The 5 Greats

[flosh]

Sakuraba
Fedor
Royce
Tito
Frank

[mYsTEryMAnfaN]

Originally Posted by Riffmeister11

Frank
Randy
Saku
Chuck
Royce

Wrote it here

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

+ 1

[Cerebro]

royce
chuck
randy
wand
saku

[LowelltheHammer]

Originally Posted by StoneTheCrow

My personal picks are:

1. Randy- Say what you will about the whole title debacle, and knock his win/loss ratio all you want. No one has been counted out more than Randy Couture, and No one has proven his critics wrong more. He's a fighter that fans get behind even when he's up against their favorite fighter, and is arguably the most beloved champion in UFC history. Both on the first season of TUF, and as a commentator, he conducted himself with class and the UFC couldnt have asked for a better ambassador to mainstream audiences than him. Sure, Chuck may have been more "popular" but no one's ever commanded the respect Randy has (at least not in the states).

2. Royce- Should be obvious. First UFC champion. Introduced BJJ to the world, changed the way we look at martial arts, and proved emphatically technique can overcome size and power.

3. Saku- Pretty much everything i said about Randy's influence in the states, can be said about Saku in Japan. Perpetually outsized and an endlessly entertaining and charasmatic fighter. If you dont love Saku, you probably arent reading this because you're too busy stabbing puppies.

4. Fedor- He's on this list simply by being the best. No other reason. No other reason is needed.

5. Frank Shamrock- To me, he's the prototype of what mixed martial artists would become. He was the first guy to come in with great striking, and world class grappling, AND relentless athletic conditioning. He's probably also the only "old school" guy thats still around who has some relevance left in his MMA carreer.

Honorable mentions: Chuck, Big Nog, Wandy, Ken, Bas.

Best list thus far.

[wufabufa]

Royce Gracie
Mark Coleman
Frank Shamrock
Bas Rutten
Fedor

[Qualter26]

In no order:

- Royce Gracie
- Fedor Emelianenko
- Mirko Cro Cop
- Chuck Liddell
- Wanderlei Silva

Honerable mentions to:

BJ Penn
Big Nog
Aoki
Hughes
Anderson
Genki Sudo

[NHBfilipino222]

Don Frye was one of the first to cross train.

[DLKasim]

In order of priority, written from the perspective of an MMA fan from the U.S.:

1) Royce Gracie - introduced BJJ to the MMA game, and singlehandedly changed the sport forever because of it.

2) Kazushi Sakuraba - he proved that you can win on the ground without BJJ, and that the Gracie's aren't invincible ju-jitsu robots from another planet.

3) Forrest Griffin - without his effort in his fight with Stephan Bonnar, MMA would not be what it is in the USA today.

4) Stephan Bonnar - because it takes two to tango.

5) Tito Ortiz - the first person to come close to a mainstream star in MMA in the U.S.

Honorable mentions: Fedor, Anderson Silva, and BJ Penn, because they're just that damned good. More than any other fighters I can think of, they personify what a mixed martial artist should be.

[Squarechoke]

Originally Posted by IThrewRock

Randy doesn't deserve to be in there.

Anyone that thinks that Randy hasn't influenced the sport a lot doesn't know what they are talking about. The thread is about influence on the sport, not about being the best, so Randy is definetly ranked over a guy like Fedor even though the latter is a better fighter. People need to first read what the TS says and then think before they post.

Royce Gracie is definetly #1.

[machadojj]

Royce
Sakuraba
Hughes
Wand
Nogueira