Favorite UFC fighters

Vigfree

Vigfree

Orange Belt
@Orange
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Was just thinking about who my favorite current/active UFC fighters are and decided to share & see what some Sherbros think.
The criteria is a mix between their personality and watching them fight. One way I know I like a fighter is actually being able to listen to a whole interview they do.

Robert Whittaker - He's the man. Love his interviews. He's intelligent, straight up. Love watching him fight. Prob #1 on this list overall. After losing his belt to Izzy, he didn't rank squat. He got to work and took on contenders. He's great interviewing fighters. He's just a chill dude.

Gilbert Burns - Great attitude on life. Love how he is with his family. He's the guy who took the Chimaev fight when nobody else would. Gotta respect that. Wish he'd get a little more shine, especially since his time left is limited. Hope he finishes Masvidal and gets to fight Leon for the title soon. War Durinho!

Beneil Dariush - Just so humble and genuine in his interviews. So sad he doesn't get more love from the UFC. This fight vs Charles is unnecessary as he should just get the TS vs Islam, but a great fight to look forward to as a fan. But he doesn't even complain. His fights are not boring either. I think he beats Charles. And Islam's toughest test yet at 155. I'm in the Beneil is underrated camp.

Cory Sandhagen - Recent addition for me. Really liked his point of view on things listening to interviews recently. After beating Chito, he acknowledged Merab's standing as #1 contender and called him out instead of O'Malley. WTF wants to fight Merab? That guy is a machine. War Cory. Great attitude.

Islam Makhachev - He's surprisingly funny in his interviews. I'm also a fan of Khabib and really like their relationship. Really like watching him fight. He has a great fighting style. I think he's probably p4p #1 IMO.

Khamzat Chimaev - Personality wise probably last on this list for me, not to say I don't like him. That said, I love the content he makes - was digging those Blockaccess vids before the Burns fight. He might be #1 in terms of a guy whose next fight I wanna see. Kind of bummed tho that 170 might be done-skis, because I wanted to see him fight for the title at 170 before moving up.

For women I think probably Zhang Weili - she actually seems like a total sweetheart. The way she reacts and talks seems very genuinely nice. Yet when she steps in the ring, she is fearless and comes to finish.
Truth be told tho, I don't watch many women's MMA interviews. Even tho I don't mind watching women's fights. So def lacking here comparatively.
 
My favorite finishes from each weight class

Jeff Molina -- Self Explainitory

Chito Vera -- Crazy knockouts out of nowhere despite not having anywhere near that type of power only a few years ago

Yair Rodgriguez -- Finished Ortega and Emett with submission attempts but Topuria is pretty good too

Tony Ferguson -- Prime Tony was the best back in the day and all the cte he gave out is probably at least partially responsible for all the bad takes Josh Thomson bad has these days

Shavkat -- 17-0 all finishes and is the only person to submit Geoff Neal which was also a great fight

Pereira -- His Glory fights were fun to watch and he is the only person to ko Jason WIlnis and is the only man to ko Israel Adesanya and did it three times

Jiri -- 3-0 Former champ who had the best knockout of the year in 2021 and the best submission of 2022 (Islam subbed Charles who has like 5 sub losses while Glover had 0)

Jon Jones -- Goat
 
SpinningElbowEnjoyer said:
My favorite finishes from each weight class

Jeff Molina -- Self Explainitory

Chito Vera -- Crazy knockouts out of nowhere despite not having anywhere near that type of power only a few years ago

Yair Rodgriguez -- Finished Ortega and Emett with submission attempts but Topuria is pretty good too

Tony Ferguson -- Prime Tony was the best back in the day and all the cte he gave out is probably at least partially responsible for all the bad takes Josh Thomson bad has these days

Shavkat -- 17-0 all finishes and is the only person to submit Geoff Neal which was also a great fight

Pereira -- His Glory fights were fun to watch and he is the only person to ko Jason WIlnis and is the only man to ko Israel Adesanya and did it three times

Jiri -- 3-0 Former champ who had the best knockout of the year in 2021 and the best submission of 2022 (Islam subbed Charles who has like 5 sub losses while Glover had 0)

Jon Jones -- Goat
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Love watching AP, Jiri & JBJ fight - they're def up at the top in terms of that for me.
And ofc watching Shavkat's rise rn. Last fight vs Geoff was the first I saw. He looks like a possible future champ
 
I found I enjoyed the sport more when I watched it for the sake of technical, athletic and mental abilities. For the sake of competition and for asking, answering and discovering questions about fighters games. I grew not to care about who was boring or exciting but rather who was effective, ineffective and figuring out and appreciating why.

Some fighters personalities I like more than others but it doesn't usually make me root for them to win, just makes me more interested in hearing them speak. Generally speaking I want to see the best man win, rather than having some kind of dog in the fight. Sometimes I root for an up and Comer to win with lots of potential and dynamicism over a willy vet who's good and proven but his ceiling is established and it's not/no longer that of a contender but to me, that's just because I perceive that as best for the sport and the division. Similarity I like seeing diversity in champions but hate when it feels orchestrated at the cost of other fighters careers.

