Best point fighter in MMA

Probably Hendricks. Won a handful of fights that he shouldn't have simply because he's an expert at exploiting judges' fascination with wrestling and last minute takedowns. Condit fight in particular. I also thought Robbie beat him the first time granted I was drunk and very biased against Hendricks.
 
sapporo ichiban said:
Seems like there is a bit of hate towards people who can use footwork, put combinations together and not get hit a lot.

I think its called skill and being smart.

The. I am gonna run in, bang and hope my chin holds out style is fun to watch, but as far as long term career outlook it may not be a good strategy.
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Well, some fighters use their skills to try and finish the fight. Their strategy is aggressive and favors offense. I'm pretty sure footwork and combinations can be used effectively in that way.

The opposite of point fighter is not brawler, it's finisher. Machida is a great example of a striker who couldn't care less about who won what round and instead was always looking for the killshot.
 
Big_Chief_Stove said:
Was he not point fighting against Lawler and GSP?
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Did he win either of them? No, so how is he the third best point fighter?

That's not even mentioning how dumb it is to just pick a miniscule part of his fights and let them define him as a fighter overall. Also not mentioning how he hurt both those fighters.
 
Shaddows said:
you are confusing things.
There's nothing wrong with using footwork, putting combinations together and not getting hit. The problem is when they have a dazed opponent and are afraid to finish.

Skill means you also know when you can go for the kill, and submit or KO your opponent.
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I am not sure I have. I am just unclear as to when these missed opportunities may have occurred.

When he met Serra again, I would call that a pretty one sided beat down.

He dismantled a game fitch, beat up on Alves, Won a one eyed event against Sheilds, beat Condit and Diaz. He even broke Koschecks orbital bone which I say hats off to josh for not just collapsing.

Everyone wants a big finish, but reality is George is not mike Tyson and yet he was still dominant. The guy just gets a lot of hate for being a French Canadian non brawler.

Face it he owned the division for a long time with relative ease.

So I ask, when was the moments where he had someone looking like a sick deer and didn't pull the trigger?
 
Lol @ Condit being a point fighter. People are so bitter about the Diaz fight, in spite of the fact that Carlos won it fair and square.
 
EJRMAN513 said:
Used to be GSP, probably Mighty Mouse atm. Not saying he's not exciting or can't finish but if a fight of his goes to a decision, there's usually no question on who won.
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That's not point fighting. Point fighters are those who game plan for decisions and have no intention of attempting to finish. Winning rounds is the only thing that matters.

Now that GSP is gone and Machida is on his way out, I'd say Cruz takes the title
 
sapporo ichiban said:
I am not sure I have. I am just unclear as to when these missed opportunities may have occurred.

When he met Serra again, I would call that a pretty one sided beat down.

He dismantled a game fitch, beat up on Alves, Won a one eyed event against Sheilds, beat Condit and Diaz. He even broke Koschecks orbital bone which I say hats off to josh for not just collapsing.

Everyone wants a big finish, but reality is George is not mike Tyson and yet he was still dominant. The guy just gets a lot of hate for being a French Canadian non brawler.

Face it he owned the division for a long time with relative ease.

So I ask, when was the moments where he had someone looking like a sick deer and didn't pull the trigger?
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are you crazy? You yourself said it! He broke Kos's orbital bone in the FIRST round, and yet jabbed for 4 more rounds against a one-eyed Koschek! Please tell me, where is his killing instinct?
The last fight he used it was to beat Serra.
 
IngaVovchanchyn said:
Well, some fighters use their skills to try and finish the fight. Their strategy is aggressive and favors offense. I'm pretty sure footwork and combinations can be used effectively in that way.

The opposite of point fighter is not brawler, it's finisher. Machida is a great example of a striker who couldn't care less about who won what round and instead was always looking for the killshot.
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So you don't remember when people were bitching about Machida being boring? Back just before he beat Sokoudjou he was being called a boring point fighter, he went on to blast Rashad and take the title. I believe that was the beginning of the Machida era.

