Not really. Why? I can say from a boxing point of view that boxing techniques are being incorporated more and more. For example Couture and Jackson (champs) have wonderful and varied defences. Defences that supposedly left you vulnerable. Randys head movement and rampages blocking can sometimes me magic.
No, not at all. It has gotten better. How quickly we forget the late 90's and early 2000's when the sport was dominated by enormous wrestlers who had little to no boxing ability. With guys like Rampage and Anderson Silva dominating their weight classes, and dirty boxing extradionaire Randy running the HW division right now I'd say the striking is looking pretty damned good. Lot's of extremely talented guys coming up too. Brandon Vera is one of Rob Kaman's pupils and has superb muay thai, and Lyoto Machida is a kyoushikan karate guy with superb counter striking to name a few.
No... we are just seeing an evolution of what is "effective" striking in MMA. People are now starting to find ways to bring different striking arts together, to form a base for effective striking in MMA, that allows you to also be on guard for a takedown attempt, or defend against any of the varied strikes that might come back your way. Remember... when you are a boxing fan watching MMA... you have to realize that the striking is not going to look the same. You have to be able to defend not only fists, but also elbows, kicks, knees, takedowns, ect.... You can't do all of the different defensive techniques... because you don't have big gloves on, and neither do they. It isn't very easy to block, and cover with MMA gloves. Which is why you get more of a stance like Rampage, where he uses his entire arm, and elbows to cover his head, and crouches to protect his body. People are just figuring out the best, and most effective ways to strike in MMA. You can't come in and box.... you have to come in and be an all around striker, and be able to defend all around strikes, including leg kicks, which are a *****.
I agree. But alot of fighters like Chuck for example don't even check leg kicks, or guard their body from leg kicks. Randy though has looked tough in his stand up. His head movments like the bobbing and weaving are flawless. Which is crazy because back in the early 90s he was the wrestler that dominated the cage. I think in the early 90's there was better striking. Vitor Belfort was fantastic to watch in the pioneer days of the UFC. He made quick work of tank abbott and the axemurder with his extremely quick hands. Can't forget about the great Pat Smith beating Mark Coleman in the stand up either in the 90's. Sorry for the rambling but I just don't think most fighters in all the mma focus enough on there stand up. I am not just saying that because I hate the ground game either. I love the ground game in the mma. But I love to watch fighters try and keep the fight standing.
This is more indicative of the level of competition at that time than a decrease in technical ability. Vitor was the first guy with a ground game who had learned proper boxing technique, and Maurice was the first good kickboxer to learn some solid wrestling. They looked good because of the people they were fighting. Wandy was a total noob and Tank was mostly hype. Vitor gets dismantled these days, and Maurice isn't close to the level of modern sprawl and brawlers like a Mirko or Anderson Silva.
I think the standup isn't bad, I've seen more and more bodywork being done, which is a sign of a commitment to striking in my eyes.
If this exact post was used to replace 90% of all posts on ESB, this would become a great forum :good
I will not repeat what i wrote but damm it was stupid and would have made me look a total nob. Its better to think about what you want to write instead of what just comes straight of the top of your head. I think the stand up is definetly improving along with fighters all round game but many recent fights have gone the way of a lucky punch or an over reliance on boxing instead of a participants more suitable style and game plan. Most MMA guys are decent boxers (not when compared with boxings own pro ranks) but can look abysmal when the two guys just decide to slug it out instead of trying the many different styles of fighting.
