Top 5 grapplers in the UFC today
The funny thing about MMA is how different its two major facets – striking and grappling – are. While striking is the flashier of the two, with the one-hit KOs and what-not, it is grappling which mesmerises the purists of the sport.
There is something fundamentally beautiful in seeing the likes of Georges St. Pierre just shoot and take down his opponents with a grace that is usually reserved for gymnasts. The art of grappling is often the backbone of a great MMA career and watching two grapplers go at it is poetry in motion.
With that in mind, today we look at the 5 most dominant grapplers in the UFC today.
Note: Only active fighters have been considered for this list, and they are ranked in no particular order.
#5 Ronda Rousey
The leader of the women’s revolution in the UFC, Ronda Rousey is a bonafide badass. She is by far one of the most dominant female fighters that the sport has ever seen, and it all comes down to her incredible grappling skills.
The Californian is a master of takedowns, as she has a 73% success rate in her takedown attempts – an absolutely insane number.
The former Bantamweight champion enjoyed a 6-0 start to her UFC career, ending three out of those six fights with her devastating armbar submission before her untimely loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 on 15 November 2015.
While Rousey hasn’t been in the Octagon for nearly a year, there is absolutely no one who has come close to the kind of domination displayed by the 29-year-old. You can hate on her all you like for her extended time off, but you can’t take away from the fact that prior to the Holly Holm fight, she was considered the single biggest fighter in the UFC – male or female.
It will be interesting to see if the 4th degree Judo black belt can make a successful return to MMA and if she will still be the force of nature she was prior to her loss.