from the clinch.

From there, it was purely academic as Maia did what he does best—win via submission. 

2. Jake Shields

Jake Shields is undoubtedly one of the sport's most elite grapplers.

He mixes Brazilian jiu-jitsu and American wrestling in such a way that it suits the parameters of contemporary MMA competition and has dubbed it "American jiu-jitsu".

What Shields does is manipulates positions and executes submissions with the techniques of high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu but always presses the action and forces openings with the pressure of American wrestling.

At one point in his career, Shields earned four straight submission victories over notable fighters Mike Pyle, Nick Thompson, Paul Daley and Robbie Lawler.

1. Georges St-Pierre

Georges St-Pierre's wrestling ability in an MMA context is on par with anyone in the sport.

His Brazilian jiu-jitsu is also at some of the highest levels around. 

Frankly, it is hard to imagine anyone giving St-Pierre any major grappling problems.

The only exception would be the man that he faces this Saturday night at UFC 129.  Jake Shields.