Sometimes you can’t change the channel.
It could be the two-way greatness of Shohei Ohtani in baseball, the long-range excellence of Stephen Curry in basketball or the overwhelming power and quickness of Aaron Donald in football. It becomes hard to look away if they’re on your television screen.
But who are those people in MMA?
We’re past the midway point in the calendar, and as fight fans, we can sometimes settle in on just the big names and significant events of the year: from our favorite fighters to the big pay-per-views with titles on the line and the characters who make MMA genuinely unique.
In the name of switching things up and showcasing the uniqueness of the stars in MMA, we asked MMA experts Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Sam Bruce to spotlight the fighters, fight camps and atmospheres that get their full attention whenever they’re up to fight along with why you should give them your time.
Contents
The fighters we drop everything to see in the Octagon
If you love knockouts: Francis Ngannou
Raimondi: Ngannou is perhaps the most fearsome knockout artist in UFC history. The UFC heavyweight champion’s legendary power has been compared to being hit by a small car. The Cameroon-born fighter had to scratch out a decision win on a bad knee against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 back in February. But don’t let that performance fool you. Before that, Ngannou knocked out five straight opponents, three of whom were former UFC heavyweight champions.
“The Predator” has 10 knockouts in 12 UFC victories. His uppercut KO of Alistair Overeem in December 2017 was one of the most visually frightening and vicious ever in mixed martial arts — and he did it with his left hand, his second-best weapon. Terrifying stuff.
If you love submissions: Charles Oliveira
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Dustin Poirier and Daniel Cormier give their picks for the UFC’s best male fighter of the year.
Okamoto: The lightweight champ (not officially, but certainly unofficially) has the most submission wins in UFC history, and how he gets…
Source : espn
