5 of the most skilled grapplers in the UFC today
Given that fighting in the UFC requires a substantial amount of knowledge in the art of grappling, the top MMA promotion houses some of the most skillful grapplers in the world.
Fighters in the UFC need to have a balanced knowledge of striking and grappling to win their fights.
However, some fighters in the UFC have a lop-sided knowledge of grappling. And yet, these fighters have constantly used it successfully in their fights.
While making honorable mentions of Jim Miller, Chan Sung Jung and Beneil Dariush, here are five of the most skilled grapplers in the UFC:
5) Ryan Hall (UFC featherweight)
The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs Team Fabre Finale winner Ryan Hall holds a 3rd-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The fighter hailing from Falls Church, Virginia, has victories in the World Jiu-jitsu Championships, the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships, and several Grapplers Quest Championships.
Hall has appeared in several grappling-related instructional videos.
Hall is also known for being in a viral video where he used his grappling skills to defend himself against a larger and aggressive man who provoked him while dining with his friends at a Pizza Parlor.
Although Hall became part of the UFC in 2015, he has had just four fights in the top MMA promotion, of which he has won all. However, he only has one submission victory. Hall has not fought in the UFC since his last fight against Darren Elkins in 2019.
It could be said that Hall is one of the most feared grapplers in the UFC. In an interview conducted by Ariel Helwani for ESPN MMA in February last year, the journalist asked Hall why he was not on any of the then-recent fight cards, to which Hall responded:
"Its (sic) been a little bit of a struggle to find an opponent, I've been directly turned down or been told that they're(ranked fighters) unavailable from 12 all the way down to 6, I guess that would be Burgos, Aldo, Emmett, Stephens, (*inaudible*), Frankie, Cattar, pretty much everyone down to Korean Zombie or Yair Rodriguez has been unavailable. So its been a little tough to find an opponent."
Hall finally got a fight at the upcoming UFC 264 against Ilia Topuria.