How many years tops do u give until all UFC champs are...

[Earthworm Jim]

...wrestlers?

Now let's see...
Velasquez, wrestler! Jones, wrestler! Weidman, wrestler! Hendricks, wrestler!
Have I made my point clear?

Seriously tho, we've all known for the longest time that wrestling is the most effective martial art that translates best into MMA.

How many years tops do u give until all champs are wrestlers, another 2 or maybe 3 years minimum?
Or... Will it remain as it is forever, with the majority of champs coming from a wrestling background, albeit 1 or 2 champs being that classic striker/bjj achetype?

Wadya reckon?

 

[fernandom]

Pettis and Aldo are the only ones left

 

[Earthworm Jim]

Pettis and Aldo are the only ones left

If I could shoop Pettis' & Aldo's faces into this pic, I would!

 

[LoveHateLove]

Stupid thread, mma fighters are a mix of all skills now. Much more so than 5 to 10 years ago. Wrestlers also have standup boxing skills.

Hendrix and Cain are known for their boxing and power more so than their wrestling

 

[Kanster]

I think there will always be at least a couple of guys that don't have a wrestling background.

 

[Earthworm Jim]

Stupid thread, mma fighters are a mix of all skills now. Much more so than 5 to 10 years ago. Wrestlers also have standup boxing skills.

Hendrix and Cain are known for their boxing and power more so than their wrestling

NO!
Hendrix is known for his mad guitar playing skills & the 'mix of all skills' u refer to had to start with a base... & that base is wrestling!

 

[5H3RD0G]

They don't all have to be wrestlers but they better have some of the best stamina and TDD.

 

[Dontevenguess93]

The word wrestler doesn't encompass those guys' skill sets. They are far too well rounded and good in other areas. A wrestler would be like a bunch of Fitch or Askren type fighters being champs. Unless you are strictly talking about base.

I find base nowadays very irrelevant because guys who never wrestled a day in their life can join a good gym and have outstanding defensive wrestling, like Aldo or Barboza type guys. Vice versa, guys like Dillashaw and Mendes can develop very effective striking as well. It's a matter of athletic ability, camp, and dedication.

 

[Junbo79]

Pretty sure the history of MMA has been a constant ebb and flow between strikers and wrestlers. Each is dominant until they are not.

If you are wondering if the time is now where wrestlers will be dominant until the end of time? They wont. Each one will fall, most likely to a striker.

 

[Earthworm Jim]

Pretty sure the history of MMA has been a constant ebb and flow between strikers and wrestlers. Each is dominant until they are not.

If you are wondering if the time is now where wrestlers will be dominant until the end of time? They wont. Each one will fall, most likely to a striker.

Interesting...
Do u see strikers & wrestlers being comparable to the ying & yang?
Just like day & night, when the moon eats the sun or whatever... We must be in the afternoon in terms of the MMA scene?

 

[Earthworm Jim]

The word wrestler doesn't encompass those guys' skill sets. They are far too well rounded and good in other areas. A wrestler would be like a bunch of Fitch or Askren type fighters being champs. Unless you are strictly talking about base.

I find base nowadays very irrelevant because guys who never wrestled a day in their life can join a good gym and have outstanding defensive wrestling, like Aldo or Barboza type guys. Vice versa, guys like Dillashaw and Mendes can develop very effective striking as well. It's a matter of athletic ability, camp, and dedication.

If I could go back & rephrase in my thread 'wrestler' as 'wrestler base' then I would, as that's what I've been trying to refer to this whole time.
Don't forget to mention GSP, considered one of the best wrestlers of all time in MMA who never had a wrestling base!

 

[Dontevenguess93]

If I could go back & rephrase in my thread 'wrestler' as 'wrestler base' then I would, as that's what I've been trying to refer to this whole time.
Don't forget to mention GSP, considered one of the best wrestlers of all time in MMA who never had a wrestling base!

Excellent point bro. That proves that anything can be attained.

 

[JoeJohnston]

Stupid thread, mma fighters are a mix of all skills now. Much more so than 5 to 10 years ago. Wrestlers also have standup boxing skills.

Hendrix and Cain are known for their boxing and power more so than their wrestling

Boxing? Please!!

 

[BOTTICELLI]

The word wrestler doesn't encompass those guys' skill sets. They are far too well rounded and good in other areas. A wrestler would be like a bunch of Fitch or Askren type fighters being champs. Unless you are strictly talking about base.

I find base nowadays very irrelevant because guys who never wrestled a day in their life can join a good gym and have outstanding defensive wrestling, like Aldo or Barboza type guys. Vice versa, guys like Dillashaw and Mendes can develop very effective striking as well. It's a matter of athletic ability, camp, and dedication.

Well put,

 

[StedGoof]

considwein that wrestling is the base in a country of 300+ million, do the math and that math says wrestling can't be the best base.

 

[Junbo79]

Interesting...
Do u see strikers & wrestlers being comparable to the ying & yang?
Just like day & night, when the moon eats the sun or whatever... We must be in the afternoon in terms of the MMA scene?

I wouldn't go that far but it doesn't take much more than common sense to come to the conclusion that it's baseless to say that one style will remain dominant over the others. Plenty of examples to choose from.

For every Jones there is a Cormier. For every Hendricks there is a Lawler.

 

[Magnum1978]

If I could go back & rephrase in my thread 'wrestler' as 'wrestler base' then I would, as that's what I've been trying to refer to this whole time.
Don't forget to mention GSP, considered one of the best wrestlers of all time in MMA who never had a wrestling base!

Wrestling is certainly the best base for MMA fighting... under the Unified Rules....

(in which the unbalanced rules and scoring method/judging criteria bias in favour of control/position advantage the fighter on top/going for takedowns considerably)

I've said for years, unless the rules or judging system is tweaked/improved then basically all the top guys in each division will be very high level wrestlers, with the difference between them being who does the remaining bit of submission grappling/striking better than the other very high level wrestler.

Under the Unified rules, certain styles are simply being killed from the game in favour of the prototypical wrestler/(kick)boxer that the Unified system is perfectly suited towards

 

[Kneepocalypse]

Jones will lose to Gus. Weidman has tough tests ahead of him in Machida and Vitor. boom, 2 more possible non wrestler champs.

 

[linvillegorge]

Those guys may have wrestling bases and come from a wrestling background, but they are far more than just wrestlers. They're all very well rounded fighters.

 

[Earthworm Jim]

Wrestling is certainly the best base for MMA fighting... under the Unified Rules....

(in which the unbalanced rules and scoring method/judging criteria bias in favour of control/position advantage the fighter on top/going for takedowns considerably)

I've said for years, unless the rules or judging system is tweaked/improved then basically all the top guys in each division will be very high level wrestlers, with the difference between them being who does the remaining bit of submission grappling/striking better than the other very high level wrestler.

Under the Unified rules, certain styles are simply being killed from the game in favour of the prototypical wrestler/(kick)boxer that the Unified system is perfectly suited towards

Yes & when that day happens, guys like Fitch & Shields become dominant champs in the UFC, is that what u want?
Although it's a style that should be preserved, the vast majority will not pay to see 'Lay & Pray' artists, period!