Half of the battle, they say, is not how much you can dish out, but how much you can take, and if you’re a fighter of any kind, that is one of the central questions that is going to be addressed, sooner or later.
Sure, you may be great at being the hammer, but how will you handle being the nail?
For sure, on a long enough timeline, everyone spends time under the “hammer,” so to speak. These are the combative sports we are talking about, and no matter how talented, eventually everyone starts taking some hard shots.
So, who are some of the most durable, indestructible fighters in the history of MMA?
There is a difference between the two terms, you know: A fighter might be incredibly durable over the course of his career, rolling with punches instead of taking them flush and walking forward like a mountain, but that doesn’t make him indestructible.
And an indestructible fighter isn’t always a durable one, as even the most indestructible fighters end up falling when enough punishment is ladled out upon their head, and thus their careers end up declining far sooner than most would expect, while the durable fighters enjoy a kind of longevity that speaks to a rich life, sans afflictions like Pugilistica Dementia, Parkinson’s disease, etc.
Well, I think that when making a list like this, it is only fair to include both.
Truth be told, ranking this list was damn hard, for obvious reasons. So, to account for my choices (and all writers must be able to account for their choices) I have tried my best to reason it all out as plainly as possible.
Before we open the door and you, the reader and critic, take a seat among these 12 men, I would like to acknowledge those who didn’t make the list; Chris Lytle, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Chris Leben, Benson Henderson, Nate Diaz and countless others.
It’s not that I believe these men are not noteworthy, because I have made note of them; it’s just that I wanted to limit this to 12 fighters, simple as that.