Who's the smartest fighter to ever fought in the UFC?

Who has the smartest fight IQ? I want to say Jon, but something prevents me from saying him. Even though he's never lost outside of the DQ, . I would say Jon is the most creative fighter ever. GSP? Khabib? Mighty Mouse? Mighty Mouse looks like he's sparring in the ring. Whenever I saw one of his fights, even against cejudo. Dude look like he was sparring at LA fitness or something. Took the instructions from his corner and just downloaded it into his system.

Maybe it's too hard to pin down to one person.

 

Mike Perry

 

Khabib has the highest fight IQ in MMA history.

Not only that but he's the biggest clutch performer. The circumstances of the Conor and Gaethje fights were insane amounts of pressure and emotion yet he conquered.

KhaGOAT bless.

 

I assume you mean fight IQ, because any other definition of IQ then Jon is a complete retard.

If so, I would say Jon, knows exactly where to take a fight when the time is needed and has great awareness of his body and his opponents. Hate the guy but his fight IQ is the best in the game.

 

nate diaz

 

Jon has a great fight IQ but it's predicated around his freakishly long limbs and physical advantages, not to mention ped's.

 

GSP followed by Khabib.

 

Dominic Cruz and Frank Mir come off as extremely intelligent. Not sure if it counts but Matt Hume deserves a mention at the least. Mighty Mouse trains under him so Matt was partially responsible for one of the greatest runs of all time.

 

Yes, I meant fight IQ.

I want to disqualify jon because I felt like his last few fights has been less than stellar and we haven't seem him excercise good technique or IQ where he was getting caught. But always composed. Dude never panics.

 

Purposely exploiting the eye poke rule is less intelligent and more sociopathic.

 

I feel like Jon's striking skills suck. I'm just a sherdogger talking shit, so a more experienced person will have to grade his assessment. He's been doing this for awhile and I don't see much improvement in his hands from his prime to now. Very little.

However, his kicks, his wrestling, how he mixes it up is all good, but his hands need work. How does he not have a good jab with those limbs?

I feel like Jon jones is the most creative. He tries stuff other guys his size won't do and knows how to make it work. But most creative, doesn't mean most smart.

 

His biggest hole has always been his boxing, so he does get clipped every now and then. He's always able to recover though and then uses his limb advantage to land kicks or elbows. Back in the day he would resort to his wrestling but he hasn't really needed it.

Agree that his last few performances have been subpar and definitely felt he lost vs Reyes, but part of his IQ is knowing what he has to do to fool the judges.

 

Diego Sanchez is the undisputed GOAT.

 

I follow jon on twitter and I always tune in to hear his takes and his fighting takes at least how he portrays them to the fans and on social media doesn't seem to be at a level of how GSP or Khabib talk fights with the media and fans. The other two seem more elaborate with their answers and seem to study film.

I'm not saying Jon doesn't. I'm sure he watches film, I think he's a fan of the sport. You don't get that good without a high high fight IQ. But I want to say those guys are smarter than him. But he's creativity and his IQ allows him to do what he does. He's very creative. I think he's the most creative mma fighter we've seen in the octagon. Some will say silva but its definitely jon.

 

Garbrandt.

 

GSP
Khabib (I'd say its more his iron will and composure to stick to the game plan than fight IQ)
Jones doesn't have high fight IQ he just has long limbs

 

Someone needs to properly define fight iq. Is it the ability to make adjustments? Is it the quality and effectiveness of a fighters gameplan? is it just how technical someone is in all areas? Or is it the combination of all of those?

 

Machida
Demian Maia
Rose Namajunas

Fighters who clearly used strategy to win against more physically talented fighters

 

However your like to define it. It's all subjective. It's hard to put it in a box. So try to drop the best in your opinion.

If I had to choose if say gsp and khabib. Mm probably in there too.

I don't think Jon is the best at making adjustments as the others I listed. I think Jon has a very high fight IQ with high creativity. But when is been tested, but subpart fighters while his prime is going down it's look questionable.

Everyone gets old and everyone is beatable but IMO santos is not a high IQ fighter. Neither is reyes. All three of his past intents got finished by lesser talented guys.

 

Rich is pretty intelligent, bach degree in mathematics & a masters in education is no joke.