Top 10 Most Influential MMA Fighters of All Time

So this entry just popped out of nowhere while I'm reading random top tens in Listverse.com. I was actually inspired by the entries over there and I just thought, what about I do a top 10 of my own? This was originally a Top 10 Most Influential Basketball Players of all time but I figured that subject would be too broad and the discussions regarding that topic would never stop. Which brings me to another sport which is really really close to my heart, Mixed Martial Arts. There, it will be easier for me to rank because the sport hasn't been around that long, unlike my first option Basketball. Plus, should I miss one fighter on that list, I think it will only be less than 10, unlike in Basketball where in I could miss twenties.

Here are the criteria that I used i choosing

a) What they have actually done for the Sport and how they helped it grow
b) Their popularity, not only in hardcore fans but in casual fans itself
c) A proven winning record from a proven winning org
d) Must be an MMA fighter (So yeah, that does not include Bruce Lee or Carlos Gracie)

Here's the list

10) Fedor Emelianenko



While arguably the best Mixed Martial Artist in the sport's short history, one reason why Fedor is this low in my rankings is because he hasn't really changed the sport drastically compared to the other 9 fighters below. Plus, add to it the fact that Fedor is basically unknown in casual fans in North America, some parts of Europe and even here in the Philippines. Fedor of course is being treated like God in Japan and Russia, which he truly deserves btw, and still the Number 1 Heavyweight in the world right now.


9) Wanderlei Silva



If you would ask a fan who's been watching MMA for quite some time, who's the most exciting fighter in Mixed Martial Arts.. I guess you'll get Wanderlei Silva 8 out of 10 times. The name Wanderlei Silva is synonymous to the words exciting and warrior. Ruled in Japan for five years, stopping legends, future champs and big named fighters at that time. He even fought guys who were heavier than him, all for the sake of his fans.. all for the sake of entertainment. Wanderlei Silva truly is one of the most influential MMA fighters of all time

8) Tito Ortiz



Along with the rise of MMA as a sport comes this blond guy who slams people, elbows them to death, give them the finger and dig a grave for them. Yes, his name is Tito Ortiz.

I'm really disappointed with how unappreciative some fans can be. While MMA was on its dark ages, Tito Ortiz was almost on everybody's mouth. Everybody was talking about Tito, heck Tito for once was one of the most feared men in the UFC. Tito was also a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, defended it for five times and was a part of two of the most talked about feuds in mainstream MMA.

7) Bas Rutten




Everybody loves Bas. How can you not? He's one of the pioneers of Mixed Martial Arts and also one of the respected strikers in the sport. Bas has this charisma, which everybody seem to love and of course, the fighting pedigree to back his charisma up.

After retiring, Bas went on to be a commentator in Pride FC for Japan and there, the term was coined, "When Bas talks, everybody listens"

6) Ken Shamrock




Known to many as the most dangerous man, Ken Shamrock is also a pioneer of the sport. Having fought since UFC 1, Shamrock turned heads with his deadly submissions and hot temper. Shamrock is also the founder of the Lion's Den, an MMA team which produced great fighters back then.

Shamrock was also known for being a part of one of the most talked about feuds in MMA against Tito Ortiz. Although Ken would lose all three of their matches, Ken would always be remembered as one of the all time greats which helped popularize the sport in it's darkest times.

5) Frank Shamrock



Frank is another pioneer in the sport who may not match up with his brother's fame, but definitely has an advantage when it comes to skill set alone.

He's known as probably the first ever well rounded MMA fighter in history. Has the ability to stand up and trade with good boxers, kick boxers and muay artists and has the ability to roll with the best grapplers in the sport. That's why he's still around even if the sport has evolved ten folds.


4) Randy Couture



Just like Bas Rutten, who doesn't love Randy Couture? Well probably Dana White but he hates everybody who's against him so.. that doesn't count. Randy is probably one of the classiest fighters ever. Known for his superior wrestling skills, Couture is still the only man in UFC History to win a title five times.

However, he's more known to casual fans as "the old guy" who beats up really big people, that of course is with reference to Randy's return title match against Tim Sylvia, which he won in dominating fashion and his dominance of rising Heavyweight Contender Gabriel Gonzaga.

3) Kazushi Sakuraba


A list of the most influential fighters of all time without Kazushi Sakuraba is not only blasphemous, it's also downright disgusting. Kazushi Sakuraba is definitely the most influential Asian in the Sport. Sakuraba in Japan is like Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines.. that's how influential this guy is. Sakuraba is a part of probably the most epic battle of all time, a 90 minute war against Royce Gracie.. and at that time, that was like the equivalent of Ali vs Frazer in Boxing.

