Has MMA really evolved?

[560ti]

Honestly prime Tito was an animal. Not a gimme fight for Jan at all. Even though he was a 1-dimensional wrestler he was a beast. Got the best of Bader way past his prime.

yeah Tito doesn't get enough respect, his resume and who he fight was damn impressive. A washed up Tito arguably beat forest, took Rashad Evans to a draw, and beat Ryan bader. Tito especially in his prime was no joke,

 

[LilNicky95]

Honestly prime Tito was an animal. Not a gimme fight for Jan at all. Even though he was a 1-dimensional wrestler he was a beast. Got the best of Bader way past his prime.

Jan vs Tito would go just like Lil Nog vs Tito….

We can agree to disagree on this.

​

 

[LilNicky95]

yeah Tito doesn't get enough respect, his resume and who he fight was damn impressive. A washed up Tito arguably beat forest, took Rashad Evans to a draw, and beat Ryan bader. Tito especially in his prime was no joke,

He gets too much credit if anything. When he fought his two division rivals(Randy and Chuck) in his prime….he was completely dominated and/or humiliated.

<{CMPALM}>

PS: Titi also ducked Chuck like the plague for 3-5 years.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

Of course it has.

But it isn't a one-size-fits-all deal. It's a general trend, and looks more something like this:

And it's easy to find counter-examples that don't show the general trend.

 

[ModernMatt]

MMA has clearly evolved. I watch old fights on fight pass all the time. There's no question.

Just 10-15 years ago we saw fighters get LnP'd or wall and stalled waay more often than we see now. Fighters seems to be more aware and less willing to chill in a position that won't give points.
Fighters are also way more well rounded today than ever before. Fighters used to come from a discipline and stuck to that discipline.

As a matter of fact, Buffer should stop introducing fighting styles. That shit is old school.

Techniques that are standard today were rare to see not too long ago. Front kicks, jabs, calf kicks and even side to side movement was a rare thing when Machida was tearing up the LHW division for example.

This shit is evolving.

Yeah, I agree...I remember being in when someone was in a full mount, it was basically a given victory, now fighters can get out of it without making it an automatic loss.

More fighters are being more rounded now.

 

[~JM~]

Sure it has evolved but the rules changed as well which changed tactics making it more appealing.

 

[D'z]

I'd say the skill-level has evolved, but not necessarily the talent.

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

I think defense has evolved more rapidly than offense, you're actually seeing less dominant grapplers because of that trend. (Less risk taking on the ground for example)

I think probably the biggest evolution has been the general fitness level, though that could be attributed to my above claim.

In my eyes, the majority has become more well rounded, but the high peak of skill has plateaued. Kind of how Forrest Griffin got labeled in the day (jack of all trades, master of none)

 

[Dude Incredible]

MMA as a whole has drastically improved. MMA at Championship/GOAT level has only marginally (if at all) improved.

I think this is a good take.

Training in an MMA gym honestly gets everyone to a much higher level and is good for the sport for competitive bouts. However at the top echelon has always been elite fighters for the most part and that hasn't changed but I think now in a lot of divisions that can all the way out to top 5 or maybe even more. In many divisions it used to be the difference between 1st and 2nd place was lightyears. Some due to old champions no longer being around but some due legit to improved competition.

 

[Hatorade]

Nope they both sub him. No way does he land a bomb on Fedor or pre-motorcycle mir without getting taken down and leg locked. Don't believe the Rogan hype, he hasn't beaten anyone nearly as good as either of them in their prime. The closest he's fought to either of them was Stipe in the first fight, and he got murked. The stipe in the second fight aged about 10 years from getting his head punched 100 times in a trilogy against DC. The stipe from the first fight still kicks Ngannou's ass.

