Ok guys i seen an article today i thought was well worth a debate , before the machine guns open up it was April's edition of Ultimate MMA They have listen MMA's top 10 grapplers , and i list this ver batum (plus additional text) , it goes like this : There are the grappling masters in the MMA world , there are many , This content is protected 1 - Demian Maia - 8 submission victories from 18 bouts , highly decorated BJJ specialist 2 - Frank Mir - 9 submission victories from 21 bouts , holds a submision victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 3 - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - 33-7 record , 20 submission victories , has 2 - 4 fight winning streaks all by sub , and 2 - 3 fight winning streaks all by sub 4 - BJ Penn - 6 subs from 24 bouts , including 5 RNC's , once went 3 submission victories in a row , Nova Uniao BB 5 - Jake Sheilds - 10 subs from 32 bouts , Caesar Gracie BB , aggresive style of catch wrestling / JJ 6 - Fabricio Werdum - 2011 ADCC runner up 99Kg+ , 2007 , 09 ADCC champion 99Kg+ , 8 subs from 19 bouts 7 - Shinya Aoki - Whilst not an accomplished grappler in pure BJJ terms , has transformed his grappling for MMA into a creative and aggresive submission game which seldom lets him down and always nearly ends up in a submission victory , 19 subs from 34 bouts 8 - Roger Gracie - ADCC 2007 super fight World Champion , amongst many other top accolades in the BJJ world , 4 subs from 4 wins , 1 loss , about as accomplished a grappler in MMA today as it gets 9 - Ronaldo Souza - ADCC 2011 super fight Runner Up , ADCC 2007 super fight World Champion (Rob Drysdale) , ADCC 2005 open weight runner up , 77 - 88Kg Champion , 11 subs from 14 wins , 3 losses 10 - Rousimar Palhares - 9 subs from 13 wins , 3 losses , 2011 ADCC silver medal Submission Wrestling World Championships , is the holder of a 5 fight winning streak all by sub Whats your thoughts fella's :think
That's a pretty comprehensive list. We could **** and moan about the exact order, but as far as a top 10 goes, that's pretty good.
i know he has had a setback here or there, and might not have the decoration (or name) of others, but jim miller has more sub wins (in less fights) than shields
Good call on Jim The only one thats standing out to me on the list is Roger. I know his grappling credentials are as legit as anyone's on that list, but does he deserve to be on it for what he's achieved in MMA? Maybe Im missing the point of the OP and it's a list of skills rather than achievement, in which case he definitely deserves to be there, but he looked completely out of his depth in MMA when he fought a decent name in King Mo
yeah, roger has world class jits, but doesn't really seem to make the effort for making mma adjustments
Stoo , just interested , how would your AT top 10 look ?? Fighters who made grappling for MMA there speciality , or a main weapon of there arsenal ??
Its a really subjective subject I mean there are many ways to look at this question / list , do you rank fighters who have acheived more in MMA utilising grappling / BJJ as a main weapon , i.e. world title's , GP title's etc etc , or do you rank grapplers P4P as grapplers and not fighters Given that this is MMA , i think i would have to rank the more succesfull JJ practitioners who have gone on to be at the top of the heap or near in there respective weight classes or Grand Prix's With that said , where do you rank early MMA , i.e. the Gracie's , these men literally couldnt throw a jab but were beating huge athletes by pure JJ skills and not much else , when you actually think about it should they be ranked ?? Also , where is Matt Hughes ??? , high level grappling throughout his whole career , dominant displays against elite grapplers All points to consider
When the fight hits the mat, in no particular order, and off the top of my head Hughes Big Nog Fedor Maia Werdum Aoki GSP BJ Rickson, though his MMA career is admittedly poor And Sakuraba Honourable mentions, Frank Shamrock, Josh Barnet, Jacare, Mir, Nick Diaz, Fitch, Paul Harris, Arona, Babalu...I'll stop there
Gracie is probably the best pure grappler on there, and even got by with it for a few fights against shot opposition :yep He's joined Black House, so hopefully we'll start to see a more rounded game and more sub opportunities for him. Be great to see him when he really knows how to get the game in his domain. Moving to 185 as well.
I disagree. I don't think they have enough mma accolades to make the cut. Souza has done a lot more than Roger, in mma, but I don't know if he would make my top 10.