It is all pivotal around the big finish. You go on a streak of finishes and your Conor Mcgoat., you run into some tough competition that refuses to be finished and you are boring.
 
One guy who's been notoriously good at winning decisions is Dan Henderson. Surprised he hasn't been mentioned.
 
NinjaNiK said:
I think Cruz is the true point fighting GOAT though. Only thing is, I don't necessarily think that he is "trying" to win fights based on points .. but I am new to the Cruz thing so I could be wrong.
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No one was more surprised than Cruz when he got the first finish in his career 2 fights ago. He has only hurt 2 guys in his entire career. His goal is to throw weak shots with no intention of doing damage to win rounds. He's the second worst ever.
 
sapporo ichiban said:
So you don't remember when people were bitching about Machida being boring? Back just before he beat Sokoudjou he was being called a boring point fighter, he went on to blast Rashad and take the title. I believe that was the beginning of the Machida era.

It is all pivotal around the big finish. You go on a streak of finishes and your Conor Mcgoat., you run into some tough competition that refuses to be finished and you are boring.
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I do remember people bitching about Machida being boring. But you are conflating boring with point fighter. The meanings do overlap, but they are distinct from one another in very important ways. Calling Machida a point fighter is stupid. He was the opposite. Think of how many close decisions he lost because he didn't stay busy throwing pitter pat shots and instead patiently (perhaps too patiently) waited for his opponents to give up an opening for the KO.
 
sapporo ichiban said:
So you don't remember when people were bitching about Machida being boring? Back just before he beat Sokoudjou he was being called a boring point fighter, he went on to blast Rashad and take the title. I believe that was the beginning of the Machida era.

It is all pivotal around the big finish. You go on a streak of finishes and your Conor Mcgoat., you run into some tough competition that refuses to be finished and you are boring.
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Machida is one of the worst offenders of point fighting, but he's inconsistent. About 1 out of 4 fights he actually comes out wanting to fight. The rest of the time he wanted to land 1 or 2 strikes and run away the rest of the round while still expecting to win. His performances against Rampage, Hendo, Davis and Tito were shameful
 
Shaddows said:
are you crazy? You yourself said it! He broke Kos's orbital bone in the FIRST round, and yet jabbed for 4 more rounds against a one-eyed Koschek! Please tell me, where is his killing instinct?
The last fight he used it was to beat Serra.
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Could he have pounced for the finish? Sure. Is it possible he would have got it? Yes. If he had of been comfortable that Josh was no longer dangerous he may have. We were not in there so we cant know for sure. He won that fight handily and stayed in control.

Sure he could have been more aggressive in some fights and taken risks, people like Lawler have no choice but to be aggressive which is why Wonderboy I believe will boot his face off. I like Robbie, he is gritty, but he is a whole different athlete than George.

George was smart and was able to easily beat the whole division for most of his career.
 
IngaVovchanchyn said:
I do remember people bitching about Machida being boring. But you are conflating boring with point fighter. The meanings do overlap, but they are distinct from one another in very important ways. Calling Machida a point fighter is stupid. He was the opposite. Think of how many close decisions he lost because he didn't stay busy throwing pitter pat shots and instead patiently (perhaps too patiently) waited for his opponents to give up an opening for the KO.
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Ok I can see your point on the boring and point fighter thing.

Ill just say with his footwork, in and out trying to create crashes and counter punches, and his evasive style gives me the impression of point fighting roots, couple that with the lack of actually pulling the trigger all to often, will you compromise with me calling him a boring point fighter at times :)

Truth is I am a huge Machida fan. I actually like the great movement and strategy some of these guys can pull off on a good day.
 
Cruz is the GOAT point fighter. 2 finishes in 11 Zuffa victories, he loves going for those takedowns in the final 50 seconds to secure himself the rounds, and he's never lost a decision. He has one of the best fight IQs in the game without a doubt. I can't say I get particularity excited for his fights but he's certainly much more of a point fighter than Mighty Mouse, who has finished some tough guys.
 
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