Curent Francis wouldn't get taken down by any version of Fedor or Mir, and even if he did, he would just get right back up. People seem to think that his ground game sucks, but it really doesn't. He got taken down and controlled by Stipe in their first fight because he was still very green and his Cardio wasn't great. Stipe also has a MUCH better take down game than Mir or Fedor ever did despite not having as good of a sub game. Fedor and Mir used more trips than power doubles to take their opponents down, which would get them murdered by the current version of Francis.

I love fedor as much as any other old school fan, but I don't think he could close the distance with Francis without getting hit. The problem lies in that eating a straight right from Francis is a bit different than eating one from Big Nog or Cro Cop. If Francis lands flush on anyone with a 4oz. Glove, they're fucked. Fedor was too much of a risk taker to beat a savage like Francis and Mir would straight up be a punching bag for Francis imo. I would love to see it regardless

 

[Kratos94]

Yes and no. Adesanya is better than prime Silva - look at their opponents

Fighters still have no idea how to check kicks and even calf kicks lmao

 

[Based and White Pilled]

I made this for those of you who can't figure it out on your own.

MMA is an amalgamation of other sports that are already highly developed. In the 90s and early 2000s the average skill level of a pro fighter was skyrocketing as guys learned these skills from people who were experts in other sports. Things have steadily tapered off since then.

Any of the great champions from the mid 2000s would still be a championship level fighter today.

 

[laleggenda27]

More than anything, the depth of talent has evolved. The guys at the very top of each division aren't necessarily better, but every division from 185 and down is dramatically deeper and more talented than a decade ago.

And yes, even the techniques have evolved a bit. The kicking game (e.g., calf kicks and front kicks) and submission defense (particularly from top control) have improved in recent years. But these changes are relatively marginal, and most great fighters from the modern era would have little trouble adjusting.

I think/hope the next great evolution comes from bjj practitioners, particularly in: (1) their ability to land takedowns and keep opponents grounded; and (2) leglocks. We've seen huge evolutions from strikers and wrestlers throughout the years, but bjj has remained relatively stagnant within mma.

 

[Boss HM-2]

Reminds me a bit of a young Smokin Joe
View attachment 862785

dont disrespect Joe Frazier like that plz

 

[fortheo]

Overall, the skill level has improved, but at the very elite level (top 5 guys), the level is about the same as it has been since GSP's era.

 

[Arrrrgh]

It's not even a question.

There is a clear influx of more talent, new techniques, a larger audience the sport reaches (all the international champions today)... in so many ways, yes. And GSP even argues the fighters are better, which I think is what you are referencing when asking about evolving--is the talent is better or worse? In your own example, the guy you mention, he says the talent today is better.

So yeah.

 

[thobra]

It probably has regressed on the top, but What we do have now Are more fighters, so below the top 15, the skill level is probably a bit higher today.

 

[HP_Nut]

If you look at avg skill level, yes, there has been evolution. The biggest evolution is in the striking. Multiple strike combos are much more common. Having said that, at the championship level, I don't think there's been some big evolution as some try to suggest, wrestling & BJJ hasn't evolved nearly as much. It isn't like wrestlers of today are pulling off some advanced wrestling technique that GSP couldn't. For all the talk about evolution, there aren't any techniques that the current champs do that couldn't be done in yesteryear

Francis - Francis hits hard, its not like he's introducing never before seen striking techniques. His BJJ is definitely suspect, his defensive wrestling looks improved, though its just based off 1 takedown attempt by old man Stipe
Jan - solid all around, nothing revolutionary
Adesanya = Anderson (I would say Anderson had better BJJ, bigger threat off his back)
Usman - I'm not saying Usman would lose to GSP, but technically GSP is better IMO. Usman still could win, he hits hard, is hard to take down etc, but I think GSP is more skilled
Oliveira - there are plenty of LWs who would be a bad style matchup for him

Weight classes below 155 weren't present in the UFC until more recent times.

 

[mjfan23]

Not much. Only improvements are at lighter weights

 

[emefer]

No and it’s the stupidest word to use.