Modern Fighting Styles

The following is a breakdown of the different fighting styles of modern MMA. With essentially no exceptions, all successful fighters train with (and thus practice against) experts in all disciplines used today. Most fighters will base their overall strategy on one particular style and become associated with it.

Sprawl-and-Brawl

A sprawl-and-brawler is a boxer, kickboxer or Muay Thai fighter who has trained wrestling to avoid takedowns and tries to keep the fight standing. Usually these fighters will study enough submission wrestling so that in the unfortunate event that they are taken down, they can tie their opponents up and survive long enough to get back to standing or until the referee restarts the fight.

This style is deceptively different from regular kickboxing styles, since sprawl-and-brawlers must adapt their techniques to incorporate takedown defence. Maurice Smith is credited with introducing this style by becoming a successful kickboxer in a time when ground fighters were dominating the sport, including winning the heavyweight title of the Ultimate Fighting Championship by defeating Mark Coleman.

Examples: Maurice Smith, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Chuck Liddell, Pedro Rizzo, Wanderlei Silva, Phil Baroni.

Clinch-and-Pound

These are wrestlers that have added in components of the striking game (typically boxing). Although their base is in wrestling and ground control, they can also throw some leather on their feet. Often, wrestlers that have added the striking game are partial to strikes from within the clinch (particularly wrestlers who have developed a strong clinch game already). In the case that an exchange on the feet does not go in their favour, they can bring the fight to the ground quickly as their true expertise lies in wrestling, so they are ultimately less timid about trading blows.

Don Frye was among the first wrestlers to add versatile strikes to his arsenal, but it was Randy Couture's fight against Vitor Belfort in which he used close range boxing to out-strike a reputedly superior boxer that was the true birth of this style of fighter. He was the first to demonstrate that standing and ground were not the only phases of combat. Through the use of Greco-Roman clinching techniques, he showed that a third phase, the clinch, could be used to devastate ill-prepared opponents.

Examples: Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Don Frye, Jens Pulver, Vitor Belfort.

Ground-and-Pound

This style is for wrestlers or other fighters well-versed in defending submissions and skilled at takedowns. They take every fight to the ground, maintain a solid top position, and hammer away until their opponent submits, is knocked out or is cut so badly that the fight can not continue.

Although not traditionally considered a conventional method of striking, the effectiveness and reliability (as well as recently-developing science) of this style is proven. Originally, most fighters who relied on striking on the ground were wrestlers, but considering how many fights end up on the ground and how increasingly competitive today's MMA is, strikes on the ground are becoming more essential to a fighter's training.

Dan Severn was the first proficient fighter using ground-and-pound with his takedowns and fists, forearm shots, elbows and knees on the ground. However, many modern MMA camps have developed intricate strategies for striking while on the ground. Ground-and-pound is sometimes referred to as Lay and Pray when the fighter is seen as stalling, rather than progressing the action on the mat.

Examples: Mark Coleman, Fedor Emelianenko, Matt Hughes, Takanori Gomi, Tito Ortiz.

Submission Wrestling

Typically associated with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but also encompassing a number of other styles, such as Olympic judo, sambo, evolutions of pre-1940's catch wrestling or even hybrid styles such as shoot-fighting, Shooto and Pancrase. Submission wrestlers attempt to win on the ground using joint locks and chokes to secure a tapout. This style has evolved since the early days as submission wrestlers now usually crosstrain in amateur wrestling and kickboxing to complete their skills, but still focus on submissions as their primary weapons.

Examples: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Royce Gracie, Frank Shamrock, Kazushi Sakuraba, Genki Sudo, Hidehiko Yoshida, Rumina Sato.