MMA has basically stopped evolving in the last 10 years

[BOTTICELLI]

The kicks have evolved
The TD Defense has evolved
Submission Defense has evolved

Straight Boxing and Wrestling is more important than ever.

 

[BJJ4Tone]

As the title says, I believe that MMA has basically stopped evolving in the last 10 years. I'm not saying that this is a good thing, just that fighters seem to have peaked about 10 or so years or go and have basically remained the same in terms of talent and ability.

The best evidence for this is that if you go back 10 years and look at the champions they are as good or better than the champions of today.

In 2013 the UFC had champions such as GSP, DJ, Jon Jones, Benson Henderson, Chris Weidman, Cain Velasquez etc.

The prime version of any of those fighters would be a champion in today's UFC or would be in serious contention. And if you go down the rankings the fighters from then are comparable to the fighters today.

My feeling is that we have pretty much hit the peak in terms of the evolution of fighters. The fighters we've seen in the last 10 years are pretty much as good as they'll ever be.

FALSE

Cage work has evolved greatly in the last 10 years.

 

[Credo]

MMA is dead. Well, to me..

C´mon Dayna, launch Zuffa Boxing already you greey pink f*ck!

 

[JustBleed69]

This is such a comically objectively incorrect take that I'm not even going to form an argument, just going to point at it and laugh.

 

[filthynumber1]

Humans will never stop evolving.
For good or for evil. Never

 

[pankrat]

BSD smokes prime #1 contender Joe Stevenson & he isn't even top 10, that's the point. This is the case with many title challengers from 10-20 years ago but somehow MMA is worse than ever.

Some people can't escape nostalgia's grasp.

Joe Stevenson wasnt #2 in the world. Just like Menne wasnt the best MW in the planet despite being UFC champ. You should educate yourself a bit.

Still, Stevenson handled Tibau way better than Khabib did so to say BSD "smokes" Stevenson seems prettty far fetched

Now let's be honest, could you describe Joe Stevenson style of fighting, which were his strenghts and weaknesse? Could you tell anything about him as a fighter? You can check his wikipedia but that all you got, you are not fooling anybody,

 

[panamaican]

Of course it has. MMA evolved a lot in the beginning because people were learning how to prepare, what works, what doesn't, what sells to fans, what doesn't, etc.

But we're 30 years in at this point. The main elements of being a good fighter are known. Any future evolutions are going to be small. Or unique to individuals.

 

[Local Plata]

That's what happens when Dana White completely changes his perspective. Instead of continuing as a sport, having the best fight each other, valid rankings etc ... he finally got a taste of success and said 'Ok, forget everything I said for a decade about boxing, we are going to do exactly what they do and also copy pro wrestling'.

The importance of actually being good at fighting has decreased, you can become a champion now in just a couple fights against non-contenders if you are 'popular' enough.

 

[blaseblase]

I disagree. Calf kicks weren't really a thing 10 years ago. You still had one-dimensional fighters in the top 10.

 

[blaseblase]

Cain vs Old Man Jon is at worst 50/50 even at this stage. The winner of Pav/Aspinall is an interesting fight too, as is Ngannou (who yes KO'd Cain pre knee injury, one of the stupidest lies I've seen on Sherdog from people pretending Cain blew out his knee first then got KO'd).

He'd have wiped the floor with Stipe, Gane, and DC though.

Cain himself says his knee didn't go out. He got knocked out.



Look at how he got knocked out in a minute when he tried to stand with JDS. Ngannou is more powerful without JDS's flaw of getting backed up against the cage with his hands down. Ngannou will knock you out if you try and pressure him like that.

You need to have really good defense to hang with Ngannou. Cain never had that. Ngannou is a nightmare matchup at any point of his career.

 

[Starman]

GSP got beat by Hendricks, who got beat by Lawler. GSP would not be champion today, probably not even in the top 5 WW. Takedown defense alone, is worlds apart from where it was 10 years ago, everybody just got better, and more well rounded. There isnt a champion from 10 years ago that would be champion now other than JJ, and that’s because he evolved with the sport.

6 years in and you're still a white belt. That's somehow fitting.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

I honestly don’t think most of you even know what the conversation is actually about. Let alone having any decent take on it. If you think the sport has “evolved” you’re not intelligent. There is nothing done today that hasn’t been done for at least 20 years.

