Top 3 Best UFC Fights

As a Richmond Martial Arts instructor, I often get asked which are my favorite UFC fights of all time.

These are my top 3, and reasons as to why.  I've done my best to avoid spoilers :)

GSP vs Matt Sera II
This was following GSP's loss to Matt Sera, and the pressure for this fight had been building for a long time.

Many felt it was a "lucky punch", but, many, including GSP himself, said that there was no such thing, and that, ultimately, Matt landed, GSP had underestimated him, and that'd been it.

I love this fight BECAUSE GSP lost to Matt, and because of the emotional tension leading up to it.  There was always this fear that he'd get caught again, and forever fade away into obscurity as is all too often the case when a fighter loses twice to the same person in a row.

This is a display of mastery.


Matt Hughes vs Frank Trig 2
Matt Hughes had won their first encounter in devastating fashion from a standing rear choke, which had made several hi-light reels.

This fight is like a movie.  You will be in awe.

UFC 52 also has another fairly important (although not necessarily "best of") match of Randy vs Chuck.  The two were destined to fight three times.

Also on the card, is GSP vs Jason Miller, which almost made one of the "top fights" as well.  This fight has the only kip up I've ever seen DURING a match.

A very entertaining fight, full of near submissions, great ground and pound, and, as I mentioned, an unorthadox moment or two, including a kip up.  This is also a nice look into the history of GSP, when he was the FIRST fight of the night, vs the main event.

This is just after he lost to Matt Hughes in their first fight.

It also contains one of the best corner-man yells and Joe Rogan quotes of all time:  "He's got retard strength" and, it has a funny "cold" ending, too.

The collection of all those fights makes UFC 52 one of the more entertaining cards in history.

Diego Sanchez vs Clay Guida
First of all, I love these two fighters.  They're both insane, they're both cardio machines, and they can both take a heck of a shot.

Diego nearly always gets fight of the night, ditto for Clay.  The two together was the magic you'd expect from such top athletes.

I honestly don't even remember who won - it doesn't really matter, to be honest.  The show was fantastic.

(in fact, I think I'm going to go watch it again right now)

The Evolution of MMA

UFC has come a long way.  This article originally started as "the best UFC fight of all time", and gradually evolved into a history of MMA's evolution.

I was thinking about the concept of the "best ufc fight of all time" as I was playing UFC undisputed (very fun game, by the way) and, I realized I'd never attempted their "unlockables" section; odd, considering I've owned the game since some time in late 2009.  When playing Forest vs Bonnar in an effort to recreate the best fight of all time, I found myself wondering why it was that so many thought this to be the case.

I've noticed my preference for fights has fluctuated throughout the years.

Sometimes I've been inspired by the passion or the heart of a fighter, ie Arturo Gatti when he broke his hand, and still went on to win the fight with only one hand, or, the classic match up of Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonnar

In both cases, it could be argued that there wasn't a huge level of technical proficiency.  

However, there's something amazing about the raw emotion one can find in these types of situations.

Where by all rights, a fighter (or, in the case of the TUF Season 1 finale, both fighters) should be beaten, broken, or even knocked unconscious, and yet, somehow, they keep going.

We love it in cinema, as well.  Rocky comes to mind nearly immediately, but, Bloodsport and a million others have capitalized off of this human need to see us triumph over adversity through sheer force of will and a strong heart.

And, it cannot be disputed that this is why many are touting the Bonnar vs Griffin fight to be the best MMA match of all time.

Certainly it is not due to either fighter's technical proficiency.

Their punches are sloppy, their kicks off target, their entire performance is actually quite horrible.  And yet... and yet:  I, like many others, love this fight.

Is it because we identify with the fighters in some way?  Is it because we see these two inept fighters, going at each other for a million dollars and think to ourselves "yeah, that's what I would do"?

Perhaps.  Perhaps we are simply inspired by someone who refuses to know when they are beaten.  Someone who rises above it all and says "My name is Neo" after they've been beaten.

If you look at Matt Hughes vs Mike Swick II, it is a utterly fantastic fight, as, again, the fighter triumphs over seemingly insurmountable odds.

At some point, my tastes fluctuated to that of technical proficiency.  

Fighters like Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, and BJ Penn began sprouting up out of the woodwork.  Long time reigning champions like Chuck Liddel, Matt Hughes and Tito Ortiz began fading away.

Perhaps gone were the days of the big bruiser with a single fighting strategy, and, in came the reign of the complete fighter.  The truly mixed martial artists.

And, with them, came a sense of wonder.  The same feeling one might get from watching any art form done well.

Seeing a master at work is an awe inspiring thing.

These were true masters of their craft.  While Tank Abbot could entertain the early UFC crowd, he wouldn't even make it as a referee in the new world.

While this new era of skilled fighters was being born, so too was UFC taking greater measures to capitalize off of the WWE style soap operas.

Forrest Griffin brought fourth a whole new revenue stream for the UFC.  That of the emotionally charged match.  People wanted FORREST to win, not just "the karate guy".

Yes, Chuck Liddel had been a recognizable fighter long before Forrest, but, Forrest was the first fighter the public had gotten to know as a person.

They could relate to him.  Empathise with him.  And ultimately ROOT for him, emotionally.

