UFC 136 Results: Ranking the Striking Of the UFC Champions

On Saturday, fans were treated to a stacked card.  Two championship fights were featured, in which José Aldo retained his belt by besting Kenny Florian by unanimous decision, and Frankie Edgar rid himself of Gray Maynard with a fourth round technical knockout.

The two bouts were largely standup affairs, and showed off the striking abilities of the two champions.  How do Aldo and Edgar's striking compare with the striking of other champions?  Read to find out!

7. Cain Velasquez

Of the champions, Velasquez's striking is the least proven.  

After being outstruck by Kongo, he worked extensively on his standup, which looked good against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Lesnar.

His striking will next be on display at UFC on FOX, against the man currently considered the best striker in the division, Junior dos Santos.

6. Dominic Cruz

Cruz has a very strange style.  He doesn't land a lot of hits, but he lands more than he takes, and has won most of his fights with his unorthodox striking.

He doesn't really try hard for finishes.  His last successful finish, excluding a doctor stoppage from a cut, was 10 fights ago.  But his effectiveness is hard to dispute.  

All of his fights are primarily won on the feet.

He doesn't win all of his fights extremely convincingly though.  He beat Faber and Johnson in the UFC, but not by huge margins.  

If he starts hunting for more finishes or starts winning more dominantly, his placement on this list can improve.

5. Jon Jones

Jon Jones showed strong striking over Shogun Rua and Rampage Jackson, neither of whom could overcome the reach of Jones.

However, while his striking is very solid and difficult to prepare for, he doesn't hurt his opponents badly on the feet.  

All of his UFC TKO victories were the result of ground'n'pound and immediate follow-up.

Once a fighter good at covering distance or a fighter who has familiarity with his reach fights him (Machida, Evans), his striking will probably stop looking as impressive as it has.  

But if he does end up outstriking Machida and Evans, he'll move up on this list.

4. Frankie Edgar

Frankie Edgar became the champion with a controversial decision win over BJ Penn.  The rematch, however, wasn't even slightly controversial.  

Edgar outstruck and outperformed Penn, one of the best strikers in the sport today.

In his next two defenses, both against Maynard, he wound up being rocked early but came back strong after lopsided first rounds.  

The first of those two bouts ended in a draw, but he won convincingly in the second with a fourth round TKO.

His remarkable footwork, head movement, and speed make him a tough target to hit while allowing him to punish his opponents.  

3. José Aldo

Aldo secured his title over Florian with a convincing unanimous decision win.  Florian had his moments, but was simply outperformed by the Brazilian striker.

Also isn't the KO machine he was in the WEC, mostly because the competition is harder.  

But he has still looked very impressive against the tougher competition the UFC has to offer, and is a constant danger to his enemies.

2. George St-Pierre

GSP may lack in power, but technical striking is very good.

The last time he has ever been outstruck was his first bout against BJ Penn in 2006.  Since then he has outstruck Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Dan Hardy, and Penn in their rematch.

It was difficult to place GSP over Aldo, but ultimately I decided he has outstruck better strikers and deserves to be ranked higher.  

Depending on how his fight against Condit at UFC 137 goes, he could easily drop behind Aldo or solidify his lead over him.

1. Anderson Silva

Silva entered the UFC with a knockout over Chris Leben, and won the title with a knockout over Rich Franklin.

He continued this success throughout his championship; nine of his 14 UFC wins have come by TKO or KO.  None of his opponents have even threatened him on the feet.

He has phenomenal power, speed, evasiveness, and timing.  He easily has the best striking of any UFC champion.