It’s that the hoi polloi (the masses) are more rounded in general today. That is not evolution. That is the LCD upping their game a little bit compared to the elite. Again.. Not evolution.

Name anything everybody does today that the elite weren’t doing back in the day. There are NONE.

 

[HunterAcosta]

hmmmm i say you are both right and wrong

For the exception of Anderson Jon jones DJ and Cain, alot of those champs would of gotten creamed.
For instance we all know PRIME IZZY crushes weidman. Prime anderson would of toyed with weidman.
Prime usman TYRON and Robbie takes out GSP. tyron hits too hard, robbie hits hard, and usman is gsp 2.0.
on the other side

Now prime anderson walks through weidman luke Strickland Ddp Bisping derrick brunson , the only issues
would be IZZY Rob whit Paulo AND YOEL. Oh and how could i forget KHAMZAT. Khamzat and Yoel would be a major
problem due to the take down

Francis runs through heavy weight division back then, assuming hes allowed to juice too.

and lastly i will say the 3 kings of the 205 which is Jones DC and Anthony rumble johnson
runs through and remains the top 3 in any era of the 205 division. name a person in 205
whose beating prime rumble and DC.......

Tyron’s a front runner who’d gas out and lose heart longer fight goes . GSP easily out cardio’s him if he doesn’t get caught. Having a punchers chance isn’t much of a chance tbh. Lawler?! Even worse of a chance . The ultimate punchers chance dude with worse takedown defense . Gets laid on for 5 rounds . Usman ? Good fight but either could win . I think GSP has cleaner striking though but def fight he could lose .

 

[Royce Greasy]

People will argue this because they are so brainwashed by the UFC hype machine that tells them "current fighter is the best ever" but this is essentially correct. The "sport has evolved" cliche is such a lazy and baseless comment; people are just regurgitating old commentary from the mid 2000s when announcers were comparing fighters from the 90s like Gary Goodridge and Mark Coleman to the well-rounded multi-faceted fighters of the day.

The sport is no longer "improving in leaps and bounds" and in fact, we're seeing more one dimensional fighters in the top 10 than we EVER did in the late 2000s/2010s. The pay for MMA is so poor that if you were a college wrestler from the USA with a degree, why the hell would you risk long term health effects (and significant medical bills) when you can probably make more money with stability/growth opportunities working a normal job? lol Training camps/supplements/dieticians aren't free you know and now you can't even get your own sponsors? Seriously, what is the incentive to be a fighter when even the tippy top guys are paid a fraction of what other pro athletes are? There is a reason we've seen an influx of talent from more developing countries

I think the evolution of the sport peaked when there was guys like Rory Macdonald, Mighty Mouse, etc who were literally training to be MMA fighters from day 1 and "specialists" transitioning over from 1 major combat sport into mma were less the norm for a good chunk of years. I genuinely challenge someone who believes the "sport has evolved" to actually explain in plain English what the hell that means in 2023? lol Has some new radical submission been invented? Are there unseen strikes being taught in a Shaolin temple yet to be unleashed on the world? <Lmaoo>

I'm sorry but I'm not buying it. Go look at the MW top 10 and tell me the sport is at its peak right now like jesus, everyone besides Whittaker and Izzy would not even sniff the top 10 Prime vs Prime.

Same goes for the other divisions above BW like Brian Ortega has 1 win in nearly 6 full years and is still ranked #3 at FW right now because the division is so shallow LOL. And LHW, do you think Jan Blachowicz and Glover just magically got dramatically better in their late 30s or is it at all possible the level of competition just went completely off a cliff in the past 5 years? lol

People can believe whatever delusion they want but I'm with you TS... I genuinely laugh out loud every time I read "the sport has evolved" used in a serious manner. It's the equivalent to saying "the lord works in mysterious ways" in a religious argument like "oh you ran out of things to say, gotcha" <Lmaoo>

The part where you say to explain how exactly has the sport evolved is something I've been asking also because I see nothing new in terms of techniques effective ones not flashy stuff that is low percentage a punch is still the same, td's and submissions for the most part if anything what it all has become is a lot of brawling more than ever rather than solid technique this is also why the UFC has been phasing out grapplers to appeal to new fans and casuals for entertainment value.

The incentive argument is also very valid as well, if you think about becoming a professional mma fighter now is stupid there is no benefit aside from pumping up the ego its a terrible career move, the only people really gonna become fighters are the
failed athletes from others sports.

