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As the apex of MMA, the UFC is the greatest stage in the world of combat sports. It is where fighters of all styles and from all backgrounds come to showcase their skills under the freest rule set they can find. Throughout its years, the UFC has been dominated by several styles.
There was a time when Brazilian jiu-jitsu was at the helm of the promotion. Then, for a brief moment, karate seemed to be all the rage. But even with the deep pool of styles and techniques to dip into, most fighters stuck to their foundation, to the fighting style that they knew best.
However, some fighters underwent changes. There are wrestlers who discovered their innate knockout power and fell in love with the idea of flattening their opponents with bombs, becoming strikers. In other cases, strikers found their passion in grappling and adopted the art of takedowns and submissions.
#5. Dan Henderson, former UFC middleweight
Legendary mixed martial artist Dan Henderson was a highly accomplished wrestler during his peak years. His breadth of Greco-Roman wrestling skills was otherworldly in his heyday, with 'Hendo' even competing in the Olympics, though a medal always eluded him.
Despite spending most of his early career as a wrestler, Henderson came to discover that his right hand was a weapon of mass destruction. He fell in love with his power and almost exclusively became a striker determined to decapitate his opponent with his nuclear overhand right.
Combined with his iron chin, 'Hendo' could walk through anything and everything in search of the knockout blow. Perhaps his best-known knockout came against Michael Bisping at UFC 100, marking it as one of the greatest knockouts in the promotion's history.
#4. T.J. Dillashaw, former UFC bantamweight
Until he took a greater interest in training with Duane Ludwig, T.J. Dillashaw was a classic Team Alpha Male fighter. He had the wrestling skills to make something of himself inside the octagon, but his striking was basic and nothing of note. It led to him losing certain fights that caused everyone to dismiss his potential.
But under Duane Ludwig's tutelage, he transformed into one of the greatest fighters in bantamweight history. Dillashaw became a mobile striker, who uses constant stance-switching, level changes and angles to set up his strikes. He became, in essence, an offensive version of Dominick Cruz.
The transformation paid dividends and launched Dillashaw into championship status when he dethroned Renan Barão to capture the bantamweight title in one of the greatest title-winning performances in UFC history.
#3. Alexander Volkanovski, current UFC featherweight champion
The fighter that Alexander Volkanovski has become is significantly different from the fighter that he was when he first entered the UFC. The Australian phenom came into the MMA spotlight as a pressure-based Greco-Roman wrestler, who backed his opponents to the fence, grinding them down and scoring takedowns.
However, the more time he spent in the sprot's premier promotion, the more he evolved as a fighter. Specifically, he started moving farther away from his wrestling base and developed one of the best striking games in the world. He adopted the calf kick as a counter to the jab, and also started jabbing with his taller foes.
He also became an apt stance-switcher and a master of feints, using them to overload his opponent's decision-making process. The evolution of his striking game led to him capturing the featherweight title from Max Holloway and very nearly dethroning Islam Makhachev as the lightweight king.
#2. Henry Cejudo, UFC bantamweight
Henry Cejudo should be more successful with his wrestling inside the octagon. His knowledge is not in doubt, as he has successfully trained countless fighters, teaching Jon Jones the exact position and angle from which to choke Ciryl Gane, which 'Bones' did to capture the UFC heavyweight title.
Similarly, his time coaching Zhang Weili has led to her becoming one of the best grapplers at strawweight. Unfortunately, for Cejudo, his own Olympic-level wrestling never translated all that well into the cage. Most of his takedowns come from the element of surprise, and he lacks the ability to control his foes on the mat.
But his adoption of a karate stance and right straight was a game-changer. It enabled him to dart in and out of range with supreme spead, and dupe his foes into lunging forward into counter right straights. With his newfound striking skills, he became one of the few simultaneous double champions in UFC history.
#1. Paulo Costa, UFC middleweight
Paulo Costa was once a failure from The Ultimate Fighter. At the time, he was nothing more than a muscled Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist without the takedowns to consistently take his fights to the mat or the cardio for long grappling sequences. So 'Borrachinha' decided to make a change that launched him into title contention.
Costa abandoned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu roots in favor of a brutal pressure-based striking game. He cut off his opponent's angles of escape by stepping across their body and brutalizing their midsection with round kicks and hooks. Once he had his foe sandwiched between him and the fence, he unloaded with combinations.
Johny Hendricks was perhaps his finest win and the cleanest example of what the new version of Paulo Costa could accomplish.
