The Best Strikers in Men's MMA (Patreon)

By Ron King III (@grapplerronny)

Though the overall level of striking in men's MMA is getting better, it is skewed toward a few weight classes. Good heavyweight striking looks different from good bantamweight striking. Realistically, the majority of the best pound-for-pound strikers are in the lighter weight classes.

The best strikers tend to stick to striking arts; however, outliers such as Petr Yan, Israel Adesanya, and Ciryl Gane dominate the MMA scene, with possibly more to come.

As of now, here are my picks for the best strikers in men's mixed martial arts:

Flyweight: Deiveson Figueiredo

The problem with flyweights is that many don't remain at flyweight for long, and with the UFC previously cutting half their roster, flyweight is a division that is still rebuilding. Despite his loss to Brandon Moreno, I consider Deiveson Figueiredo the best striker in the weight class.

Figueiredo fights similar to Conor McGregor with a karate-like stance and heavy combination boxing. Unlike McGregor's left straight, Figueiredo's money punch is a monstrous left hook. He connected with it at will in his first fight against Brandon Moreno.

Figueiredo likes to throw big shots that carry a lot of power in them. If and when he decides to move up to 135, it'll be interesting to see if he can maintain his current style.

Bantamweight: Petr Yan

Competing at 135 in any combat sports means being in the most competitive division. Consider the 135-pounders in boxing, kickboxing, and muay Thai. Despite his weakness in following the unified rules of MMA, Petr Yan is my pick for the best striker at bantamweight.

Yan is a boxer who trains out of Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, making his boxing and muay Thai fundamentals on point. His long guard, subtle stance switching, kick defense, and ability to put pressure without bum-rushing is the product of combining the boxer's tools with the strategies of muay Thai.

In the era of calf kicks and neo-footwork, Petr Yan exemplifies how far solid fundamentals and a strong base style can take you.

Featherweight: Alexander Volkanovski

Alexander Volkanovski is a striker that understands how to beat people. When I watched his fights against Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, and Max Holloway, it was clear that Volkanovski is a fighter with the defense to throw his right despite his opponent's offense.

Like his training partner Israel Adesanya, Volkanovski has mastered the art of feints and subtle footwork to put himself in a position to draw out shots, avoid shots, while landing his own. However, unlike Adesanya, Volkanovski does this as one of the shortest fighters in his division.

Even though Volkanovski's striking isn't anything out of the ordinary, his ability to consistently execute a game plan is what impresses me most. To me, Volkanovski is what you get when a plus athlete commits to combat sports without falling victim to their own hype.

Lightweight: Dustin Poirier

The rise of Dustin Poirier is like something out of a sports movie. Against Justin Gaethje, Poirier showed his improvements as a striker, and against Volkanovski teammate Dan Hooker he showed his grit. Poirier followed this up by avenging his loss to Conor McGregor twice. Poirier will no longer be bullied and play stepping stone.

Despite McGregor's better game-planning in their third fight, Poirier still countered McGregor with crisp boxing combinations and forward pressure. This forced McGregor to clinch, something he said he wouldn't do in the prefight trash talk.

What makes Poirier particularly difficult to beat is his boxing-inspired defensive system of head movement, shoulder rolls, and a high elbow Philly shell.

Welterweight: Stephen Thompson

Despite his recent loss to Gilbert Burns, Stephen Thompson's striking is still a hard puzzle to solve. Bellator fighter and former GLORY kickboxer Raymond Daniels has even made a side business of being a sparring partner for Thompson's opponents. The market for sparring partners that can mimic Thompson is that limited.

Though the early UFCs initially hurt the reputation of karate, I would argue that fighters with a strong karate background have an advantage in modern MMA. 

Thompson's nonstop in-and-out movement, coupled with his speed, and evasiveness makes him not only difficult to hit but also puts him in a position to launch sharp jabs, straights, and uncontested kicks from both sides. Though Thompson's low guard has occasionally gotten him in trouble, it's what allows him to strike suddenly from unpredictable angles.

Middleweight: Israel Adesanya 

As a striker myself, Israel Adesanya is an absolute pleasure to watch. Adesanya's style and footwork, like his stablemate Alexander Volkanovski, is what every counter fighter in MMA should be studying. In addition, Adesanya's length combined with his experience as a kickboxer makes him even deadlier.

His fight against Marvin Vettori may not have been as dominant as his fight against Paulo Costa, but it showed his takedown defense and development as an MMA fighter rather than a kickboxer who fights MMA.

Adesanya doesn't rely on strength but on accuracy and defense, which makes head-hunting against him a terrible idea. Though Jan Blachowicz showed what happens when you counter Adesanya's feints and don't get mesmerized by his technical abilities, it also took a champion from a heavier weight class to implement this game plan.

Light Heavyweight: Jiri Prochazka

I was mostly unaware of Jiri Prochazka until his recent bout against Dominick Reyes, and needless to say, he is a problem for the division. Prochazka's pace is unprecedented at light heavyweight, which makes up for his technical deficiencies.

Out of 28 victories, 25 are by KO or TKO. He flatlined Reyes with one of the most well-timed spinning back elbows I've ever seen. Punching Prochazka won't scare him off. Instead, he'll only increase his pace.

Like Thompson, Prochazka uses a low guard to invite punches, then relies on his speed and confidence to counter.

Prochazka is young for the division. If he were to develop a better defensive system as Poirier did and couple this with his relentless offense and power, he could find tremendous success in the division for a long time.

Heavyweight: Ciryl Gane

Ciryl Gane is a force to be reckoned with at the heavyweight division and an intriguing match-up for Francis Ngannou. As a pure striker, Gane's accomplishments in muay Thai haven't gotten the spotlight they deserve.

In his unbeaten muay Thai record, you might recognize Yassine Boughanem. Not only was Boughanem at one time the best heavyweight in the world, but he's also the younger brother of WBC Muay Thai Middleweight Champion Youssef Boughanem.

Whether in muay Thai or MMA, Gane has consistently beaten more experienced fighters. Therefore anyone following Gane's career was not surprised when he outclassed Derrick Lewis.

In a division of power punchers, Gane stands alone with his speed, precision, and composure. Gane floats around the cage like a welterweight fighter.

Much like welterweight Stephen Thompson, Gane bounces up and down from a sidelong stance. Yet, he can also seamlessly transition into muay Thai techniques. Like Petr Yan, he's adapted his muay Thai for MMA.

Unlike previous heavyweights who swing for the fences and brawl, Gane is a new type of athlete that relies on a lot of the same strategies as the lighter divisions. Will this force other heavyweights to adapt? Time will tell.