Sakuraba was known for his exciting style of fighting and never say never attitude. Back in his prime, Sakuraba would fight fighters who was 20 to 30 pounds heavier than him. That's why everybody respects him and his legacy in this sport.

2) Chuck Liddell


Do I really need to write something about this guy? Let's just say he's the king of mainstream MMA. Dominated the UFC Light Heavyweight Division for quite sometime, winning it most by knock out. If you would go out and ask a casual fan who's their favorite fighter, you would get the answer Chuck Liddell 7/10 times. Now after that, try asking them who they first saw when they first watched MMA.. you'll get the answer Chuck Liddell 9/10 times

The hype this guy is having right now is just crazy, the magazine covers, the commercials, the shirts, the mohawks.. everything. Every wants to be this guy.. that's why he's number 2 in my list.

And now the most influential fighter of all time..

1)Royce Gracie



If you're watching a street fight, and you see a dork looking dude who's fighting a guy 50 pounds heavier than him, what would you first think? PWNAGE right? Well let's say after sticking around to watch a random guy get beat, you actually saw this dork looking dude break his opponent's arm in two what would you think? Right, awesomeness.

That's exactly what I thought when I first watched Royce Gracie and I know 50% of MMA fans thought that too.

Royce is actually the one who got me interested in MMA (Alongside Tito since I watched the Gracie fights on re runs) He wasn't a man in my opinion, he was just out there, breaking arms and choking out people and nobody had a clue on how he's doing it. That turned out to be a technique called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a technique that's being used by MMA fighters now world wide.

Other fighters that are worth noting

Matt Hughes
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Mark Coleman
Dan Severn
Georges St.Pierre
BJ Penn
Don Frye
Anderson Silva
Mirko Cro Cop
Pat Militech

Comments and violent reactions are recommended. :D

Thoughts on MMA weekend

For hardcore MMA fans, we couldn't have been put in a better scenario (Atleast before I watched EXC Yesterday :D) One week after a monster of an event by the UFC, we were treated to two more cards in back to back days.

But the better scenario turned into one of the worst cases of "Give me a fucking break, is this shit serious?" type of impression after watching the whole Elite XC show yesterday.

I mean, I woke up early to watch an MMA show, not a fixed circus event with an internet brawling sensation who's a C-level fighter at best Kimbo Slice fighting the king of tomato cans James Thompson as the main event. Given that I didn't expect that much from the show, I was really pissed off by how this show turned out. Why?

A) Crappy camera work

There's this one point in the match where Thompson was having a standing guillotine choke on Slice and voila.. the camera turns backwards and we're stuck wondering what the hell happened on the cage. Brett Rogers said Kimbo tapped, but thanks to the crappy camera work.. we didn't even see it.

B) Crappy refereeing

If anybody here watches MMA for an ample of time, here's a question.. when was the last time you saw a ref stand the fighters up when one of them has side control and pouncing away elbows and hammer punches on his opponent? Tell me. Right, just like me, you never saw one. That's exactly what happened in last night's circus.

James Thompson, who was brought in to lose, controlled Kimbo and took side control midway through the second round. And to my surprise, referee Dan Mirgliotta stood them up while Thompson was throwing elbows and punches! Damn. (More on the Kimbo - JT match below)

C) Bullshit stoppages

So Scott Smith got poked in the eye.. and you stop the freakin' match? What the hell was that? They didn't even give Smith the mandatory 5 minute rest after getting unintentionally eye poked. They just stopped it.

Another bs stoppage occured in the Main event. Yet again, the ever pampered Kimbo Slice got a TKO while JT was still standing up. Heck, if Mirgliotta could stop the fight with Kimbo hitting three clean shots on Thompson.. why the hell didn't he stop the fight when Kimbo was receiving 30 unanswered shots to the head in the second round?

D) The fan implication

Just think about it, MMA, to the one who practices it and to all those fat ass hardcore fans who've been there for quite some years now refers to this sport as a science, a mixture of different disciplines, whether it be Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, Judo et al. Last night's event was the first ever live telecast of MMA in Primetive TV in the US. And thanks to the freak show that Elite XC was, especially to the commentators who made it sound like the battle of two C-level fighters were like Ali vs Frazer in Boxing.. casual fans would now think that MMA is all about blood, all about brawlers and all that stuff. Goddamn you EXC. Goddamn you Gary Shaw.

