Issue 071

January 2011

Throughout the history of modern mixed martial arts, the sport has evolved through a series of chapters marked by the success of a particular style of attack, writes John Morgan.

The modern era began with UFC 1 and the stunning revelation that the Gracie family’s version of Brazilian jiu-jitsu essentially left all traditional striking-based arts a pointless pursuit – unless supplemented with the grappling skills necessary to survive in real hand-to-hand combat.

As 2010 winds to a close, wrestlers have certainly enjoyed a renaissance, but are we currently mired in the era of the ‘point strikers’? Have speedy ‘stick and move’ scrappers such as WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz – pinpoint punchers who rack up points faster than a pinball machine but who have shown precious little penchant for the knockout blow – become the latest fighting fad?

Consider the case of UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. In 2008, after Gray Maynard handed Edgar the first – and to date, only – loss of his career, the New Jersey native was deemed too small to ever pose a serious threat to the elite fighters in the 155lb division of the world’s top MMA promotion. Of course, that was before Edgar ran off five straight wins, including back-to-back decision victories over BJ Penn who many MMA pundits consider to be the greatest lightweight of all time.

According to CompuStrike, a New York-based MMA stats provider owned by the 25-year-old boxing data analyst company CompuBox Inc, Edgar landed some 90 strikes – including 73 punches – in the pair’s initial meeting at UFC 112 in April. All but 16 seconds of the fight took place standing, and though Penn was never in any real danger in the contest, he was outworked on the feet by the speedier Edgar, who took the UFC lightweight title with him back to Toms River, NJ. In the rematch, which headlined August’s UFC 118 event, Edgar’s advantage was more pronounced. This time the pair spent a little more than 17 of the bout’s 25 minutes upright, and Edgar spent most of it punching. Edgar landed an astounding 155 strikes in the contest, and while the damage on Penn’s face was more evident in the rematch, the victor’s spoils came more through accumulation than any one particularly concussive blow.

Let’s not forget about Cruz. While the current bantamweight champion has looked nearly unbeatable in his six wins since dropping down from 145lb, the Alliance MMA product’s lone stoppage during that run came when former champ Brian Bowles was forced to quit on his stool after breaking his hand in their March title bout. Cruz’s other five WEC wins have all come by decision (though in fairness, his April 2009 victory over Ivan Lopez was turned over to the judges 96 seconds early after

an illegal knee forced the early halt). Cruz threw 235 strikes in his most recent title defense – an August split-decision win over Joseph Benavidez

at WEC 50.

And then, of course, there’s noted British accumulation expert Michael Bisping. The UFC middleweight contender recently defeated Japanese superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama with an assault of some 116 total strikes. All but three seconds of the fight took place on the feet, and though Akiyama had Bisping in trouble with big shots to open the first round and close the second, it was ‘The Count’ who was awarded the fight on all three judges’ cards. While Bisping is a noted striker, his blows have earned a stoppage in just two of his past ten fights.

So is this the era of the point strikers? Major belt holders Jose Aldo, Rafael ‘Feijao’ Cavalcante, Georges St Pierre, Ben Henderson, Cain Velasquez, Gilbert Melendez, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Anderson Silva and Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza would likely disagree. And as noted MMA philosopher Chael Sonnen recently shared: “Unless you’ve got the belt, you’re just another guy.”

There are a number of reasons why knockouts aren’t quite as frequent as some MMA fans might hope. Chiefly, as the skill of mixed martial artists continues to increase, so too does the quality of matchups in the sport. Gone are the John Matuas and Steve Nelmarks of the world – and for that matter, so are the David ‘Tank’ Abbotts. 

But fighters such as Cruz, Edgar and Bisping have nothing for which to apologize. While often criticized for a perceived lack of power, these three – and a number of other similarly fashioned combatants – consistently deliver crowd-pleasing performances. Bisping owns two ‘Fight of the Night’ bonuses in his past four bouts, Edgar has three such extra checks in his nine UFC fights, and Cruz’s first win over Benavidez was selected as the evening’s best.

It’s not an uncommon phenomenon in combat sports. Top-ranked boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr owns 16 decision wins, and Rob Kaman – widely considered the best kickboxer of all time – didn’t stop every one of his opponents.

Yet some mixed martial artists have been targeted with criticism for their perceived lack of finishing efforts in the cage and tagged with the ‘point fighter’ label – an underhand comment of either ineptitude or indifference. It’s an unfair moniker if used with negative connotation. While these strikers may not always leave their opponents on a stretcher, fighters such as Cruz, Edgar and Bisping are at least intent on pushing the fight forward through offensive movements.

Take that away, and we might be forced to return to whatever era Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock were presiding over in 1996.