Most Well Rounded Fighters

Liked this topic and thought it would be good for discussion.

how in the hell Faber outranks Nick or Nate Diaz is beyond me 

Jeremy Horn? Like one of the greatest MMA grapplers ever? lol Franklin...exactly my point. You say I talk out of my ass, well goddamn my ass knows more about MMA than you do I guess lol.

I wouldn't exactly call Chael Sonnen a great striker or that well-rounded.  Of course all MMA fighters are getting more and more well-rounded... but if the point here is to come up with the 10 MOST well-rounded, Chael is a strange choice.

@Gregory well no doubt but to say Chael Sonnen is one dimensional is absurd. Maybe the way he wins fights but not his actual skill set.

Chael may be in the top 10 most effective fighters in the UFC right now, but he's not even in the top 50 for well-rounded fighters. Every single guy at 125, 134, 145, 155, and 170 has more well-rounded skills than him. 

He's just an incredibly tough guy with incredible wrestling and forward pressure. 

@skelliher, I love you.... well your comon sense at least

Every guy from flyweight to welterweight is better all rounded.. Isn't that a tad extreme @skelliher.

@Thiago: Find me someone in that weight class that you can put together a solid argument for Sonnen being more well-rounded than. He has very basic striking and his boxing technique really isn't any good from a fundamental standpoint. He usually has one leg in the air while throwing punches, one of the first things they teach you not to do, he doesn't look at his opponents while punching or blocking punches, he barely throws kicks and when he does they aren't good, he has some of the worst submission defense in the division's history, although that has improved, and he has never finished a top ten middleweight with strikes on the feet or on the ground...

EDIT: I think Sonnen would demolish every fighter at 125, 135, 145, 155, and 170 with the exception of GSP, but therein lies my point that I've brought up in the past. A lot of people start making these kinds of rankings and putting guys in that don't belong. Just because Sonnen is the Number 2 MW in the world does not mean he is well-rounded. There are plenty of guys at the amateur level that a more well-rounded than him, but he's just very effective at what he does. It's the same thing that happens in pound-for-pound debates. 

* Edited at 06.28.2012, 4:31 PM ET *

I'm sorry but did you say that TRT made Sonnens striking ability better? You boxing game can go toe to toe with the greatest striker of all-time just by using TRT.  Damn news to me. 

* Edited at 06.28.2012, 4:41 PM ET *

"Franklin, your statements regarding Jeremy Horn show how new to the sport you are.  "




oh please ive been watching the UFC likely longer then you have. Make a real arguement, dont post crap like this. Horn was capable of subbing Chael three times. That is outrageous for a guy who supposes to be top ten most well rounded. Not to mention he was subbed several other times very easily mind you, like with forrest who triangle him in the firts round.

@Ray: That's clearly not what he was implying at all. He was referring directly to Sonnen's ability to get Silva down and keep him there with that frenetic pace for 5 rounds, whether or not I agree with him.

And did you just imply that Sonnen had crisp, pinpoint boxing in the Silva fight? Okay. 

Again, there is a difference between effective and excellent. Sonnen's boxing was effective against Silva because the threat of the takedown was overwhelming. Sonnen bulled forward, looked at the ground and threw big punches at Silva, a few of which landed very well, but to call his boxing technique excellent, in my opinion, is a gross exaggeration. 

Hold on here.  Did I just read that there are AMATEURS who are more well rounded than Sonnen????

Please comeback from Narnia. 

I need some clarification on that statement.  Are you talking about their waste line being more well rounded?

"Jeremy Horn? Like one of the greatest MMA grapplers ever? lol Franklin...exactly my point. You say I talk out of my ass, well goddamn my ass knows more about MMA than you do I guess lol."




No you dont know more then me. he technically one of the best MMA grapplers. he lacks physicallity and does not train nearly enough to compete with the top guys. That has been true for years now. The fact friggin Chael could not evolve beyond being sub by Horn is down right by definition not a well rounded fighter. Chuck is vastly more well rounded that Chael is. And quess what Horn was unable to subb him in there second fight, quess why?  becuase Chuck is well rounded. Why did chael get subbed three times? because he has the same god dam plain every single fight and is extremely one dimensional.

your right your right misread...ok skimmed through and made my own conclusion. I'm switching #10 to Rich Franklin. 

can we all stop wasting time on chael freakin sonnen?

"@Gregory well no doubt but to say Chael Sonnen is one dimensional is absurd. Maybe the way he wins fights but not his actual skill set."


No it simply a fact. your just dense as hell.

@Lopati: Clearly this argument isn't going to go anywhere with you, but let me try to explain what I've been explaining in detail for several posts now. 

You guys need to separate what makes an effective fighter and what makes a well-rounded fighter. Yes, I did say there are amateurs more well-rounded than Sonnen. Every guy in the UFC (with the exception of Cub Swanson apparently) had an amateur background, so to imply they all suck is ridiculous.

Aside from that, my saying that there are likely amateurs with more well-rounded skills does not mean I think any amateur in the world would defeat Chael in a fight. I doubt there is one out there who would take a majority from him. 

BUT, there are certainly amateur fighters out there, especially in the lower weight classes, who have excellent boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, BJJ, and wrestling. 

If we go a step further and do this mathematically, let's say Amateur fighter A has the following skill rankings: Wrestling: 7, Boxing: 7, Kicking: 7, BJJ: 7 and then I break down Sonnen's like this: Wrestling: 10, Boxing: 5, Kicking: 2, BJJ: 5, then Sonnen is going to kill the amateur either way, but he's not more well-rounded. He's clearly dominant in wrestling and mediocre in everything else. Obviously these numbers are out of thin air, but it makes the point all the same. 

@Anik: This is the only warning you're going to get. Cool it and don't start arguing with me about it.

@Franklin: Same thing goes to you. Say one more personal insult at a member and you're getting suspended, even if Anik's was certainly far more extreme. 

No you're right, it was fair to remove that comment.

Why does everyone assume I'm gonna argue? Yikes, I'm rational.

* Edited at 06.28.2012, 5:01 PM ET *

AniK: Maybe we assume you're going to argue because you always add something like that ... in other words, an argument, after we warn you. Discussion over. 

"No you're right, it was fair to remove that comment.

Why does everyone assume I'm gonna argue? Yikes, I'm rational"


agree to disagree