Battle of Styles: Wrestling Dominates Other Martial Arts

Our own Luke Thomas wondered aloud after UFC 120 whether the Brits will ever be able to produce a world champion MMA fighter. Part of the problem stems from the nation's lack of institutional grappling support. Despite Britain's important role in the development of catch wrestling in America, the sport of kings has become a lost art in the United Kingdom.

The ensuing discussion brings up an interesting question. Do you need a wrestling background to succeed at the highest levels of the sport? Mixed Martial Arts started by asking a simple question - which martial art is the best and most effective. We now realize that to be truly great, you need a combination of skills. But it does seem like many of the top fighters in today's top promotions come from a wrestling background. Is that true? Does the success of Brock Lesnar skew our perception?

I decided to take a look at the top 10 fighters in each of the seven major weight classes to see what discipline was producing the most elite fighters. I expected the results to show that fighters came from a variety of martial arts, with no one discipline standing out. I was wrong.

Wrestling: 43%

BJJ: 26%

Mixed: 17%

Kickboxing: 10%

Judo: 4%

Wrestling produced as many elite fighters as the next two disciplines combined. It seems the days of Royce Gracie are firmly planted in the past. More fighters are coming into the sport from wrestling than from any other art. It may be time for the British to build some wrestling rooms after all.

A breakdown of fighters by discipline after the jump.

Wrestling

1. Brock Lesnar Wrestling    
2. Cain Velasquez Wrestling
3. Shane Carwin Wrestling
4. Josh Barnett  Wrestling
5. Rashad Evans Wrestling
6. Quinton Jackson Wrestling
7. Ryan Bader  Wrestling
8. Jon Jones  Wrestling
9. Chael Sonnen  Wrestling
10. Jake Shields Wrestling
11. Dan Henderson Wrestling
12. Yushin Okami Wrestling
13. Jon Fitch    Wrestling
14. Josh Koscheck Wrestling
15. Matt Hughes Wrestling
16. Frank Edgar Wrestling
17. Gilbert Melendez Wrestling
18. Gray Maynard     Wrestling
19. Tatsuya Kawajiri Wrestling
20. Sean Sherk Wrestling
21. Mike Brown Wrestling
22. Urijah Faber Wrestling
23. Dominick Cruz Wrestling
24. Brian Bowles     Wrestling/Mixed
25. Joseph Benavidez     Wrestling
26.  Scott Jorgensen     Wrestling
27. Masakatsu Ueda Wrestling
28.  Charlie Valencia Wrestling

BJJ

1. Fabricio Werdum     BJJ
2. Junior dos Santos     BJJ/Boxing
3. Frank Mir     BJJ
4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira  BJJ
5. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira BJJ
6. Vitor Belfort     BJJ/Boxing
7. Demian Maia     BJJ
8. Ronaldo Souza BJJ
9. Nick Diaz  BJJ
10. Paulo Thiago     BJJ
11. B.J. Penn BJJ
12. Shinya Aoki BJJ/Judo
13. Kenny Florian     BJJ
14. George Sotiropoulos BJJ
15. Marlon Sandro BJJ
16. Bibiano Fernandes     BJJ
17. Miguel Torres BJJ
18. Wagney Fabianno

Judo

1. Fedor Emelianenko Judo/Sambo
2. Manny Gamburyan Judo
3. Michihiro Omigawa Judo

Mixed

1. Lyoto Machida Karate/Mixed
2. Forrest Griffin  Mixed
3. Gegard Mousasi Mixed
4. Nate Marquardt Mixed
5. Georges St. Pierre Mixed
   
6. Eddie Alvarez Mixed
7. Jose Aldo Mixed
8. Hatsu Hioki Mixed
9. Josh Grispi Mixed
10. Masanori Kanehara Mixed
11. Takeya Mizugaki Mixed  
    
12. Damacio Page Mixed

Kickboxing

1. Alistair Overeem Kickboxing
2. Mauricio Rua  Kickboxing
3. Anderson Silva Kickboxing
4. Jorge Santiago Kickboxing
5. Thiago Alves  Kickboxing
6. Dan Hardy Kickboxing
7. Martin Kampmann Kickboxing