There is no wrong way to win an MMA fight, as so many styles can be used to come away with a victory in the cage. But a few styles are used by more accomplished fighters than others.
Below are the three most effective martial arts techniques that can be used to win bouts and the fighters who have utilized them most convincingly. Follow on for MMA Fighting: The 3 Most Effective Martial Arts Techniques!
1. Boxing
When fight fans find out the latest MMA fights added to cards in promotions such as UFC, Bellator, and ONE, they are rarely disappointed when they see a fight featuring an accomplished boxer.
Boxing relies on fighters staying on their feet and letting their hands do the talking in the form of punches that can end fights in a single blow in as little as a few seconds.
What makes boxing so effective in MMA is that the glove sizes in mixed martial arts are much smaller than in traditional boxing matches. That means less padding to soften the blow of punches, which can lead to more knockouts.
Boxers also do not need as much time to set up their attacks, which means more significant strikes landed and more chances to either land a knockout blow or rack up stats that can lead to favourable decisions.
Among the recent favorites in MMA who have successfully used boxing to win big matchups are fighters such as Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, and Conor McGregor, whose return to the octagon is at the center of the current rift between UFC and USADA.
While the time at the top for each of these men was relatively short-lived, their explosive style allowed them to get to the top of the mountain and capture the imaginations of fans worldwide whilst winning huge paychecks!
2. Wrestling
Next up on the list of most effective techniques to win MMA fights with is wrestling, which is a much less glamorous but potentially more successful form of fighting.
With wrestling, the goal is not to stand and bang out blows like with boxing but to take opponents down to the ground to impose your will on them. A combination of takedowns, ground strikes, and submission manoeuvres makes the best wrestlers hard to beat.
Also, making wrestlers hard to beat is the type of training and strength required to succeed in this discipline. Wrestlers must possess a solid base and core to get their opponents to the ground and keep them there.
While there isn’t a fighter in high-level MMA who lacks strength, seeing a wrestler overwhelm a successful fighter in another discipline with their strength is always entertaining.
Among the best wrestlers in the history of UFC are former champions like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Brock Lesnar. Additionally, current stars like Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman are proficient in wrestling. They will see whose wrestling is best when they face off at UFC 294.
3. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
The most effective technique for winning bouts in MMA is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ.
BJJ functions similarly to wrestling in that the goal is for a fighter to get their opponent to the mat and eventually get them to submit.
This is accomplished in BJJ and is more accessible to any type of fighter, and smaller fighters alike can use this to their advantage, as opposed to wrestling, where size advantages are more obviously impactful.
With BJJ, fighters are trained to think several moves ahead of their opponent, countering and preventing counters from their opponents by effectively using balance and leverage with every movement.
Unsurprisingly, so many BJJ fighters have gone on to have massive success in winning championships in the top MMA promotions.
Among those champions are decorated fighters such as Cain Velasquez, and Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira. Their unpredictability often set them apart in fights, as they figured out ways to get their opponents into compromising positions that many fighters would not have attempted.
It is worth noting that while Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has Brazilian right in its name, success in this discipline of martial arts has been far from limited to those hailing from the South American country. Americans like Nate Diaz and BJ Penn have excelled in this style of fighting, along with Brazilians like the aforementioned Oliveira.
While the above martial arts techniques are often the best for winning mixed martial arts, there is no one-size-fits-all solution in MMA.
Many fighters are well-versed in multiple strategies that they can switch between to catch their opponents off-guard.
There are also ways to counter any manoeuvres made in an MMA fight, and being knowledgeable about those counters can often be as valuable as knowing the attacking techniques.
