Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest MMA Strikers

9. Lyoto Machida

Speaking of unique, Machida was a riddle that the MMA world couldn't solve for a long time. Utilizing his karate background, Machida largely pioneered the bladed stance in MMA. He also held his hands lower and was content waiting for the right moment to attack, when he would suddenly spring forward with a powerful, accurate series of punches. He also utilized a wide assortment of kicks based on the situation. Again, we're used to this now, but this was novel back in the late 2000's, when most fighters just threw the same roundhouse kicks regardless of situation. Machida had above average hand speed, great timing and accuracy, and his punches were powerful and textbook. Additionally, Machida's greatest attribute may have been his own defense, being very elusive, difficult to track down and hit flush. Machida began his career a perfect 16-0 and made many skilled strikers of the 2000s look foolish. His UFC run included knockouts of Rich Franklin and Stephan Bonnar, a close verdict over K-1 star Sam Greco in MMA, and spectacular knockouts of Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans, the latter to win the UFC light heavyweight championship. His last title defense was a controversial five-round verdict over Mauricio Rua. Indeed, it would be “Shogun,” a legendary striker in his own right, who would finally solve the mystery of Machida's style, knocking him out in the first round of their rematch.

While Machida was 32 at the time of his title loss and MMA was catching up, he still went on to score many other impressive victories showing off his stand-up over the coming years, including highlight-reel knockouts of Randy Couture and Vitor Belfort, both achieved by front kicks to the face, a knockout of future Bellator champ-champ Ryan Bader, a head kick knockout of Mark Munoz, a clear win over Dan Henderson, one absurd cageside judge's scorecard notwithstanding, and lastly, a dominant five-round decision over another all-time great striker in Gegard Mousasi. The art of MMA striking owes a considerable debt to Machida.

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