I have wanted to have a crack at this list for some time, mainly because readers keep asking me who I rate as the best strikers in MMA history. Unfortunately, I feel that this question is greatly oversimplified. Yes, you’ll see the expected fighters—Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, etc.—but every single fighter on this list makes mistakes and has weaknesses.
In attempting to demonstrate the reasons for my choices, I shall talk about both a fighter’s strengths, and the weaknesses and flaws which hold him back. Nobody is flawless, and as much as we love to pretend that Fedor Emelianenko or Anderson Silva are, understanding their shortcomings and how they hide them ultimately lead us to respect them even more as fighters.
This list is not even really ranked in order of greatness, because it is almost impossible to compare two fighters’ striking skill sets completely—let alone seven. They are simply in the order I have written them, and they are included for what I personally admire about their games.
In fact, a better title for this piece would be “Jack Slack’s 7 Favourite Strikers from a Purely Technical Standpoint.”