Who in your opinion are the 3 most influential fighters in mma history?

[Thomas Ireland]

Fighters who most influenced the sport of MMA:

Royce Gracie (jiu jitsu fighter): Nulified the whole stand up game with submission grappling. Was eventually succeeded by high level wrestlers with ground and pound.

Matt Hughes (athletic wrestler): Used wrestling and athletisism to dictate the pace and location of the fight. Was able to Nuetralize not only stand up, but submission grappling as well. Was replaced by fighters who were experts in multiple disciplines.

BJ Penn (mixed martial artist): Brought the first "complete" game, possessing good stand up, great jiu jitsu, and great defensive wrestling. Used take down defense to be able to keep wrestlers at bay. Will eventually be replaced by super athletic fighters who have been training many disciplines from a very young age.

4th place will be a combination of Jon Jones type reflexes and athleticism, Fedor mentality and instincts, and GSP trainability and work ethic.

Fighters who most influenced MMA culture and exposure:

Ken Shamrock: Was in multiple super fights at key moments in MMA history. His fights with Royce lit the first spark that became the UFC. Later revitalized the UFC with fight against Tito Ortiz.

Sakuraba: Was one of the most popular and best fighters in Pride early on. Helped spread MMA across Asia.

Chuck Lidell: Really brought MMA mainstream in the western world. Had a tough stand up style that appealed to a lot of americans and boxing fans who didn't understand the ground game. Was able to transcend the sport into mainstream media and spread the word on this amazing sport.

[Derrick Johnson]

i actually have Rickson instead of Royce 2. chuck liddell 3. GSP........................4. sean bollinger- when i see him play rubber it makes me wanna stretch more B)

[Jonathan Wylie]

Kimo Leopoldo
Kimbo Slice
Herchel Walker

[AndyK5]

lol, thomas your list should go like this,
Art Jimmerson - Cuz he was in the UFC
Royce - Cuz he beat Art
Hughes - Cuz he beat Royce
Penn - Cuz he beat Hughes
Edgar- Cuz he beat Penn
Maynard - Cuz he drew Edgar

[Taylor Culbertson]

Royce
Fedor
Evan Tanner

[Chrismasonic]

Special mentions to
Rorion Gracie & Dana White for the UFC
and of course Helio Gracie for fighting people way back when...

Royce Gracie
Mark Kerr or Igor Vovchachyn...can't decide
Randy Couture

[Mike Noronowicz]

for me its : Wanderlei Silva , Takanori Gomi & Fedor Emelianenko

[Adam Martin]

1. Royce Gracie-opened the worlds eyes to ground fighting and got the sport rolling.

2. Randy Couture-Captain America successfully used his wrestling to win. Always seemed to defy odds and put on great performances.

3. Bj Penn-(my personal favorite) He fights with something else; never seen before in any other fighter. A true fighter spirit. A true natural fighter. He always leaves it all on the line.

[Isaiah Mendoza]

Nobody mentioned Rickson...

I think it's because rickson is the most influential among fighters. as far as helping mma get into the spotlight, royce played a bigger part.

of course between the two of them rickson is the better fighter no question about that.

[Kevin Gibbs]

anyone other than a gracie at #1 is ridiculous, can't beat the influence of the gracie challenge on Martial arts and MMA, they changed everything even before royce and the UFC.



2 and 3 will also go to one of the gracies.


though saku, bas, and severn are way up there.