Anyway....

Atleast, one day after, WEC put up a spectacular card. One card deserving to be on Primetime TV in the US.

WEC showcased two fight of the year worthy battles, first with the Bantamweight Championship match as Miguel Angel Torres succesfully defends it against Yoshiro Maeda. And of course, the main event, the Featherweight Championship bout as the ranked P4P fighter Urijah Faber stops former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver in an up and down war.

Thank God for WEC, you just saved MMA's weekend.

A look at MMA in 2008

If I were to describe Mixed Martial Arts using only one word in the year 2007, it would be "Surprising"

Look at it.. Zuffa buying Pride, Crocop getting knocked the f%%k out, Matt Serra KOing GSP, Forrest beating Shogun, Diaz gogo-ing Gomi, Randy winning the title and many more.

So why do I have to spend some time writing my speculations and actual forecast for the year 2008? Well.. let's just say I have actually the time to burn, the ability to write and a boredom to fill. So here we go..

Three PPVs has already been announced by the UFC. Let's talk about it and the importance of its matches one by one.

First up, UFC 80: Rapid Fire. This PPV will feature BJ Penn vs Joe "Daddy" Stevenson for the Vacated Lightweight Title as the main event. As much as I want to see Joe Daddy to take this one.. BJ will win this to set up a highly anticipated match between him and Sean Sherk that coul take place maybe from June onwards. That match has been long anticipated.. considering that those two warriors are already exchanging harsh statements against each other. The emotional factor of that bout alone can sell arena seats and PPVs for the UFC.

The GG-Werdum match is also a match to look forward to since both guys are trying to come up in the HW Division ladder. Considering that the depth of the UFC HW division isn't that stacked, the winner here could be in talk for a possible title contention.

Next up, UFC 81: Breaking Point.

This main event is between Tim Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the Interim Heavyweight Title. But since I don't think Randy will fight in the UFC again, I expect this one to be for the Vacated Heavyweight Championship. Questions would be asked, is Tim Sylvia a bad style match up for Big Nog? Will Big Nog be the next Pride Fighter to hold a belt in the UFC? Those are some questions that will be clarified in that night. Plus, a win here for Tim Sylvia, the most loved character in MMA history (Insert sarcasm here) could very well solidify his status as one of the best UFC Heavyweights ever because that would mean he would be winning the UFC Heavyweight belt for the third time.

The card also includes the debut of a former All American and NCAA Division 1 Champion (For fairness' sakes, I wouldn't put him as a former WWE Superstar) Brock Lesnar as he takes on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. This one's a big match in the UFC Heavyweight division nevertheless considering that a win here for Lesnar would prove that he is a legit HW contender and a win here for Mir well could put him back on track for a title hunt.

The biggest match so far that has been announced for 2008 is the Anderson Silva vs Dan Henderson Middleweight Title Unification match scheduled for UFC 82: Pride of a Champion. Silva being the dominant Champion will take on a world class wrestler with lots of experience and accomplishments both inside and outside the octagon. I personally think this will end the dominant reign of Anderson Silva in the Middleweight Division and will start a new regime in the UFC Middleweight division. Either way, this one could be one of the best matches of the year.

Other than all the UFC PPVs, I'll discuss some things that has a possibility of happening in the year 2008 both inside and outside the octagon.

- After seeing Takanori Gomi at UFC 79, I expect (Read: Hope) Takanori Gomi to sign with the UFC.

- The Fedor Emelianenko vs Randy Couture fight will happen. Randy's contract will expire at October this year and both of them have stated that they want to fight each other. Who knows, after seeing Wand and Chuck get it on as a year ender in the UFC, other promoters might make this match as a Christmas Gift to us fight fans.

- I've said this before (Way before Lyoto defeated Soku) and I'll say it again, Lyoto Machida is for real and I see him getting a title shot before this year ends.. Lyoto's style of fighting throws his opponents away for some reason and although to some it might not be that pretty, but it's damn sure effective. I will not be surprised if he will be our LHW Champion before this year ends.

- After watching Yarennoka last night, I see another MMA Org to look forward to. The promoters of Yarennoka could very well put on another show in the next 5 months or so considering the success of that event.

