The Best Strikers in MMA History
Top 20 List
When watching MMA, it is hard to determine who are the best strikers of all-time— and that is because there are so many factors at play. Many elements of striking change when the fighter has to fear a takedown, so naturally those strikers with good takedown defense may perform better than those with bad defense. The same can be said for submission defense; if a decent striker has great jujitsu then he may out strike a great striker who is fearing the submission. However, there are undeniably some MMA fighters who clearly stand out in terms of striking.
When looking at some of the all-time great strikers in MMA, we must look at their resumes and credentials. A good place to start is to look at some of the crossover guys who came from Boxing, Kickboxing and Tae Kwon Do. Many of these crossover athletes would perform quite well in MMA, unsurprisingly. I also like to look at who the Boxing community rallies behind, and who the Boxing trainers give praise to.
I'm not necessarily listing fighters based off of their records alone, but combined with their skill set and accomplishments as well. Most casual fans look at the wins and losses and think that alone determines the fighters worth, but any true fan will always look further. So let's take a look at the Top 20 list that I made, then I'll explain how I came to that conclusion. But keep in mind, this is a list of who I viewed as the top guys, and it's hard to not feel like you're leaving somebody out.
Anderson Silva
Mark Hunt
Alex Pereira
Israel Adesanya
B.J Penn
Semmy Schilt
Alistair Overeem
Mirko Cro Cop
Stephen Thompson
Jose Aldo
Edson Barboza
Robbie Lawler
Chuck Liddell
Lyoto Machida
Bas Rutten
Dan Henderson
Jorge Masvidal
Mauricio Rua
Wanderlei Silva
James Toney
Now some of you may disagree with this list, and I may actually join you in your disagreement as soon as I publish it. However, this list is much better than some of the more prominent ones that I've seen floating around the internet. First let's looks at my number 1 pick, Anderson Silva. Now, I know a bit of a bad taste has been left in the mouths of many of his fans after his recent Boxing match, against a famous YouTuber-turned-Boxer Jake Paul. But, Anderson Silva is 47 years old after all, and his opponent was only 25.
Anderson Silva has displayed incredible striking throughout his entire career, with his head movement, clinch work, and pinpoint accuracy always seeming to stand out. Despite his loss to Jake Paul, he has also had a great Boxing career. Silva not only won the UFC Middleweight championship, but he defended his title 10 times. Some of his best striking skills would be showcased in his matxhes vs. Forest Griffin, Vitor Belfort and Rich Franklin.
My number 2 pick (Mark Hunt) is a guy that many would disagree with being on this list, mainly due to his underwhelming overall record. However those people would be wrong, in my opinion. Hunt remains one of the only fighters to compete for the UFC championship, the Pride championship, and the Pride K-1 Kickboxing championship (although for the UFC it was the “interim championship”). Hunt has also beaten most of the best strikers in MMA and Kickboxing, and has recently finished an undefeated Boxer in the Boxing ring in less than 5 rounds, at the age of 48.
Hunt became widely known for his famous walk-off knockouts, where he would seemingly knock his opponents into different dimensions. Like many others on this list, Hunt has incredible head movement, but his sheer power would usually lead the way. That was what some Boxing experts such as Teddy Atlas might refer to as the “great equalizer”.
In Hunt's prime, he was surprisingly fast for his weight, and likely had the best uppercut in MMA history— as well as absolutely brutal leg kicks. Some of the best examples of Hunt's striking can be seen in his fights vs. Mirko Cro Cop, Stefan Struve, Derrick Lewis and Wanderlei Silva. Hunt was also a former K-1 champion, with a Kickboxing record of 30-13.
Now my number 3 pick (Israel Adesanya) is an incredible striker with a proven track record. He's currently the UFC Middleweight champion; and his long range, quick footwork, head movement and unique kicks have shown a new era of striking has truly arrived. Adesanya boasts an incredible Kickboxing record of 75-5, with a Boxing Record of 5-1 and an MMA record of 23-1. Israel has also defended his title 5 times already, and he's only 33 years old.
Next is my number 4 pick, the great BJ Penn. Penn is a guy that the legendary Boxing trainer Freddie Roach once labeled as having the best Boxing in MMA. Penn has won titles in two different wight classes (Lightweight and Welterweight) and has competed as light as Featherweight and as heavy as Heavyweight. He's fought everybody, all of the top guys of his era, and out struck most of them. In his prime, Penn started his career 9-1-1 and seemed nearly unbeatable.
Penn had a lighting-fast jab with extreme accuracy, true explosiveness, heavy hands, and head movement that would even rival the likes of Anderson Silva. Penn has been in an incredible 12 title fights, and defended his Lightweight title 3 times. Some of the best examples of his striking can be seen in fights against Kenny Florian, Matt Hughes, Caol Uno, Jens Pulver and Sean Sherk.
With my 5th pick, Semmy Schilt, I had gone back-and-forth if I should include him in that high of a spot. This was mainly due to his overwhelming size (nearly 7ft tall and 360lbs), which undeniably helped him get a lot of wins. However, much skill was also involved to become the only fighter ever to win the K-1 Grand Prix 3 times in a row, and 4 times total. Schilt holds an amazing Kickboxing record of 43-6-1, and an MMA record of 26-14-1.
Shilts holds incredible wins in Kickboxing, having beat the likes of Gokhan Saki, Errol Zimmerman, Hesdy Gerges, Badr Hari, Jerome Le Banner (3x), Mark Hunt, and Ernesto Hoost (2x). However he struggled a bit more in MMA, but was still able to showcase some of his incredible skills. Some of the best MMA fights to see his striking ability are his bouts versus Kazuo Takahashi, Minoru Suzuki, and Guy Mezger.
Now I'm not going to discuss every fighter on this list in this one article, however I deem it necessary to explain a few others on my list. James Toney was included because he is one of the best Boxers of his era, with a professional Boxing record of 77-10-3 (2 no contests). Toney has also won numerous world titles in 3 different weight classes in Boxing. So, I know he didn't showcase anything against the legend Randy 'The Natural' Couture, but that doesn't dismiss his true skill set.
Another person that I would like to address is Dan 'Hendo' Henderson. Now I know many people are wondering how a Greco-Roman wrestler made the list, but any true fan of the sport will remember that the Greco-Roman wrestler became a sensational striker. Dan Henderson's power in both hands, which fans would later dub the “H-bomb” is truly amazing. The knockouts that Henderson has had over the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Michael Bisping, Wanderlei Silva, Tim Boetsch, and Hector Lombard are some of the greatest knockouts in the history of the sport.
I hope that you enjoyed the list, but I also understand if it pissed you off. This is a controversial thing to do, to make a top 20 list of the best MMA strikers is widely up for interpretation. Most of these top lists are formed with a lot of biased choices, but I did try to be as fair as I possibly could. Let me know in the comments what you think. Who would you of chosen differently, and why? Let me know what you think I got wrong and/or right— and PLEASE like and subscribe to help me build more of a following. Thank you!