I definitely enjoy fighters who do things "differently" or have unique strengths. For instance Umar Nurmagomedovs lead leg striking is really impressive and not too common from MMA fighters or kickboxers. Not a UFC fighter but Mansour Barnaouis guard, back takes and sweeps are incredible and he's punked even Dagestani Sambo champs with it. I always loved Machida for his distinct karate style and really clever trips and throws. I'm a sucker for some things, I love dynamic takedowns, slick trips and throws but even someone like Yair who has phenomenal kicks or in the past Dillashaws head movement and footwork. But it's their abilities, not necessarily me being or not being a fan of individuals.
 
HuskySamoan said:
I found I enjoyed the sport more when I watched it for the sake of technical, athletic and mental abilities. For the sake of competition and for asking, answering and discovering questions about fighters games. I grew not to care about who was boring or exciting but rather who was effective, ineffective and figuring out and appreciating why.

Some fighters personalities I like more than others but it doesn't usually make me root for them to win, just makes me more interested in hearing them speak. Generally speaking I want to see the best man win, rather than having some kind of dog in the fight. Sometimes I root for an up and Comer to win with lots of potential and dynamicism over a willy vet who's good and proven but his ceiling is established and it's not/no longer that of a contender but to me, that's just because I perceive that as best for the sport and the division. Similarity I like seeing diversity in champions but hate when it feels orchestrated at the cost of other fighters careers.

I definitely enjoy fighters who do things "differently" or have unique strengths. For instance Umar Nurmagomedovs lead leg striking is really impressive and not too common from MMA fighters or kickboxers. Not a UFC fighter but Mansour Barnaouis guard, back takes and sweeps are incredible and he's punked even Dagestani Sambo champs with it. I always loved Machida for his distinct karate style and really clever trips and throws. I'm a sucker for some things, I love dynamic takedowns, slick trips and throws but even someone like Yair who has phenomenal kicks or in the past Dillashaws head movement and footwork. But it's their abilities, not necessarily me being or not being a fan of individuals.
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I am a long time professional gambler and poker player. I like betting on the UFC. Obviously, I try to stay as impartial as possible when deciding on who to bet, and am not really the type of person to be "a fan" compared to most.
That said, after following the sport for years now, I definitely like some guys' personality more than others. Hence this thread.
When I bet, I cheer for who I bet for of course. If I don't have a bet, I agree with you that I mostly just watch the fight and analyze what is going on. That said, there are a few guys who I want to win. Sometimes who I want to win has to do with the division or other factors, and not whether I like a fighter.

In terms of dynamic takedowns - how about Islam's TD against the fence in R1 vs Olives? Love when fighters incorporate Judo in to their game-plan. Seems like such a good way to get people down and under-utilized by the population IMO. If you're really good at grappling/subs, feels like you should learn some Judo.
 
HuskySamoan said:
I found I enjoyed the sport more when I watched it for the sake of technical, athletic and mental abilities. For the sake of competition and for asking, answering and discovering questions about fighters games. I grew not to care about who was boring or exciting but rather who was effective, ineffective and figuring out and appreciating why.

Some fighters personalities I like more than others but it doesn't usually make me root for them to win, just makes me more interested in hearing them speak. Generally speaking I want to see the best man win, rather than having some kind of dog in the fight. Sometimes I root for an up and Comer to win with lots of potential and dynamicism over a willy vet who's good and proven but his ceiling is established and it's not/no longer that of a contender but to me, that's just because I perceive that as best for the sport and the division. Similarity I like seeing diversity in champions but hate when it feels orchestrated at the cost of other fighters careers.

I definitely enjoy fighters who do things "differently" or have unique strengths. For instance Umar Nurmagomedovs lead leg striking is really impressive and not too common from MMA fighters or kickboxers. Not a UFC fighter but Mansour Barnaouis guard, back takes and sweeps are incredible and he's punked even Dagestani Sambo champs with it. I always loved Machida for his distinct karate style and really clever trips and throws. I'm a sucker for some things, I love dynamic takedowns, slick trips and throws but even someone like Yair who has phenomenal kicks or in the past Dillashaws head movement and footwork. But it's their abilities, not necessarily me being or not being a fan of individuals.
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R.ed2ca376bb42cdde97ba12f3c571af3a
 
1. Nick Diaz
2. Jose Aldo
3. Mirko CroCop
4. Shogun
5. Takanori Gomi
 
Vigfree said:
I am a long time professional gambler and poker player. I like betting on the UFC. Obviously, I try to stay as impartial as possible when deciding on who to bet, and am not really the type of person to be "a fan" compared to most.
That said, after following the sport for years now, I definitely like some guys' personality more than others. Hence this thread.
When I bet, I cheer for who I bet for of course. If I don't have a bet, I agree with you that I mostly just watch the fight and analyze what is going on. That said, there are a few guys who I want to win. Sometimes who I want to win has to do with the division or other factors, and not whether I like a fighter.

