Fights or Fighters you remember that "evolved" the skill sets in MMA?

[SuperHut]

Which fights or fighters do you remember that you think contributed to the development of today's MMA?

1. BRUCE LEE

2. Royce Gracie - for obvious reasons

3. Dan Severn - suplexing the hell out of Anthony Macias at UFC 4 and establishing wrestling as a dominant style in UFC

4. Fred Ettish - unwavering spirit in the face of absolute adversity

5. Marco Ruas - using leg kicks to immobilize and chop down Paul Varlens

6. Yuki Kondo - showing that the flyiing knee was a real move

7. Bas Rutten - first bare knuckle spinning back fist I ever seen actually work in Pancrase

8. Victor Belfort - Boxing and the importance of Hand Speed (speed kills etc)

9. Pele - first guy I saw who stopped BJJ with Muay Thai clinch and knees

10. Mark Coleman - introducing the ground n pound (I really can't stand watching ground n pound, but I know it can get the job done.)

11. Maurice Smith - when he KO'd Conan with a roundhouse to the head

12. Frank Shamrock - first guy I remember who introduced the importance of overall athletic performance to back up skills

I know there are more major contributors to the sport, but these are the competitors who I think were pioneers in what we see in MMA today. Anybody else who deserves to be on the list?

[BobDigi5060]

Winklejohn and Jackson's MMA

[BobDigi5060]

BJ Penn for his supreme confidence

GSP for his discipline and work ethic (just 31, but many young fighters have taken note)

JJ and his killer style, using every part of his body as a weapon with no care about your well being.

[SuperHut]

Originally Posted by BobDigi5060

BJ Penn for his supreme confidence

GSP for his discipline and work ethic (just 31, but many young fighters have taken note)

JJ and his killer style, using every part of his body as a weapon with no care about your well being.

Gotta agree with the BJ Penn. He might be the only guy I can think of who was talented enough to half ass his way to very top of his division.

[HeGlassedMe]

Sakuraba.

[PIRA]

Don Frye and the antidote to lay n' pray, headbuts - sadly to be banned shortly after.

[sugarngold]

You pretty much summed it up. I would narrow it down to just four though:

Royce Gracie for introducing the world to Gracie Brazilian Jiujitsu.

Ken Shamrock for innovating "ground and pound" while Coleman was still hocking roids on the street corner.

Maurice Smith for bringing the first advanced kickboxing game to MMA supplemented by good jiujitsu defense.

Frank Shamrock for bringing it all full circle with good jiujitsu, good wrestling, good striking and excellent cardio.

Every fighter after these four is just a variation on what has already come before - IMHO.

[SuperHut]

Originally Posted by sugarngold

You pretty much summed it up. I would narrow it down to just four though:

Royce Gracie for introducing the world to Gracie Brazilian Jiujitsu.

Ken Shamrock for innovating "ground and pound" while Coleman was still hocking roids on the street corner.

Maurice Smith for bringing the first advanced kickboxing game to MMA supplemented by good jiujitsu defense.

Frank Shamrock for bringing it all full circle with good jiujitsu, good wrestling, good striking and excellent cardio.

Every fighter after these four is just a variation on what has already come before - IMHO.

You don't think Fred Ettish deserves a spot on the list?

[sugarngold]

I thought it was a good list but my four picks are just the way I see it. Fred even had a return match in MMA by the way. It's floating around on Youtube.

[CrimsonBeast]

Originally Posted by BobDigi5060

BJ Penn for his supreme confidence...

gtfo...all he showed is where people in every other sport already knew. It doesn't matter how skilled you will get dominated if you don't work your ass off.

[SuperHut]

Originally Posted by HeGlassedMe

Sakuraba.

He did do a lot of original things in the ring, but nothing I can remember that impacted the sport on a technical level.

He does get credit though for being the only man to do a 90 minute fight, then come back out an hour later to take on Vovchanchin who had about 30 lbs on him.

[rusty nails]

Originally Posted by sugarngold

You pretty much summed it up. I would narrow it down to just four though:

Royce Gracie for introducing the world to Gracie Brazilian Jiujitsu.

Ken Shamrock for innovating "ground and pound" while Coleman was still hocking roids on the street corner.

Maurice Smith for bringing the first advanced kickboxing game to MMA supplemented by good jiujitsu defense.

Frank Shamrock for bringing it all full circle with good jiujitsu, good wrestling, good striking and excellent cardio.

Every fighter after these four is just a variation on what has already come before - IMHO.

[rekcutnevets]

Originally Posted by sugarngold

You pretty much summed it up. I would narrow it down to just four though:

Royce Gracie for introducing the world to Gracie Brazilian Jiujitsu.

Ken Shamrock for innovating "ground and pound" while Coleman was still hocking roids on the street corner.

Maurice Smith for bringing the first advanced kickboxing game to MMA supplemented by good jiujitsu defense.

Frank Shamrock for bringing it all full circle with good jiujitsu, good wrestling, good striking and excellent cardio.

Every fighter after these four is just a variation on what has already come before - IMHO.

I like this list, but I believe Severn earned a mention with his wrestling. Remember, because of the difficulty Rickson had in submitting Mark Schultz, Rorion refused to let wrestlers into the first few UFCs. Rorion wanted to be sure his brand had been made before taking a chance on watching Royce struggle with a wrestler. The strategy ultimately paid off, as the Severn win was probably Royce's best victory. Anyway, Severn went on to win the next event, and wrestling became a huge part of mma.

[Travis Fulton]

Travis fulton for fighting way more than he should ?

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by sugarngold

Ken Shamrock for innovating "ground and pound" while Coleman was still hocking roids on the street corner.

Respectfully disagree fella, cant give this to Ken. Which fight pre UFC 10 are you thinking of, Im struggling to recall Ken throwing to many punches from the top On the other side of the coin, Coleman is KNOWN for taking guys down and punching them. As a strategy to win fights often and inspiring others to do so, Coleman is well deserving of being the ''innovator''