The 5 Greats

[DoItAgain]

I can't see how people can put Chuck on here when he's never dominant against a well-rounded striker/wrestler. Well-rounded fighters he's fought lately: Rampage ruined him (2nd time) and he won a decision against Wanderlei. A decision against Wanderlei doesn't convince me Chuck can consistently beat well-rounded LHWs.

[TulsaMMAfanatic]

Dan Quinn (on crunk)

[afm171]

You asked for most "influential" fighters in history, and that is not the same thing as "best" fighters. With that said here is my list:

1. Royce Gracie - Really the credit should go to Rorion Gracie who made the UFC happen, but without Royce as the front man to the early UFCs there would likely be no MMA as we know it today, at least not in North America

2. Bruce Lee - If all you know about Bruce is his movies, you don't know much. Bruce is the guy leading the charge on the "forget styles, just use what works" concept. He was also a leading proponent of "full contact" fighting in competition.

3. Masakatsu Funaki - One hell of a fighter, but his main INFLUENCE was as co-founder of Pancrase - the rebirth of the original MMA (the Greek Pankration mix of boxing and wrestling) as a general spectator sport.

4. Dan Severn - How big an influence was it to show that "wrestling" is not only a "martial art" but a key component of fighting? Dan paved the way for guys like: Frye, Coleman, Randleman, Lindland, Hendo, etc... Thanks Dan.

5. Chuck Liddell - There was a time when it seemed like ground fighting was going to take over MMA. Chuck showed that it was not only possible to keep things standing, but to keep winning on two feet.

Honorable Mentions: Mitsuyo Maeda, Bas Rutten, Helio Gracie, Frank Shamrock

Yeah, Yeahs:
Fedor, Saku, GSP, Hughes, Silva - all great fighters, but not that much "influence" thus far...

[Overhand Right]

Originally Posted by tapout021

Chuck Liddell
Wanderlei Silva
Randy Couture
Fedor Emelianenko
Royce Gracie

/ thread

Decent list, but I hate when people do the "/ thread" thing. Never have I ever seen a response that was compeltely, unquestionably the ONLY answer. I don't think there's any way you can leave Saku off that list. Bas either. If we're talking INFLUENTIAL, Fedor's definitely not in the top 5...

"/ thread" is just kinda douchey to me.... like saying "if you don't agree you're an idiot because I am the greatest thing ever."

[ez315]

1. Royce- You already know Jiujitsu nuff said
2. Sevren- Wrestling Nuff said
3. Sakuraba- Gracie Hunter
4. Randy- He needs to be on here regardless of his losses in big fights because he is old and beats guys that outweigh him by lbs! Dirty boxing from the clinch and sound wrestling shows that it isnt the size of the dog in the fight its the size of the fight in the dog.
5. Chuck/Hughes- have to share this spot as the most dominant fighters in their divisions for a long long time. holding the most title defenses and wins in big fights at their weight classes. If you dont think Chuck or Hughes are the greatest of all time in their division you just arent watching the fights.


6. St Pierre/ Anderson Silva- Showed all of us that conditioning and heart can go a long long way, but his nerves got to him in the first hughes fight and the loss to serra makes me question his chin/backof the head. i will say that he will one day be the most dominant MMA fighter. Silva- Thai clinch master, perfecting styles to that degree and finishing from the bottom make you pretty influential in my opinion.

[CCH]

The REAL List:

BTW, 5 is a ridiculously small number for this kind of all-encompassing list, and so I am taking my right to do as I please and I am making it a 10 person list, which is still too small.

1. Royce Gracie

2. Kazushi Sakuraba

3. Matt Hughes

4. Fedor Emelianenko

5. Chuck Liddell

6. Ken Shamrock

7. Randy Couture

8. Wanderlei Silva

9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

10. Forrest Griffin

JUst off the list, and probably on by the time they're done:

BJ Penn, GSP

[se7enthsign]

Royce Gracie: His fights in UFC 1 opened a lot of eyes. He showed that fighting wasn't just about who punches harder, but that skill and solid technique can enable a small man to beat a bigger, stronger fighter.

Tito Ortiz: Tito was probably the first "star" of MMA. He's a brash, trash talking pretty boy that people either loved or loved to hate. He was one of the reasons the UFC survived in their darkest time.

Chuck Liddell: Chuck was the next step above Tito. If Tito was MMA's first star, then Chuck was the first true celebrity. His appearances on TV shows and sports magazines really helped put MMA on the map in North America.

Wanderlei Silva: While Chuck and Tito were stars in the US, Wanderlei was the star in Japan. He had his own following in PRIDE that is still loyal to him now that he is a UFC fighter.

Forrest Griffin: If MMA ever truly does become bigger than boxing and the NFL, it will probably all be because of Griffin. He and Bonner put on one of the most exciting fights in UFC history. They gave their all in a three round slugfest that had millions glued to their TV screens. Just think, if that had been dull, boring, or full of contraversy, things might be very different right now. Spike might not have brought TUF back for another season. HDNet would have ignored MMA and just put on boxing shows. Showtime and CBS wouldn't bother with ProElite, and PRIDE fights would only be found at the "special interest" section at Blockbuster Video.

2. Bruce Lee - If all you know about Bruce is his movies, you don't know much. Bruce is the guy leading the charge on the "forget styles, just use what works" concept. He was also a leading proponent of "full contact" fighting in competition.

Nice one, and very true.

[bullhead]

royce gracie
tito ortiz
chuck liddell
forrest griffin
randy coutore

[GLOKILLA]

Royce
Fedor
Wand
Chuck
Matt Hughes

[Blayt7hh]

Originally Posted by Riffmeister11

Frank
Randy
Saku
Chuck
Royce

Wrote it here

MMA ALL DAY: Top 10 Most Influential MMA Fighters of All Time

What is silly about this article is the reason a lot of fighter arent in the top 5 is they are relativily unknown to North America. But I am pretty sure that Randy and Chuck had next to no impact on MMA anywhere but North America. MMA is a lot bigger outside the states.