5 UFC fighters who abandoned their grappling in favor of striking

José Aldo (left), Rafael dos Anjos (top right) and Paulo Costa (bottom right)

In the UFC, fighters typically approach their bouts armed with a fighting style that is rooted in a martial art or sport they partook in since their childhoods. Demian Maia, for example, relied on his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expertise to carry him to great success in the UFC.

Similarly, exceptional counter-strikers like Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson and Lyoto 'The Dragon' Machida used their expertise as karatekas to stun the welterweight and middleweight divisions.

However, this is not always the case for all UFC fighters. Some mixed martial artists deviate from their foundational martial arts and develop different fighting styles.

Georges St-Pierre began his career as an aggressive karateka whose striking enabled him to finish most of his bouts. After his upset knockout loss to Matt Serra, the Canadian transitioned into a wrestler who dominated the welterweight division with a well-timed double-leg entry and high-level ground-and-pound.

This list, however, looks at 5 grapplers who have largely abandoned their wrestling/grappling skills and fallen in love with their hands.

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#5. José Aldo

Before he ever dreamed of pursuing a career in mixed martial arts, José Aldo dreamed of achieving greatness in the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Despite capturing a gold medal at Brazil's national BJJ championships, Aldo later set his eyes on MMA. With no formal kickboxing training, any external observer would have expected 'Scarface' to search for takedowns in the octagon. The future UFC featherweight champion, however, had other plans.

The Brazilian developed a love of striking, abandoning his grappling to the point where Aldo's only submission win came in his 3rd fight.

Thirty-six fights later, he is yet to employ Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as his primary weapon. He has transformed into a brutal Muay Thai specialist whose low kicks are the stuff of MMA legends. He finally achieved his final form as a patient but explosive counterpuncher.

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#4. Jon Jones

The former UFC light heavyweight champion has a formal background in Greco-Roman wrestling. In Jon Jones' first professional bout, he made great use of his wrestling roots, suplexing his opponents en route to landing in the UFC where he did much of the same.

As 'Bones' climbed the divisional ladder, his arsenal of takedowns deepened as he took on higher-ranked foes.

At some point, Jones found a striking style well-suited to his lanky frame. Under Mike Winkeljohn, 'Bones' developed a fighting system that was uniquely his. As the years went by, his wrestling declined as he focused on improving his striking, eventually culminating in a version of Jon Jones that was more comfortable side-kicking and push kicking a one-legged Thiago Santos rather than taking him down to the ground.

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#3. Rafael dos Anjos

Prior to joining forces with renowned striking coach Rafael Cordeiro, Rafael dos Anjos was a legitimate Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who often sought to end all of his bouts via submission.

However, upon crossing paths with Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA, 'RDA' underwent a complete transformation that saw him become a terrifying pressure fighter who went on to capture UFC gold in the lightweight division.

The Brazilian's primary tools involved sweeping punches and kicks that barricaded his foes as dos Anjos sandwiched them between the fence and himself. He all but abandoned his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu roots, until faced with an opponent like Kevin Lee who consistently dragged him to the ground with takedowns.

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#2. Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier is likely the greatest wrestler to ever compete in the UFC heavyweight division. A former champion at both 265 lbs and 205 lbs, Cormier was one of the most thrilling grapplers at heavyweight, often using his high-crotch single-leg takedown to lift and slam opponents in great displays of skill and strength.

However, 'DC's' frequent lifting and slamming of his opponents led to back injuries that greatly diminished his wrestling.

Suddenly, the man responsible for outwrestling Dan Henderson and Josh Barnett no longer pursued takedowns. Instead, Cormier became a pocket boxer. He nullified his opponent's reach advantage by fighting with both of his arms extended to hand-trap his foe's jabbing hand and throw looping punches over the top.

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#1. Paulo Costa evolved into a pure striker since coming to the UFC

The one-time UFC middleweight title challenger also began his career as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist. A glimpse at his performance in The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 unveils how different Paulo Costa was from a stylistic standpoint compared to the fighter he eventually became.

The Brazilian often searched for takedowns but didn't seem to have the finishing instincts to consistently secure submission wins, he has only 1 submission win on his record.

After breaking into the UFC, Costa emerged as a completely different fighter. He no longer pursues takedowns or submissions. Instead, 'Borrachinha' became a pressure fighter, using hard roundhouse kicks to the body to corral his opponents towards the fence before unleashing a high-volume savage assault to brutalize them en route to a vicious TKO.