@@nengnengnengable you're an idiot kid, you literally criticized Tony for not flying to Russia when it's forbidden. You're a clown, a fake fan who only follows the big name fighters
odeh odeh Khabib will get surprised when tony doesn’t get tired, when he smashes tony and he keeps getting up and exchanging and pressuring him and trying to submit Khabib while Khabib is on top he’ll submit him and Khabib will be a sore looser when he taps or gets TKO.
Lol You guy's acting like Khabib will ever fight Tony.. Cute. Bet my left nut when the fights are back on Khabib says something like "my belly hurts I want my daddy"
@@buddyrevelle736 lol i wish i could remember to message you when you're wrong. I'd literally bet everything I have that it will happen. Such elementary school nonsense pretending either of these guys has ducked each other.
1. Royce Gracie (grappling and Jujitsu over brute strength) 2. Gina Carano (Inspiring women into MMA) 3. Anderson Silva (being non conventional, charismatic and a complete fighter WHILE finishing fights) 4. Brock Lesnar (bringing the casual audience to the UFC) Honorable mention: Chael Sonnen & Conor Mcgregor (shit talking and a vocal savant promoting anticipation for fights)
Mcgregor knocked out a 10 year champion in 13 and wiped out his division then got 2 belts.... thats a little bit more than "all talk" and a vocal savant kid.
I don’t know where you grew up Chael but we do t call a guy the baddest dude unless he is a proven fighter. The baddest dude I know is my best friend. He used to fight all the time. Getting older now and has a family and times are changing. Street fighting get you prison time.
Chael , much respect for the description of a fighter 👏👏 . You made a great point with each "game changer " from your list. As a martial art trainer myself, i can only confirm the joy and happiness i felt when one of my athlete who " I raised" from a little kid to a young adult becomes a champion ( national or international). But when that athlete becomes a "fighter" also , i feel that i have achieved my purpose as a trainer and that feeling is priceless ! Greetings and all the best wishes from Romania.
My personal list is: Fedor emilianenko anderson silva Gsp royce gracie And the fighters that where super mainstream and put the mma on top. Brock lesner ronda rousey jon jones Conor mcgregor
@III3 HH2 The division is still extremely shallow and not particularly skilled outside of the top 3 or so. Brock was moreso a link between the times of Randy/Sylvia and when the division got some real athletes like Cain and JDS. I wouldn't say Brock is the influence here. Also, while the UFCs heavyweight division was very pitiful, PRIDE's heavyweights were very good.
@@georgepapps815 I can see GSP being a game changer. I don't agree though. It depends on what you are looking. I say Chael because he brought in marketing strategy. Conor because he brought in a marketing plan. Anthony Pettis because of style. Reverse kicks. Taking risks. Hoyce, no brainer. Just my opinion
Man, this was such a convincing recommendation for me to buy a pair of boots. Hopefully they'll come in handy when I have bad day and I have to go out.
What does that even mean? Jones didn’t creat the eye poke? What’s the difference between Jones eye poke an anybody else’s? NOTHING the only difference is the person doing it.
Dude Sakuraba is my all time favorite, nobody and i mean nobody would improv crazier shit in a fight. All the pro wrestling had given him an unorthodoxy that pro fighters prob had never seen. Not to mention the physical conditioning from taking bumps, underrated and underappreciated. He should be held up like Anderson, he was the fuckin Gracie killer for pete sake.
Another greatest I think is SAKURABA: for showing that the most important skill required to be a fighter is the Heart. He'll drink, smoke, has no formal MMA training but would end up beating some of the greatest including the Gracies.
I would agree with that. Another underrated person is Pat Miletich. The sport up to that time was largely ground skill focused. Pat denied the takedown and made the good ground fighters fight standing up. It was the opposite of the Gracie strategy. I also admire Ben Askren because he actually applied wrestling in a way that denied the submission specialists any positional advantage through the use of the half mount and side control.
I love you adding Marco Ruas to this list, I still remember how he essentially won a fight while in the clinch and punishing an opponents feet with foot stomps. I forget who it was but the guy was so focused on avoiding his feet getting stomped he never settled into good striking or setting up solid takedowns. It was amazing.
Also oleg taktarov is even more underrated than ruas. Beat him in a close dec for 20 mins . Then 20 mins later went 20 mins plus with severn. Oleg was tough as nails
Chael is well spoken and spot on in everything in this video. Man you are praising people who are sometimes not appreciated enough and I am 100% with you on GSP being the greatest fighter ever in not only skills but how you define the word fighter. Nothing but respect for a man who has done what you have done in the sport, yet if I was new to this channel and your name I wouldnt even have a clue about your resume. Humble and a true fighter yourself, Legend Chael Sonnen 🏆
That Marco Ruas VS Paul "The Polar Bear" Varlens fight was the best fight I had ever seen at the time...and remains on my Top 5 All Time list to this day.
