Name your top three fighters/martial artists

[TURBO2GO]

Name your favorite 3 active fighters, and 3 favorite of all time:

Mine active:

1) George St. Pierre
2) Anderson Silva
3) Fedor Emelianenko

All time:

1) Bruce Lee
2) Royce Gracie
3) Randy Couture

 

[Ric]

1. Chuck Norris
2. Steven Seagal
3. The Rock

 

[sicarius82]

Active:
- GSP
- Fedor
- Gegard Mousasi

All time:
- Bruce Lee
- Donnie Yen
- Jet Li

 

[TURBO2GO]

Obviously you guys aren't good at following directions... LOL

 

[sicarius82]

Obviously you guys aren't good at following directions... LOL

updated

 

[Mike-san]

Active:
Tariel Nikoleishvili
Manny Pachiao
GSP

All Time:
Shokei Matsui
Nigel Benn
Chuck Liddell

 

[HBui39]

Chuck Norris

6 time world karate champion. impressive feat for sure, but it is just karate... which is proven to not be so effective today in MMA without other disciplines mixed in. he would likely be destroyed by BJJ, anyways as UFC has proven.

Bruce Lee never officially competed, but he is very quick and was a mix martial artist. He believed that not one technique was superior and they all had their strengths and weaknesses.

Anyways, if you understood what the original masters went through to prove their martial arts, then a top 3 would not suffice... while some have been popularized like Wing Chun (Ip Man) and Wu Shu (Fearless), many other popular forms never got such press.

Clearly, the modern single discipline martial arts master would be the Gracies as that just dominates any other single form, but MMA has ruined that. Now everyone just has cookie cutter techniques... BJJ/ Wrestling + Muy Thai/ Kickboxing + Boxing... its like spec racing or NASCAR, all basically the same, it just comes down to the individual.

Royce Gracie only dominated in his time because it was BJJ vs everything else and no one knew how to defend against it. Greatest all time? No.

Donny Yen is an actor, not a fighter.

As much as I hate GSP, he is the poster boy for MMA. Cookie cutter techniques + great Athlete = win. He does have a Karate background, but that gets overshadowed by the cookie cutter techniques he learned after.

Of the modern MMA guys, I like Fedor and Anderson Silva... they are the least cookie cutter of the bunch.

 

[sicarius82]

...Donny Yen is an actor, not a fighter...

MMA fighter, no. Competitor, yes. Martial artist (as the title of the thread says), yes.

Huy, you make valid points, but there is no need to rip apart people's favorites. To each his own.

Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist, and this is evident from his style. He learned wushu from a young age, under his mother's tutelage. He then went on to learn taekwondo in his teenage years, and currently holds a 6th degree black belt in taekwondo. When he was a teenager, he obtained a medal in a wushu competition held in the United States, known as Boston Combat Zone. At the time, the Beijing wushu team had a scout in the United States, and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time.
Yen later went on to discover and to seek knowledge on other martial arts style, he would later obtain belts from judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and went on to study the art of parkour, wrestling, Muay Thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers. His exposure of mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003, while making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts form. The progress was evident when he returned back to Asia, where he implemented his new found knowledge of MMA showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005) and Flash Point (2007).
Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and Bruce Lee's mentor, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun for 9 months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, and complimented that Yen is a great martial artist and a fast learner, and has managed to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone he has taught.
Yen believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat. He has particular interest in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has obtained a purple belt. He has mentioned that he would have entered the Octagon, joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury.
Yen's philosophy is that, even though there are many technical aspects of the various martial arts form, however the most effective form of combat is when the strength of the martial arts are added together, when various martial arts work together harmoniously. The essence of martial arts is the flow, the flow or images, the flow of music, the flow of communication between an artist and the audience. Martial art is a form of expression, an expression from your inner self to your hands and legs. Yen has a famous quote, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart."

 

[bigbadberry]

All time:
1) Sub zero
2) Hulk Hogan
3) Chuck Norris

Active:
1) The Undertaker
2) Anyone who is in the armed forces
3) Chuck Norris

 

[NSXLVR]

current
1. anderson silva
2. jon bones jones
3. manny pac (not a big fan, but like the crap out of him)

all time

1. bruce lee
2. ali
3. mike tyson

 

[docjohn]

I think these guys are pretty powerful and would kick some serious hiney in the octogon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=549-XgzQpLw&feature=related

 

[synergy004]

Active:
- GSP
- Fedor
- Gegard Mousasi

All time:
- Bruce Lee
- Donnie Yen
- Jet Li

+1 totally agree.....

 

[nsxtcy85]

Mine active:

1) Junior Dos Santos
2) Anderson Silva
3) Xande Ribeiro

All time:

1) Bruce Lee
2) Royce Gracie
3) Wes Littlefield

 

[khappucino]

Active
Lyoto Machida
Anderson Silva
Chael Sonnen (best smack talker ever)


All Time
Bruce Lee
Jack Dempsey
Miyamoto Musashi

 

[TURBO2GO]

Royce Gracie only dominated in his time because it was BJJ vs everything else and no one knew how to defend against it. Greatest all time? No.


As much as I hate GSP, he is the poster boy for MMA.

Royce Gracie dominated because his father and their family perfected an art and eventually created a style of their own. Because his brothers and his cousins fought in rings in brazil over and over as they continued to refine their art. "only dominated because?". What a way to just belittle their accomplishments.

why would you "hate" GSP? A consummate professional who is a great guy (who I've met in person). Who is extremely talented, works hard as one can work on his conditioning, and is a "poster boy" because of his work ethic, attitude, and talents.

What you are calling "cookie cutter" are simply the things that work. If BJJ or muaythai didn't work, they wouldn't be used. All the time new moves and submissions are invented, dug up and used to gain an edge. If they don't work they are discarded. If they work they are used. The guys at the top like GSP, silva, jon jones, these guys invent, add, and refine. The lower level guys learn and emulate, but everyone is looking for an edge all the time. Don't you think that deserves credit?

Anyway thread is about favorites, not critiques or useless arguments about "greatests".

 

[jonas1jp]

Top three for each category is only occupied by Chuck Norris. After all, when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he had two missed calls and a voice mail from. . . . . .you guessed it, Chuck Norris.

 

[Mac Attack]

There's only one: Master Shifu.

 

[H-carWizKid]

I root for fighters who are local to me

1. Vellore Caballero
2. Duane "Bang" Ludwig
3. Brendan Schaub

others

Shane Carwin
Eliot Marshall
Brandon "Ruckus" Thatch
Jarred Mercado
Tyler Toner


Other fighters that I have met and like even though lots of people don't-

Josh Koscheck- I went to college with him, he is a very funny guy. The Douche thing is a gimmick

Jason Miller- he has showed up at my gym to roll- not a seminar, just to roll. He also treated one of our 15yr old students like a kid brother at the UFC weigh-ins introducing him to everyone. Super nice guy I wish he's have won his last fight.