Best striking defense in MMA history?

[OriginMMA]

Rumble

The best offense is defense.

 

[benebox]

Rumble

The best offense is defense.

You mean the best defense is offense.

 

[myjohnson9]

MMA fans and commentators often seem to regard striking offense as the only aspect when discussing great strikers, and completely forget about the defensive aspect, which is oftentimes more important, especially in the heavier weight classes where great defense can cause the opponent to gas out without throwing a single punch. Alistair Overeem for example is a guy that is talked about as one of the best MMA strikers ever, when in fact his defense is poor, which is why he has been knocked out more times than can be counted on two hands.

Some names I can think of who have great striking defense (I don't think striking stats are an accurate reflection of effective striking btw):

Not in any particular order:
- Conor McGregor
McGregor has some of the most effective distance management and control in MMA history, if not the very best. This allows him to be incredibly difficult to hit, especially when fresh. However, his striking defense when he gasses suffers a lot, as evidenced by both Diaz fights. He, much like Jon Jones, is phenomenal at utilising his length advantage in fights and also uses this very well in his striking offense.

- Demetrious Johnson
One of the most well-rounded fighters in MMA history, DJ has unmatched speed and movement which allows him to avoid most of his opponent's significant strikes and has been rocked only a handful of times in his career.
- Anthony Johnson
One of the few fighters in MMA history who hasn't been rocked visibly in his entire career. I've rewatched the Vitor fight a few times and I don't think he was rocked, but rather shot a few takedowns because Vitor charged him like a madman and then Rumble quit on the ground as usual. Under Henri Hooft during his LHW run, he had excellent head movement, never dropped his hands, and always tucked his chin; three things that he wasn't all that good at when he fought at 170/185.
- Jon Jones
Jones relies on his length a lot to defend strikes, which is why his usually impenetrable defense was cracked a lot by Gus. Still, Jones is great at using jabs, side kicks, and oblique kicks to keep opponents off him, and even though he has showed an iron chin on the few occasions he has been hit by clean, hard shots, he does not need to rely on his chin very often because his footwork is so great and is better than anyone in MMA history at utilising his physical tools.
- Anderson Silva
His fundamentals weren't textbook, but in his prime his reflexes and head movement were so great that he didn't need to keep his hands up at all to be an effective defensive fighter.
- Cody Garbandt
Yes, he got KOd by TJ, but I think TJ won because he has a better chin than Cody and because his striking offense is more varied and effective. TJ is a better kicker, and is better at cutting angles, feints, and effective in both stances. Despite this, his head movement isn't as good as Cody's and his feet aren't as quick, which means that he can't slide away from punches as quickly as Garbrandt.​

I’m gonna say rampage... I like the way he keeps his hands up and rolls with the punches while staying in the pocket ready to counter

 

[Kinosis]

I'm surprised that no one mentioned Fedor.

Before his first loss, he had the lowest percentage of absorbed shots per minute in high level MMA, closely followed by Machida if I remember correctly.

When you compare their styles it makes Fedor even more impressive since he has an all out style, while Machida was backpeddaling most of his fights.

That's what I came to say. Prime Fedor and prime Machida were almost untouchable.

 

[blaseblah]

McGregor doesn't have good striking defense at all. He absorbed a record number of blows to the head in his second fight against Nate IIRC.

You recall wrong.

 

[acannxr]

McGregor doesn't have good striking defense at all. He absorbed a record number of blows to the head in his second fight against Nate IIRC.
Also, his Significant Strike Defense according to Fighmetric equals to 57%: http://www.fightmetric.com/fighter-details/f4c49976c75c5ab2
For reference, in the Fightmetric top 10 list of Significant Strike Defense, the #10 guy (Renato Moicano) has 69,9%. Other top FWs: Holloway (65%) and Aldo (67%)

You recall wrong.

McGregor does have poor striking defense, but there was nothing record-setting/breaking about how many "blows to the head" he absorbed in his rematch against Diaz.

Diaz landed 106 strikes on McGregor's head in their rematch.

Meanwhile, Diaz landed 198 strikes on Cerrone's head:

 

[blaseblah]

McGregor does have poor striking defense, but there was nothing record-setting/breaking about how many "blows to the head" he absorbed in his rematch against Diaz.

Diaz landed 106 strikes on McGregor's head in their rematch.

Meanwhile, Diaz landed 198 strikes on Cerrone's head:

Diaz set a record for total career strikes landed in the UFC. That's probably what he's confused by.

 

[Streeter]

Anderson in matrix mode an prime Cruz.

Conor is great but once he gasses he's as easy to hit as anyone.

 

[ArtemV]

Machida...?

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

McGregor does have poor striking defense, but there was nothing record-setting/breaking about how many "blows to the head" he absorbed in his rematch against Diaz.

Diaz landed 106 strikes on McGregor's head in their rematch.

Meanwhile, Diaz landed 198 strikes on Cerrone's head:

Pretty sure it was the record for a 5 rounder at the time. I could be wrong.

 

[SteveMR]

Of course Machida didn't get to fight a lot of guys like Zulu, an ancient Goodridge, 2-weight classes smaller Lindland, etc.

Yeah, he was busy fighting 4-weight classes smaller BJ <45>

 

[ShoopNazi]

Cain has the best striking defense because he never fights.

 

[VVarhead]

1 Myles Jury

73.4%
2 Gabriel Benitez

73.2%
3 Georges St-Pierre

73.1%
4 Cris Cyborg

72.7%
5 Henry Cejudo

71.8%
6 John Makdessi

71.7%
7 Dominick Cruz

70.9%
8 Khabib Nurmagomedov

70.4%
9 Frankie Edgar

70.1%
10 Renato Moicano

1.58

Those stats are threadworthy.

Renato Moicano with 70,1% striking defense even though he primarely keeps the fight standing is fucking impressive.

 

[ANIM4L]

Silva and Machida before they fell off

 

[strikezone]

Good one, but I feel like if he comes back, he will be far less effective than in the past because after years of studying his patterns, opponents will have figured him out to a degree. Not saying that he isn't still elite, but it will be like Machida after Shogun showed the world how to beat him. Garbrandt showed the blueprint to beating Cruz and I'm not sure Dom can make the necessary adjustments to his style at this stage of his career.

But you said in mma "history"

 

[Melas Chasma]

Of course Machida didn't get to fight a lot of guys like Zulu, an ancient Goodridge, 2-weight classes smaller Lindland, etc.

Does not matter, Fedor in his prime barely got hit even vs the elite fighters he faced.

 

[Cooliox]

Prime Machida (Machida-Era Machida)

 

[acannxr]

Pretty sure it was the record for a 5 rounder at the time. I could be wrong.

What's crazy is, Diaz landed 260 total strikes in his 3-round fight against Cerrone (86.6 strikes/round), and only 252 total strikes in his 5-round fight against McGregor (50.4 strikes/round).

 

[doughy rig]

Romero using his forearm as a defence in the Whittaker fight was something

He also hurts opponents with his defence

 

[Hallman's Shorts]

Roy Nelson's good at blocking strikes with his chin.