- Mirko Cro Cop, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Wanderlei Silva will all be back this year. After three fights in the UFC, I expect CC to finally be able to adjust with the UFC rules and the octagon itself, a morale boosting win could jumpstart the "Mirkomobile" again. Shogun fought Forrest Griffin who imposed a beautiful gameplan while Rua gassed out in the third round, I expect more from the former Pride 93 KG GP Champion and as for Wandy.. well, he fought one hell of a fight against Chuck Liddell and that loss was nothing to be ashamed off. I see Joe Silva setting a Tito Ortiz - Wanderlei Silva match this year.

Well that's it. I'd like to add more but unfortunately it's 3:30 am and my mind can't think anymore. Thanks for reading.

GSP, Iceman, Machida victorious at Nemesis

Georges St. Pierre took the next step towards reclaiming his UFC welterweight title with an armbar submission over Matt Hughes in the second period of a dominating performance.

Quicker, stronger and bigger than Hughes -- the 170-pound UFC division champion from 2001 to 2003, and again from 2004 to 2006 following bookend fights with St. Pierre -- the 26-year-old from Montreal, Quebec, simply overwhelmed the veteran American.

Denying Hughes' multiple takedown efforts, St. Pierre (15-2) showed himself to be the dominant grappler -- and more importantly, dominant mixed martial artist -- in the welterweight rubber match, netting three takedowns to Hughes' zero.

St. Pierre, now owner of a UFC interim belt at 170 pounds, completely owned the striking department, connecting with 77 strikes to Hughes' 5, according to CompuStrike. He also offered two submission attempts, including the fight-ending armbar that came when Hughes, 34, verbally submitted to referee Steve Mazzagatti with just six seconds remaining in the second period of the five-round fight.

St. Pierre declined to honor the title of UFC interim champion, saying that Matt Serra (Pictures), who defeated the French Canadian in April, was the true title holder. Serra was originally scheduled to fight Hughes, now 41-6, however the New Yorker fell off the card due to injury.

Six years in the making, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell out-pointed former PRIDE champion Wanderlei Silva in a thrilling contest.

A fight fans have craved since each man dominated the 205-pound divisions in their respective organizations, the anticipated showdown came too late according to some pundits. But that didn't stop Liddell and Silva, both victims of two-fight losing streaks coming into tonight's contest, from delivering one of the best bouts of 2007.

"The Iceman" was sharp in the opening round, tossing out jabs against the uncharacteristically cautious Brazilian. Liddell, 38, landed a series of punches that appeared to hurt Silva, but when the veteran Californian stalked it was obvious Silva had baited him in to respond with a salvo of counter punches.

Read more here.

Georges "Rush" St.Pierre - Matt Hughes 3 Primer Highlights

Full Thing OCTOBER
Uploaded by zecheat

We are just counting the days before the much awaited third bout between probably the greatest welterweight ever Matt Hughes against his heir apparent Georges "Rush" St.Pierre. In the first fight, GSP dominated Matt Hughes in the first four minutes before getting caught in an armbar with only one second to go. In the second bout, GSP destroyed Matt Hughes to win the Welterweight title for the first time.

December 29 2007. Matt Hughes - GSP III. Who will take it?

Year in review: Nick Diaz vs Takanori Gomi @Pride 33

Gomi vs Nick Diaz
Uploaded by gomi_gomgom

The first edition of "Year in review"

Diaz vs Gomi Pride 33:Second Coming

I can watch this fight over and over again and not get tired of it. Definitely one of the greatest bouts in the year.

RIP RYAN GRACIE

News to make the fighting world tremble. According to news carried by Globo TV, the black belt Ryan Gracie was found dead in the cell where he was being held at a police station in Sao Paulo after having been accused of car theft yesterday in the city of Sao Paulo. According to the Sao Paulo State Secretariat of Public Security, Ryan was alone in the cell.

GRACIEMAG.com sympathizes with the Gracie family and should be back shortly with further information as to Ryan’s death.

10:24

According to the G1 news website:

“Ryan was sent to the 91st PD, after having toxicology exams done at the central IML at around 2:30 am. He arrived at the police station in Vila Leopoldina at 3 am. According to the officer on call of the 15th Police District police officer Daniella Ranna, where the athlete’s case was registered for having tried to steal a motorcycle, he was sent to the 91st DP because it is a traffic station. From there, he would have been seen to the “most recommendable” location.

According to the Secretariat, at around 7am, when policemen at the station were checking the cells with their detainees, they found the fighter fallen in a corner. They entered and confirmed that he was dead. At around 10 am, coroners were already at the location to do the necessary exams and send the body to the institute.


http://www.graciemag.com/news/144/AR...007-12-15.html