Chael, even being Brazilian, Ive always been a huge fan. It’s so nice to hear you giving enough credit to Marco Ruas. Most of the fans of the sport these days don’t give enough credit to those guys back in the day. Marco Ruas is an amazing person and was such a hard guy to be beaten. He was the first guy, in my opinion to combine BJJ and Kickboxing at high level. Anyway, cheers from Brazil. Stop by for a caipirinha and a nice bbq.
I think you left out the most well-known and influential person ever to enter a MMA cage... Dana White No one has done more, been there longer or had more effect on a sport other than Dana White. Joe Rogan could arguably be put in the discussion too. Although they've never fought professionally, those two guys have done more for the sport than any other person has ever done for any other sporting event. Vince McMahon would be another example of non-athlete influencer.
Marco Ruas vs The Polar Bear is one of my favorite fights of all time. I learned from that fight when it first happened. Later that same year I had to fight a guy in high school who was much bigger than me and I used that method of chopping down the tree with leg kicks. I won the fight much thanks to Marco Ruas.
I've been saying this forever literally years that The King of The Streets was the most important. Just because he set the standard for what it would become. But they're all legends in my book. Bas is also up there for me.
I really appreciate the you always deliver your opinions and analyses about the sport with so much specificity and context. It's also awesome how in all your videos you give so much respect to all sorts of fighters where various credit is due regardless of any personal history. Thanks for all the awesome content! I didn't know who to expect on this list besides Royce, but as a huge Randy and GSP fangirl, I love how that turned out :)
great list uncle chael , my list would be the following : 1-Royce Gracie (the true pioneer who changed many minds) 2-Frank Shamrock (the first complete fighter ,he was basically george st pierre before gsp) 3-kazushi sakuraba & Emelianenko Fedor (I know I mentioned 2 mma fighters but they were so skilled and gifted during the pride era and i consider unfair leaving one of them out of the list) 4-George St Pierre (the modern concept of mma fighter)
“A fight is not a fight until their is resistance....something to overcome. If their not then it’s just an athletic venture” - Teddy atlas ( one of the best minds, Conner men, coaches, and boxer in boxing)
*Nick Diaz weaponized pace and conditioning, *Anderson Silva showcased the art in martial arts. I'd also add Chael Sonnon weaponised trash talk/psychological warfare
8 Fighters Who Changed the Sport of MMA Royce Gracie - Jiu Jitsu Marco Ruas - Mixed stand up and grappling (well put Chael) Randy Couture - Athleticism GSP - Pace Spider - The letter '' A '' for MMA Mcgregor - big Media Rousey - Girls media Jones - little bit of everything
He should definitely have Anderson Silva on this list. The reason he could beat everyone how he did was because he had better striking than everyone else. He showed that having high level striking can out class many.
@@o1h823 I'd say Izzy but Silva definitely dominated in his day. Only difference is Izzy can create the openings that Silva couldn't. And as I keep saying Izzy, hes a prime example of why The Spider should be on this list since thats who motivated him to join MMA as a striking specialists.
@@s3eriousbl9ck26 izzy is close but he still cant compare to prime Anderson. Just look at Silva vs Forrest Griffin that head movement is legendary and he went up a weight class for that fight
@@s3eriousbl9ck26 everyone's time is up eventually. Are you going to say that about Ali, Mike Tyson, Chavez, Aldo, Fedor, or any great fight who had an incredible run for years, but then suddenly lost?
I love the fact that this guy despite being one of the greatest of his generation, just talks about other guys and never brings his own accomplishments into any debate.
For all u guys who have ever been down and out the first part of what Chael said is meant for you as well. A man and a fighter gets up and gets back to the grind. I been down more times than wilder in his last fight , and I always getup and go back to work for my family
Tony said having fun In during training throughout his career has attributed to longevity. Makes sense to me. Also Floyd’s tactic of not getting hit. Not taking tons of punishment in fights
@Brandon Salyer most mma fighters are really only ranked in one discipline and train others. Also hitting and not getting hit or just not getting hit how your opponent wants is exatcly what high level strikers do. You can apply it to grappling just change a few words. Thats the sweet science.
