BlogKick: What Does it mean to be an Elite Striker?

ANDERSON SILVA AND JUNIOR DOS SANTOS

how can you have kj noons on your list and not nick diaz?

I love Nick Diaz, but I admit I have left out a lot of guys on the list. Not because I didn't want to, but because at the moment I forgot. Sorry =(

I would say Velasquez would be one because he knocked out Big Nog in the first round.

Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, Shogun Rua, Allistair Overeem, Fedor, Cung Le, Jose Aldo, and Mark Hominick

Uh cain is not an elite striker. very well rounded but having one ko doesnt make you an elite striker. but very impressive. what about JDS? seriously that dude has some redic boxing. great technique and power. Every fight he proves it. one of the best in mma.

Pat Barry too...cro cop once was

Andre Arlovski.

An elite striker is someone who has either done very well in say

K-1/Kickboxing/boxing or has very good KO% or is very technical with there striking.



The reason it is being said more and more often now is because there are alot more elite strikers comming into MMA and alot of fighters who don't have a striking background are working on there stand up game to keep at the top of the sport.

jose aldo

Kimbo Slice.

Ya lets see if Kimbo uses his "Elite Striking" in the wrestling ring.

Good article man

Striking in MMA still needs a lot of improvement

i can understand why fighters are not taking Tae Kwan Do

Muay hau or other Real Martial Arts to improve striking it seems hey just learn basic boxing and thats it mixed with Submissions because its not even Jiu Jitsu and of course Wrestling.



Anthony Pettis as well as Jose Aldo have amazing Striking skills.

omiwagas good but not elite,

I personally think his stand up has improved leaps and bounds.

ricky hatton is dare nd mayweather isnt dnt no wat yr on about yu mite need to do a bit of reseach nd jose aldo best

Overeem, Aldo, Silva

my top 3

Nick Diaz!

How is Jose Aldo not in that list of elite MMA strikers?

Aldo, Machida are locks for elite striking in MMA. and IMO the way Edgar has been improving his foot work head work and hand speed through every fight if he can start adding in some power Id say he's 1 of the best technical Boxers in the lighterweights.

I'm sorry I don't know how that slipped my mind. I actually was thinking about him a lot during the time I was writing his article.

no need to be sorry lol I was just adding some insight. the article is great, well done ofcourse you're going to miss a few names theres a whole lot of fighters to think about

i have my doubts about KJ Noons just cuz Nick Diaz was right there with him and got the decision in an all stand up fight. I'm surprised Dominick Cruz isn't on the list though. He's really been impressive lately. Good article though.

To a certain extent, 'elite striker' is a matter of opinion.



But opinion is always tempered by results in the cage.



In MMA, if you can seriously threaten a take-down, that makes striking a totally different game. In MMA, there are so many things to worry about, so many possible attacks.



For a striker, if you commit yourself to a combo attack, you are vulnerable to a takedown--so with a good wrestler, combo attacks are tougher than single shots.



Counter-striking is very effective in MMA because of the advantage of knowing your opponent has commtted, and therefore you are free to unleash combos and power shots.



MMA striking tends to keep a greater distance between opponents than boxing, meaning that in order to attack, you must close the distance and warn your opponent.



That is why often, at the beginning of a fight, you see fighters dancing around for position, unwilling to be the first to commit.



Brawlers don't care for tactics, and go in swinging with both fists--which can work for lower level strikers, but against elite strikers, it usually fails.



Elite strikers almost always are accurate with their punches and kicks, and rarely do you see a wasted strike. While some elite strikers are power punchers, most often eltie strikers gain their power from accuracy and technique/timing.



Elite strikers are always comfortable standing, and usually have superior footwork which enables them to close the distance or evade counter-strikes with ease.



Elite stirkers also have a quality which is seldom appreciated by the average fan, and that is timing. Elite strikers often 'size' an opponent up before fighting in earnest--because they are learning the ebb and flow of their opponents game. Once they see a pattern in their oppoenent, they wait for the next occurence, then they capitalize with strikers.



Sometimes a fighter is an elite striker, but they do not always conform to the standard fighting wisdom--for example, by keeping their hands lower than is proscribed by experts. These fighters are able to break the rules because of an advanced situational awareness, and footwork/timing. This ability, I believe, is very hard to learn, and seems to be more of a God given quality rather than a learned ability.



So Anderson Silva could stand in the pocket with his hands down, as Forrest Griffin flailed away--whiffing every time.



You will notice I qualified much of what I said with the word 'often', because there is no fixed blueprint to an elite striker. The ultimate test of that is in the octagon.

You've made some good points, but it sounds more to me like you didn't read my article.



I watch MMA as religiously as I following Boxing and Kickboxing. I know distancing is different in all the mentioned sports, but there are so many basic elements I feel should be brought more into the game. I mean MMA grappling has improved leaps and bounds, the striking is getting there too, but it still has a long way to go.

I read you article and enjoyed it.



You said " In short, I invite all you fans to ask yourself what it means to be an elite striker."



I followed up on your invitiation.



While I think there is still much to be learned in MMA regarding striking, I do not subscribe to the belief that striking in MMA is weak, but rather, it has a different set of challenges than K-1, Boxing or Muay Thai.



One huge difference in MMA is the glove size. The glove size changes the striking game enormously as does wrestling and takedowns.



My point is that striking in MMA must be evaluated as MMA striking. There are most certainly skills to be learned from other combat sports, but not all skills translate into the octagon.



The proof of this is that pure Muay Thai boxers, K-1 boxers, and boxers are not flooding MMA events nor do they enjoy much success in MMA.