 

[pankrat]

I honestly don’t think most of you even know what the conversation is actually about. Let alone having any decent take on it. If you think the sport has “evolved” you’re not intelligent. There is nothing done today that hasn’t been done for at least 20 years.

It’s that the hoi polloi (the masses) are more rounded in general today. That is not evolution. That is the LCD upping their game a little bit compared to the elite. Again.. Not evolution.

Name anything everybody does today that the elite weren’t doing back in the day. There are NONE.

You see plenty of pro fighters and coaches saying that the sport has indeed evolved in terms of training methods and tactics, definitely relative to 20 years ago.
To say they are not intelligent and pretend you know better is not very intelligent on your part

 

[panamaican]

The part where you say to explain how exactly has the sport evolved is something I've been asking also because I see nothing new in terms of techniques effective ones not flashy stuff that is low percentage a punch is still the same, td's and submissions for the most part if anything what it all has become is a lot of brawling more than ever rather than solid technique this is also why the UFC has been phasing out grapplers to appeal to new fans and casuals for entertainment value.

The incentive argument is also very valid as well, if you think about becoming a professional mma fighter now is stupid there is no benefit aside from pumping up the ego its a terrible career move, the only people really gonna become fighters are the
failed athletes from others sports.

I don't think they're phasing out grappling but fighters learned a long time ago that knocking out opponents is a faster, more reliable way to win than going to the ground with them.

So long as the fighter has enough takedown defense to stay upright or get back up, striking is more reliable for finishes. That's probably what stopped the "evolution" of MMA more than anything - that everyone got good on the ground and so no one really feared it anymore but they still feared getting clipped.

 

[Royce Greasy]

I don't think they're phasing out grappling but fighters learned a long time ago that knocking out opponents is a faster, more reliable way to win than going to the ground with them.

So long as the fighter has enough takedown defense to stay upright or get back up, striking is more reliable for finishes. That's probably what stopped the "evolution" of MMA more than anything - that everyone got good on the ground and so no one really feared it anymore but they still feared getting clipped.

Total bullshit what your saying here the fact is that UFC is an entertainment company first not a sport like so many want to believe which is why all I ever from the casuals and noobs is how much they detest grappling and its boring etc, the UFC knows that KO's bring in more viewers this is the true reason and nothing will convince otherwise and saying its the evolution is so utterly stupid I don't even know where to begin, yes sloppy brawls are the evolution and take more skill than high level wrestling or BJJ lol how ridiculous.

As long as the fighter has enough td defense just like Gane who was subbed in like a minute ya that's the evolution of the sport right there being a one dimentional striker what a joke. Also the whole KO thing and strikes is much easier is so out of touch with reality because pro boxers can't even score KO's when they want and many times boxing matches go the distance its just in the UFC the competitors have this pressure that if they're not entertaining that they will be sidelined so they engage in these
brawls that the fans like, that's why it seems that it is more effective because 2 guys are consciously choosing to abandon going to the ground in favor of brawling.

 

[MEAN357]

It's devolved back into blanket wrestling and one trick ponies imo

 

[chinarice]

GSP got beat by Hendricks, who got beat by Lawler. GSP would not be champion today, probably not even in the top 5 WW. Takedown defense alone, is worlds apart from where it was 10 years ago, everybody just got better, and more well rounded. There isnt a champion from 10 years ago that would be champion now other than JJ, and that’s because he evolved with the sport.

Dude chill with that shit. The current WW champion almost lost to Nate Diaz.

The previous WW champ was defending his belt against LWs from GSP's era.... A lot of his best wins are LWs from GSP's era....

The sport's evolution is highly overrated. On average, it's better. The elite of 2010 aren't getting wiped out by today's WWs/MWs/LHWs/HWs....

 

[jx820]

Cain was exceptional in his day, but there are a few HW I can see being major problems for him.
Prime Weidman isn't a lock to hold a belt in today's MW division. There are several guys in the last year or two that I might pick against him. Izzy, Poatan, DDP, Whitaker, Chimaev, and Cannonier would not be freebies for him.
Islam would tie Bendo in knots

Jon, GSP, and MM were goats in their respective divisions. That doesn't mean the sport hasn't progressed, just that we had 3 pretty special athletes at the time. One of whom we still have.