Re-tool A Fighter

[Via Armbar]

There are very few complete packages in mixed martial arts, if any at all. Only a few names come up when talking about all around great fighters: GSP, Silva, Fedor and a few more. The one thing that you will find among these names is they are all considered to be all time greats. One's common sense would figure out that their extreme well rounded skill sets are the biggest reason for their success. Some other fighters who have great strengths but not aren't well rounded haven't seen as much success. You've had guys with great knockout power but nothing more to speak of, or guys with a great ground game but no stand up at all.

So here's the question: If you could add one tool, one area of improvement to a fighter either past or present what would it be? What would be the ONE skill that you would add to their set that you think would make them a total package?

I think Demian Maia could be a huge force in the middle weight division if he had great Muay Thai. He obviously has some of the best bjj in the entire mma world but has suffered from not having equal stand up. Now the reason I chose Muay Thai as opposed to just great striking in general is because of Muay Thai's techniques. He would be able to work the plum very well which could set up very easily some great take downs, thus bringing his opponent into his grappling game. Dirty boxing could pose the same threats to his opponents but without the general wrestling to get his opponents down I don't feel it would benefit him as much. It's easier to take an opponent down from a Muay Thai clinch after some hard shots and some sharp judo work (he has some Judo experience already). In this scenario I can see him giving Silva some trouble; he would have the stand up to close in on Silva's reach and get him to the ground. His bjj is better than Silva's as is his overall ground game and grappling. I really think we could have a new MW champion.

 

[Fizzy]

I'd give Lesnar high level Muay Thai. Imagine Lesnar with deadly striking. Nobody would beat the guy. Imagine Lesnar clinching you, and sending a full force knee with all his strength behind it. That would break something quite easily. He already has some of the best wrestling in MMA, and if he had striking I think he would be the most dangerous fighter in the world. Size, power, technique, a chin, wrestling, and Muay Thai? Sounds like a deadly combination.

I'd also give Roger Gracie a high level striking game. The guy is the absolute BEST BJJ competitor in the world today, and give him great kickboxing he would be the best. Nobody in the Heavyweight division can hang with him on the ground except maybe Werdum, and with deadly standup I see nobody stopping the guy. Not to mention he is pretty young.

 

[jmt225]

I would give Nick Diaz wrestling.

Nick Diaz is already a top 3 boxer in the sport of MMA, and he's also a black-belt in BJJ, but nearly every loss he has had, it was because of wrestling, These cunt wrestlers took him down, and either held him, or was awarded the round simply because of the takedown, even though they got their ass kicked standing up.

Seriously, imagine if Nick Diaz could actually dictate where the fight took place? Imagine if he had Jake Shields' wrestling ability... he would be unbeatable, in THREE different weight classes. Diaz said recently he can make the cut to 155, so that's one. He's Welterweight champion, so that's 2. And he's won fights around the Middleweight weight class, so that's three. You add wrestling to Nick Diaz's already impressive skill set... he'd dominate 3 different weight classes, easily.

 

[INDYjon22]

I would give Andrei Arlovski a chin . He was a beast in his prime, but during that time he had an incredibly untested chin, until Tim Sylvia exposed it. AA is already a very well rounded fighter. He has some great striking, from all positions, and is a threat when it comes to submissions, however his weak spot is obviously his chin. If Arlovski had a chin I think he could have beaten Fedor.

Now for giving a fighter something that is actually possible. I would give Jon Fitch better striking. Yes, he can strike, but it isn't the greatest in the world. He has tremendous wrestling and some solid BJJ, but he depends on his wrestling more then anything else. Fitch with great striking would be a very dangerous fighter, not that he isn't already. He would be a threat from all areas, and that would make him all the more formidable for anyone.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

Well since Jon said what I was gonna say about Fitch, I'll just add that it would be nice to see improved striking from him, so people would stop bitching about his lay n pray wins.

I would give Jon Jones to have BJJ. With that he would truly be a complete fighter. We already know that his striking is very good especially on the ground as he delivers vicious elbows from there. He has some solid wrestling as well with Greco-Roman and Freestyle. Not that he is really having trouble thus far, I feel add in some BJJ to his technique and this guy will really be unbeatable.

 

[Window Licker 101]

Shane Carwin - Cardio.

On a more serious note Chael Sonnen I'd give Chael Sonnen Jiu-Jitsu. It's been well documented that Chael has very little jiu-jitsu and little to no defence. Sonenn has been on the wrong end of Babalu,Forrest Griffin,Demain Maia and more recently Anderson Silva. Imagine if Chael could take competitors to the ground then submit guys and finish fights. He would be a real force to be reckoned with. He could even have provented some of his previous losses should he have had some submission defence.

 

[ITurnGirlsGay]

Joking answer: I'd give Jon Jones a shot.


Serious answer: I'd give B.J. Penn a work ethic. He is without a doubt one of the most gifted fighters in the world. His BJJ is second to none in his division, his boxing is crisp, footwork is good, good head movement as well. He's got great TD defense when he's not fighting someone named GSP, and a great ability to work off his back.

He has no fucking work ethic or heart. I wonder how good B.J. Penn could have been if he actually cared. My biggest problem with B.J. Penn is that he's an excuse machine. I wouldn't hate the guy so much if he wasn't blaming everyone else but his lack of caring for his losses. Matter of fact, this is the only reason I dislike the guy.

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

Frank Mir, because everybody took the best and most obvious ones.

Frank Mir is already a monster BJJ artist in his respective division and can transition and move pretty well for his size and once again his respective division. Now this isn't the greatest example but against Carwin his striking was terrible and his disadvantage has been exposed many times. Seriously if Mir had high level striking he would seriously be more of a threat than he already is and truly become an amazingly rounded fighter. This would allow him to hang with the heavier and more technical punchers in the division.

 

[Paul_J_L]

Past...Simple, give Royce Gracie some striking skills, I'm thinking Kick-Boxing, he would've DOMINATED Matt Hughes if he had serious stand-up skills (as a untrained wrestler in submission fighting usually gets owned, and Hughes was pretty green back then).

Present...I can't really say, other than agreeing with Lesnar, the MMA game has come full-circle so quick that all the fighters in the top of the game are VERY well-versed in all aspects of the MMA game (Striking, Grappling, Submissions), nowadays, it's not who is stronger in one area than the other, but who's style better opposes another fighter's style.

Back during the SEG-owned UFC, it was very much the opposite, where a fighter with weak striking would get owned by a fighter with good grappling skills (until Maurice Smith, who SERIOSLY needs to be inducted into the UFC HoF stat), or a submissionist would own a good grappler.

So, really, even the Lesnar's are only about a hair off from developing a stout stand-up game (not great, but good enough to keep a striker honest for a lay-and-pray takedown from Lesnar).

Sorry for the rant, but this is something that should be noted. That to us a fighter is severly weak in one spot, it really isn't the case, it's just so happens that his opponent's style of fighting beat his style, not a severe weakness. This is because all fighters at the top of the food chain are pretty damned-well versed in all three phases of fighting.

 

[Hecticuz]

I got two... One I would give Thiago Alves high level jiu jitsu so even when he does get taken down he could have a lot more options than just trying to get back up, he could submit and even sweep opponents.

Second one is to give Lyoto Machida real brute power so that mixed with his style of counter punching he wouldn't have to advance but hit the opponent with a solid counter strike and finsih him. This would have come in handy in the first fight with Shogun And also with brute strength he could easily monuever opponents in the clinch and not just defend takedowns but reverse them...