He had a sense of endearing, self deprecating humor which the MMA audience immediately enjoyed.

So, while starts like GSP were on the rise, the UFC began marketing effectively.

Marketing... emotionally.

The interviews became more in-depth.  The press conferences more widely distributed, and soon, males had a soap opera to replace the WWE.

Fighters had their entrance music, their crying soft sides, and, the audience slowly evolved.

All but gone were the plaid shirts, mullets and side burns, and in their place was the well dressed crowds of Las Vegas and other wealthy cities.

The sport had officially arrived.

And with it, came a more... refined sense of ratings.

Now, my favorite fight was Georges st. Pierre vs Matt Serra.  Not because of a triumph of adversity per se, but, instead, because of a total dominance from a fighter I felt "deserved" to win.
There was a fight between the two, where Serra had done "the impossible" and defeated GSP.

People were awe struck and shocked at the outcome, and, the audience felt betrayed.  How could their idol be de-throned by someone such as Serra?

Still emotionally driven, now our choices for "best fights" were based off of the complete domination from a fighter who we liked.

Still, some fights were good because the fighters were good... but...

It was a new era.

What is your favorite fight?  And, perhaps most importantly... why?

Does the fighter clearly win every round?  Does the fight end abruptly?  Does the fight go back and fourth and end in a split decision?

I will post my official top fights in the next article.

Jiu Jitsu for Self Defense in Richmond

At Shinka Martial Arts, we teach Jiu Jitsu for Self Defense.

What happens if you fall down in a fight, or twist your ankle, or are taken down?

How do you get a larger person off of you if they are sitting on your chest and holding your arms?

If someone is too big, and you can't move them, can you still escape?

On the flipside of this coin: 

Can you turn those situations around, and incapacitate an attacker quickly and effectively?

What if the person is not some "random badguy" but someone deserving of pity or tender care?

Are you capable of detaining someone you do not wish to hurt?  For example, if someone was hallucinating or inebriated, or irrational, would you be able to peacefully detain them until help arrived?

In a severe self defense situation, would you be capable of disarming an armed attacker, breaking joints etc?

All these questions are answered by Jiu Jitsu

Sensei Ono

Shinka Martial Arts Founder

Winner of Best Dojo, Best place to work up a sweat, most innovative curriculum, best coach/sensei, biggest martial arts studio, and top 3 Richmond businesses 

Judo For Self Defense

Takedowns are a very important aspect of self defense

At Shinka Martial Arts we teach aspects of Judo, as well as other grappling arts to help our students understand that landscape of self defense.

How do you stop someone from grabbing you from behind in a choke hold or by the hair?

How do you stop a bear hug?

How do you get someone to let go of your arms?

All these sorts of questions are answered with various forms of grappling, including Judo.

Sensei Ono

Shinka Martial Arts Founder

Winner of Best Dojo, Best place to work up a sweat, most innovative curriculum, best coach/sensei, biggest martial arts studio, and top 3 Richmond businesses 

Martial Arts Fun | Fun Fitness

Shinka Martial Arts makes fitness fun.

And yes, one of the reasons is because we like to have fun, too.

And, that fun is also there to help our students reach their fitness goals.

There's a reason "Smiling" is one of our promises that we make to our students for every class.

If you are relying entirely upon willpower to achieve your goals, you MAY achieve them, possibly.  But how long will you maintain your goals before you return to older, more fun habits?

As harsh of a reality as it is, any of us who rely entirely upon willpower is going to eventually give in to our pleasure-driven brains.

As a result, what we need is something that we enjoy, which has fitness as a result.

This encourages us to maintain our fitness levels, vs just attain (and then lose) them!

Sensei Ono

Shinka Martial Arts Founder

Winner of Best Dojo, Best place to work up a sweat, most innovative curriculum, best coach/sensei, biggest martial arts studio, and top 3 Richmond businesses 

Alkalinity and Genes

I found this video of Dr. Gundry talking about genes very interesting.

In summary, he basically says all the things I've mentioned in The Key to Awesome's health section, about an alkaline diet; meaning, the outcome is the same (eating lots of leaves) however, his reasoning isn't the alkalinity, but rather, one's own genes and how they react to various forms of food.

He states that our genes decide on weather or not to kill us based on our diets - that if we are eating specific things, we are deemed healthy for the planet/ecosystem and are kept alive by those decisions - conversely, our genes decide when to off us by that same code.

As there is always conflicting debates on health and dieting, I felt that another scientific approach finding the same result might be interesting for some looking for corroboration.

http://www.drgundry.com/dr-gundry-american-health-journal/

Sensei Ono, Shinka Martial Arts

Bully Proofing

So often, as a martial arts instructor, I get told by my students how Shinka has helped save them from the horrors of schoolyard bullies.

What I feel obligated to point out, is that violence is rarely needed in these stories.

As Shinka targets so many aspects of self development, all it really does is provides the child with confidence and aptitude - from that, respect is forged, and bullies back off.

From the simple ability to not be harmed by an innocent (yet threatening) situation in a schoolyard game, to being able to dodge things effectively, to being stronger, faster, or, in some instances, to being able to defend themselves directly against a physical bully.

I love these stories.  I'm going to start recording these stories to have in a sort of "scrapbook".

Sensei Ono, Shinka Martial Arts