"My point is that striking in MMA must be evaluated as MMA striking. There are most certainly skills to be learned from other combat sports, but not all skills translate into the octagon.



The proof of this is that pure Muay Thai boxers, K-1 boxers, and boxers are not flooding MMA events nor do they enjoy much success in MMA."



I did point that out as well. Plenty of legendary Kickboxers and Muay Thai stylists that didn't fare well in Mixed Martial Arts. Distancing is different we all know that, but you can still apply a lot of the mentioned habits to your game play. You can still defend a take down even with hands up to protect yourself. Its good to have solid footwork and head movement.

I think what you might be noticing is that many MMA fighters come from a wrestling base. For a number of reasons, wrestlers have a higher chance of being successful in MMA than from other martial arts.



Consequently, some with a wrestling base are still learning striking and often forget the basics. But while they might get away with poor striking at mid-level and lower, now, once they reach the highter levels--I believe top striking skills are essential to become a champion. Brock Lesnar and Evan Dunham learned that lesson the hard way.



Anderson Silva kept his hands low to stuff Sonnen's takedowns--so he got caught standing. Keeping your hands high is always a good thing in K-1 or boxing, but not always in MMA. If you are fighting a wrestler with poor striking, you may worry more about the takedown than strikes.

Boxing hasnt brought us anyone worth a crap either...KJ Noons? lol

Jame Cartooney Toney? hahah

What about Daley and Anderson silva?

Silva's main principal wasnt boxing

neither was Daley, he was a muay thai champion.

silva has 2 pro boxing fights

and he got KO'd in one of them :)

There's plenty of MMA guys that had pro boxing fights, but didn't necessarily do well in that sport. Guys like Marcus Davis come to mind.

Bas Rutten!

Just a thought...



The reason you are seeing so many "arm punchers" in MMA is because there is little shift in balance associated with an arm punch. If you put your hips into a punch, your balance shifts forward, making you more suseptible to a takedown. With so much of MMA scoring currently focused on control and top position, it is not wise to risk giving up takedowns.



One of your favorite elite strikers, GSP, won his last fight by throwing 100+ jabs. A jab is by definition, an arm punch. A good jab is not telegraphed by any motion of the shoulders or hips. It was never going to knock Koscheck out, but it did break bones in his face and win GSP a commanding decision. It is an effective strategy, but it is the exact opposite of what you say you want to see from an elite striker. Somehow, GSP makes your favorite list anyway.

Excellent points...I emphatically agree.

Naw dude GSP makes the list and yes a jab is an arm punch. However, I should have been more specific....I'm not a fan of those guy who throw looping reckless hooks and there is no weight behind those looping blows. Guys like Leonard Garcia you know lol.

And guys like Garcia pay for such reckless striking by leaving themselves susceptible to counter strikes. GSP on the other hand may not always get the finish but he rarely leaves himself open to a counter strike or takedown. Everything is calculated and efficient with him, there's no fluff or excess movement.

try taking one of fedors looping punches and then see if you think the same after you regain consciousness lol.

Fedor knows how to put his weight into those looping punches, ALL of his weight is in each and every shot.

I hope i can articulate this, but i'll surely will fail. Coaches and athletes know all that you described. This article points fingers at too early of a time in MMA. Fighters are improving and it's going to be a few more generations before we will be able to see a good molding between stand up and ground work in MMA. There are a few fighters that do it well, but a lot that don't. I believe instead of training boxing, bjj, wrestling people will train MMA, they will train everything at once instead of one after the other. That way their skill set will improve together rather then lagging behind. We have a lot of fighters that start as bjj or wrestling guys, but only have 3 years of stand up. What do you think will happen when they fight, they will defiantly lag behind and vise versa for kick boxers, boxers etc. It's just a matter of time. It's not that these fighters or coaches don't know, they are doing the best with what they have and the time that they have.

You've made a very good point as well. The game is still growing and maturing, it's only a matter of time till all aspects will be covered and modified of course for the sport. Your on the money.



I just made this article honestly based on people throwing around that "elite striker" tag so loosely these days.

People definitely are throwing around that phrase a lot. Although i'd like to add that MMA's stand up game allows for such a huge variety of strikes thats it's unfathomable that there will be one particular way of striking. Dominique Cruz with such weird effective style compared that to the wild style of Wand and Fedor. They are so different but very effective. And because there are so many aspects to MMA if you are lagging in one aspect you still have a chance of winning in a different aspect of the sport. I'm excited to see MMA in a few decades.

In a few decades i hope we still look back and remember the Tank Abotts and Chuck Liddells and ken Shamrocks and Kimos and Don Fryes of MMA and all the other names who helped make this sport what it is today. They would of course get absolutely annihilated against what the modern mma fighter will have become in a few decades. Already fighters like GSP, Aldo and Edgar are here and many others who have evolved and improved bringing MMA to a new level, and that level will probably have reached its peak in the next 20 years at the most i think. The future champions will have to be not only well rounded but world class at all levels of the game. Right now many fighters are good at a single aspect of the game while lacking in others, though in time only those who are exceptional in one aspect but lacking in others will have any reasonable success.

I hear you man, it's going to be insane to think about what the game will be like 10-20 years from now. It might even get to the point where people who solely train MMA will out number the guys from other Martial Arts backgrounds.

Loosely like "P4P"..."his rank is"........."top UFC HWs"

Eite simply means the best of a specific group

PAC MAN

Let me guess your an "elite" debater....matter of fact your the masterdebater!

No, I would say he is a Master Debater.



' )

What about Thiago Alves ??? :-'(

Melvin Manhoef

true dat!