@Brandon Salyer conor didnt even master boxing. Izzy hasnt mastered any grappling disciplines but he trains JJ and wrestling. Kabib has not mastered any striking and I'm pretty sure he's killing himself for that weight class advantage. With the exception of a few most mma fighters cant go to their respective realms and perform at a professional level.
@Brandon Salyer Oh sweet Jesus don't get so butthurt. Nobody has said that Floyd is an MMA fighter, why can't you use your brain? The argument was "avoid getting hit is a good strategy to be in the game for a longer time", why is true for MMA and boxing. Do you get it now? Also sarcasm might be a new concept for you.
GSP and Gracie were on my list when I saw the title. I would argue GSP is the person who made modern mma what it is. McGregor should be up there too but I don’t think he changed the sport very much honestly but he changed everything else around mma.
I didn't expect to agree with Chael... but I hugely agree on two things... 1. Randy Couture changed the sport forever, also brought Olympic level Wrestling into the sport and finally introduced his opponents into Greco-Roman Wrestling, a type of wrestling that doesn't allow grabbing from the waist up but is incredibly effective for takedowns 2. George Saint-Pierre is the greatest fighter the MMA world has ever seen in every single aspect there is on and off the octagon... amazing fighter, incredible pace, incredible stamina, pushed everyone to their limits and dominated them and finally something that is huge... he was the ultimate fighter when he was OUTSIDE THE OCTAGON... extremely respectful, a true martial artist, didn't get into brawls, fights, cursing and trash talking contests, he was never even arrogant like Anderson Silva which is the reason he's above and beyond even the great Silva... he was the perfect role model to make parents send their kids to go learn some form of martial arts and self defense... I've never respected another fighter half as much as I respect GSP for who he is... the man is THE GREATEST fighter ever...
Okay this is actually a super interesting discussion. So, heres 4 MORE guys who had the greatest influence on modern MMA: 1. Ken Shamrock. One of the first guys to really start mixing multiple styles and be successful. 2. Anderson Silva. Definitely had a major influence on modern striking. 3. Ronda Rousey. Proved that women can be marketable. 4. Chael Sonnen. Made a road map on modern mma fight promotion.
Uncle Chael describes a real fighter perfectly here. A real fighter is not necessarily someone who always win, a real fighter is someone who will get knocked down and get back up to continue fighting or someone who loses a fight and doesn’t allow that loss to define his/her career. Obviously there are exceptions like GSP and Khabib but fighters of their magnitude only come around once in a blue moon.
nazgul barakas I’ve not ranked them tbh they’re just names I thought who pioneered the sport. People can hate on them but these are the fighters that broke the mould and became world renown names. These fighters turned casual fans to hardcore fans as the sport was evolving and they always made people care about their fights, win or lose.
@@nazgulbarakas5767 Yeah he sold fights due to his WWE fame. He physically overwhelmed a much smaller man to win the belt then when he got caught and had to lay off the steroids his specialty became curling up in the fetal position until the ref saved his life. If any very famous man came to the UFC he would sell a lot of PPVs if he's got a reputation as a dangerous guy. Brock was a great college wrestler and was physically intimidating so he was easy to sell with his big name. If Van Damn was younger and wanted to fight at 145 for the title millions of people would buy the fight. Would that make him a pioneer? Of course not and it doesn't make Lesner one either.
Gracies - Ground fighting Ken Shamrock - Strength and PED's Dan Severn- Wrestling Tank Abbott - Gloves, and wrestle brawling. Marco Ruas - Standup and submissions. Mark Coleman - Ground and pound Tito Ortiz - Elbows on the ground. Team Quest (Couture, Hendo, Lindland, etc.) - Use wrestling, and submissions defense. Chuck Liddell - Brawl and Sprawl Chute Box (all of them) - Jiu-jiitsu + Muay Thai Fedor - All around. Moving in off the punch to the clinch or takedown GSP - Wrestling + kickboxing + cross training Greg Jackson - Fighting to win within the UFC rules. A win is a win. Jone Jones - Height and PED's
Rhonda? She was winning for a while but Gina and Cyborg really built interest in women's MMA with their fight on Showtime years back. Gina was the champ and won a lot of fights until finally losing to Cyborg. Gina Carano was in movies and all that as well. She was the first to do everything you gave Rhonda credit for. Royce invented the game, Conor changed it big time but Silva was just a great fighter not a game changer.
Im a fighter and I'll admit I gave up once and I'll never forgive myself for that. It is burnt in my mind. I am always trying to prove myself since to myself. It was a life altering deal
I woke up founding now why thug Rose withdraw from the fight two members off her family passed away due to the virus let's support her and her family in our prayers🙏🙏👼👼