MMA's Fedor shows some great punching technique (reminiscent of Monzon?)

But Fedor is probably the best put there (Id pick him to beat Lesnar) and the rest of them are rotten from what I can see.

He's good for MMA. Not particularly awesome when compared to your average boxer IMO.

He is one hard mo fo though

 

You have to realize how ignorant that sounds, Flea. There are a wealth of excellent MMA fighters. The vast majority aren't good boxers by world standards, but then boxing is a small part of the overall fight game with everything else to consider, especially in the context that you need to drastically adapt your boxing style to suit the MMA game. Therefore, even if they were good pure boxers, their styles in MMA usually wouldn't show off those skills to the same degree. Guys like Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn, Gegard Mousasi, and Jose Aldo are all very well-rounded, elite level fighting machines.

 

No doubt. That was one of Fedor's most difficult fights in a long time, but just as he always does, he found a way to win in emphatic fashion. Perfect punch, not telegraphed a lick.

And I agree with you on Penn, he's probably the most skilled, poised boxer in MMA. What's more is that he's one of the most phenomenal ground fighters as well. He's head, shoulders, and torso above the entire LW division, not just including the UFC.

 

Not disputing that Pea, was just going by the aesthetics.

 

To give me an idea of 'where we're at' how would Joyce Gracie, wearing his gi, get on today against bigger guys?

 

Watch some fights of the guys I mentioned. I think you'll find that, even from an aesthetic point of view, they're great to watch. Particularly if you understand the different techniques on display.

 

Royce? He'd get absolutely slaughtered by even the elite level little guys, to say nothing of the bigger guys. Someone like Penn (despite being smaller) would completely demoralize him. Obviously on the feet, but on the ground as well if he felt the need to try his hand out there.

 

How has it advanced so much Pea?

 

Am I missing something? cuase I see a lot of faults with that punch.

 

You're missing absolutely nothing. No mixed martial artist does anything for me in regards to punching technique, not even the great Fedor. Penn has solid fundamentals but is nothing special himself, and it's true, striking with your hands is a small part of what MMA consists of, but 80% of them are so bad at it...it's hardly an excuse. I sound like an MMA hater, but keep in mind, I watch most events and have been watching UFC since it got regular air time on Cable TV. I do find it amusing though that the crowd most appreciate a stand up brawl with two guys throwing punches and nothing else. The number 1 rated UFC fight of all time was just that, and then the UFC boom began. What Griffin and Bonnar essentially fought in the finale was a Boxing match...a terrible one at that.

 

In the early days, the sport largely dealt with style vs style matchups. Different fighters from completely different martial arts backgrounds would meet up to find out what really worked in a no holds barred fight. That was the initial point behind the UFC, and Vale Tudo before that.

Once Royce began dominating with his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, people knew they needed to adapt to have any chance of competing. Therefore you had the first breed of cross-trainers like Ken and Frank Shamrock, Marco Ruas, Kazushi Sakuraba, etc. Guys that started to train in all manner of effective fighting styles to round out their games and become well adjusted to whatever they'd be facing inside the ring. This was also the time that the Gracies started to fade out as the dominant force in MMA, as their now one-dimensional style was no longer as effective given that their opponents were now at least able to cope in that respect, while having them beaten in so many other areas.

The sport has slowly progressed from there, largely due to the increased participation and the far superior level of athlete that now competes. The majority of the guys who fought back in the day weren't even among the best representatives of their particular style, including Royce. Nowadays you have top notch martial artists cross-training with the best in the world to hone their overall game, and kids starting their MMA tutelage from a young age so as to better learn their skills. The new era is already in, with guys like Penn, St. Pierre, Fedor, etc. Completely different animals than the guys who started it off, a lot of which were little more than brawlers.