Most Dominant Fighting Styles In MMA

Because MMA allows all different types of mixed martial arts, fighters can choose any number of styles to enter the ring with. However, just looking at the UFC lines, you can see that some fighting styles are more dominant than others.

Today we will discuss what every MMA fighting style can narrow down to, and the three most popular in that style.

The Three Main MMA Fighting Styles

To be a good MMA fighter, you need to train in three styles of fighting – strikes, takedowns, and submissions. 

It doesn’t matter how strong your strikes are if you can be easily taken down into a chokehold. Take Conor McGregor for example, he is an amazing boxer but he expects to win fights through knockouts.

Before he learned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he wasn’t able to escape a fighter’s attempt at submission, which is why it’s his most common defeat type.

Once he learned both, McGregor started to win championships. 

The Most Dominant Fighting Styles

Here we will discuss what the most popular fighting styles are – breaking down strikes, takedowns, and submissions. All three are needed to dominate the sport, but below are the most popular of each category.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – Submissions

BJJ is a type of grappling fighting style. It forces your opponents into locks or chokeholds, both of which are legal in UFC.

One of the most important aspects of BJJ is helping smaller and even weaker fighters to defend themselves against people much heavier than themselves. 

If the correct technique has been used, the fighter can use their opponent’s weight against them, forcing them into submission.

The most famous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters are Royce Gracie, Amanda Nunes, and B.J Penn. 

Nunes is the world’s best Bantamweight fighter, holding the title for 1,992 days. 

Royce Gracie especially put BJJ on the map when he dominated the UFC at the beginning of its creation. No one was able to get past his submission moves, as they hadn’t learned of BJJ before and had no idea how to counter it.

And B.J Penn can put almost anyone into a rear-naked choke to force them into submission without any real choice. 

Defending champions, dominating the sport, and stopping your opponents from recovering are the best takeaways from BJJ.

Wrestling – Takedown

Takedowns are when you literally force your opponent to the ground in your attempt to overwhelm them. You can do this by holding them, throwing them, pinning them, or any other method.

In wrestling, you are judged by how much control you have over your opponent. If you don’t know how to wrestle in an MMA fight, then you will be easily taken to the floor and dominated. 

Learning how to hold yourself against a takedown attempt, as well as spotting a moment to use it yourself, is an important skill in MMA. 

Take Yoel Romero, for example. This World Champion, Olympic Silver medalist, and UFC Middleweight Champion can force his opponent into submission without issue.

In his 20 MMA matches, he has won 14 and lost 6. None of his losses were through submission, as he could easily scramble out of a hold due to his wrestling talents.

Knowing how to wrestle means understanding how to act defensively in a fight. Grappling someone can force them into getting into a position that is beneficial to you. With this level of control, you can put in more strikes and stop your opponent from retaliating.

The downside to wrestling is that it’s boring. Viewers want to see strikes and flying legs, not a long cuddle. Still, you need this skill to even bother entering the ring.

Boxing – Striking

Boxing not only teaches you how to create a heavy hit or strike, but it also teaches you about footwork and head movement. These skills are defensive and allow you to get out of the way of an incoming strike.

However, with good footwork, you can also find openings to create your own strikes too.

Famous boxers in the MMA world are people such as Muhammed Ali and Floyd Mayweather. Both were able to put power into their fists to create knockout punches, while also staying light on their feet to dance away from danger.

The fastest way to win in an MMA fight is to knock someone out. To do that, you need to know the best way to create a powerful punch. Boxing is the main fighting style that helps fighters learn this technique.

Although there are other striking skills you can learn, such as Muay Thai (kickboxing) and Karate, Boxing allows you to keep both feet on the floor. This means you have the movement you need to get away, while your hands are free to block and strike.

This is why Boxing is more popular than the other striking options.

Summary

To be a good MMA fighter, you need to know how to strike, how to take someone down, and how to lock them into submission. These three skills are imperative to win, which is why most MMA fighters train in all three styles.

BJJ, boxing, and wrestling are the most dominant methods of the three styles.