In terms of dynamic takedowns - how about Islam's TD against the fence in R1 vs Olives? Love when fighters incorporate Judo in to their game-plan. Seems like such a good way to get people down and under-utilized by the population IMO. If you're really good at grappling/subs, feels like you should learn some Judo.
Click to expand...

Big fan of Islam's takedown game, it's one of the most clever, technical and dynamic. Ontop of that his top control, passing and back takes are fantastic. Yoel Romero had incredible takedowns but lacked the grappling and cardio to make much out of it. I think Judo is fine, there's a lot wrong with Judo though..single and double legs aren't allowed, body locks aren't allowed, Judokas tend to give up sweeps and land throws in competition while actually being out of position or having their back exposed. As someone who's trained at Judo Kodokans and at Sambo academies, I think working with strong Judokas who crossed over to MMA like Gordon Ryan does with Satoshi Ishii is a lot better than putting on a gi and taking Judo classes, I think the Judo influence in Sambo is what you're seeing but in some ways it's arguably more Sambo than Judo. But Judo is valuable too and using the cage to maintain constant points of grappling contact almost fills the role of a gi in a weird way, the inclusion of upper and lower body attacks to score takedowns and chain attacks together is being folded into MMA and training methods as the sport continues to grow, more guys are doing it now.

Gamrots shots, the speed of the entry and level changes are sick, his scrambles are really nice too. Khamzat is similar in this sense, his shots are amazing. I look forward to the wave of strong American and Japanese wrestlers rising up in MMA now too, the UFC really killed their culture of signing top wrestlers from the US in exchange for a more exciting product and you saw guys like Poirier, Max, Omalley etc etc have 6-7-8-9 straight fights or more towards a title without ever facing a wrestler..I think it caused guys to THINK they had defensive wrestling covered but in reality it's rare you even have to fight a wrestler in the UFC anymore and the Russians are really exposing guys for this.
 
Charles - Is finish or be finished. Has so many different finishes from knockouts to rear nakeds, guillotines, anaconda chokes and he gets dropped every fight and then comes back to win, apart from the Islam fight but it keeps you on the edge the whole fight.

Khamzat/Jailton - I enjoy their style of grappling where they don't fuck around on the feet at all and try to speed run pulverize their opponents on the ground.

Jiri - LHW Tony. He does so much unneccesary shit which makes it all the more entertaining. Like Charles he also is in bad spots every fight and rallies back.

Neither Izzy or Pereira are in my top 3 but their fight is my most anticipated fight of the year so far along with Beneil/Charles coming up
 
HuskySamoan said:
Big fan of Islam's takedown game, it's one of the most clever, technical and dynamic. Ontop of that his top control, passing and back takes are fantastic. Yoel Romero had incredible takedowns but lacked the grappling and cardio to make much out of it. I think Judo is fine, there's a lot wrong with Judo though..single and double legs aren't allowed, body locks aren't allowed, Judokas tend to give up sweeps and land throws in competition while actually being out of position or having their back exposed. As someone who's trained at Judo Kodokans and at Sambo academies, I think working with strong Judokas who crossed over to MMA like Gordon Ryan does with Satoshi Ishii is a lot better than putting on a gi and taking Judo classes, I think the Judo influence in Sambo is what you're seeing but in some ways it's arguably more Sambo than Judo. But Judo is valuable too and using the cage to maintain constant points of grappling contact almost fills the role of a gi in a weird way, the inclusion of upper and lower body attacks to score takedowns and chain attacks together is being folded into MMA and training methods as the sport continues to grow, more guys are doing it now.

Gamrots shots, the speed of the entry and level changes are sick, his scrambles are really nice too. Khamzat is similar in this sense, his shots are amazing. I look forward to the wave of strong American and Japanese wrestlers rising up in MMA now too, the UFC really killed their culture of signing top wrestlers from the US in exchange for a more exciting product and you saw guys like Poirier, Max, Omalley etc etc have 6-7-8-9 straight fights or more towards a title without ever facing a wrestler..I think it caused guys to THINK they had defensive wrestling covered but in reality it's rare you even have to fight a wrestler in the UFC anymore and the Russians are really exposing guys for this.
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Nice analysis
 
Robert Whittaker
Justin Gaethje
Weili Zhang
Valentina Shevchenko
Robbie Lawler
Korean Zombie
Robocop
Black Beast
Max Holloway
Jiri Prochazka
 
Oliveira
Nunes
Burns
Rakhmonov
Lawler
Andrade
…just off the top of my head..


All time favorite… Anderson and Machida
 
Current? Conor, no matter what he does, he gives us something to talk about...
 
Currently? Honestly I suppose it would be Gaethje and Grasso. I never expected Grasso to EVER win a title, but besides that, she's just so dang cute and seems like the sweetest chick ever. I like Val a lot but Grasso earned it and I hope she keeps the title.
 
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