The first UFC main-event of the year was headlined by Max Holloway vs Calvin Kattar. During the fight, Holloway proclaimed that his boxing is the best in the UFC, which is reasonable since he throws volume shots and does not stop. He beat Kattar in his own game which was boxing. Holloway said that Kattar was the one who engaged in the leg kick.
In Mix Martial Arts there are a lot of skills that a fighter needs in order to become a world champion. A fighter needs not only to be good in striking but work on his grappling as well. Although there are things that can not be learned like power and chin are usually based on the person.
One of the key things where fans get attracted easily is of course boxing, the queen rules. Who doesn’t love boxing, it pretty much gives the casual fans an entertaining fight. It usually leaves a devastating knockout or an equal back and forth.
We are going to rank five UFC prolific fighters who have great boxing. The list is not in order which means they are all great in their own right and cannot be compared easily. It won’t include Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar as they are clearly one of the best as well.
5. Stipe Miocic (Heavyweight)
Miocic is the greatest UFC heavyweight champion, and what made him special is his high-level boxing skills. He won the heavyweight champion using his counter-punching abilities against Fabricio Werdum. Miocic was a wrestler before adding boxing to his MMA career. He credited that his Boxing made him a champion.
Not only is Miocic’s boxing offense good, but he also has great defense shown in the Ngannou fight. He used his head-movement very well slipping bombs from Ngannou. Miocic became a Cleveland Golden Glove champion as well.
4. Conor Mcgregor (Lightweight)
Mcgregor is famous for his left hand that can knock out anyone in the division. The only person that has survived the left hand was Nate Diaz. Mcgregor landed a lot of his signature shot against Diaz but still came forward. Diaz’s chin durability is one of the best in the UFC. Mcgregor ended a 10-year undefeated streak by knocking out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds.
Mcgregor also fought arguably the best boxer of this era which is Floyd Mayweather. Although he lost, there was still a lot of respect gained from Mcgregor, many expected it to be a one-sided fight but he proved to stand his ground in the early rounds of the fight.
3. Kelvin Gastelum (Middleweight)
Kelvin Gastelum may be coming off a back-to-back loss but there is no denying that his boxing is so technical and crisp. He gave the current champion, Israel Adesanya his toughest fight. Most of his opponents have suffered a knockdown even bigger guys, that speaks for his high-level jab-straight combo.
Gastelum was supposedly a welterweight where he gave Tyron Woodley one of his toughest fights. He has also said that he wants to move back down. He also landed a devastating knockout against former middleweight champion, Michael Bisping.
2. Petr Yan (Bantamweight)
The current bantamweight champion, Petr Yan has knockdown most of his opponents. Yan pretty much guarantees a knockdown in his fights. Yan’s fighting stance also resembles a boxer that can box inside and out.
He also has his best works in the Jose Aldo fight, where both clipped each other but eventually, Yan won the vacant bantamweight belt.
1. Amanda Nunes (Women’s Bantamweight and Featherweight)
As Miesha Tate said Nunes hits like a truck. The way she uses her body leverage when landing a punch separates Nunes from her competition. She knocked out Cris Cyborg because he had better boxing compared to Cyborg.
Cyborg wanted to have a slugfest, but Nunes picked her shots and landed pinpoint accurate punches that knocked Cyborg out cold. It was one of the most intense UFC fights to see live.
There are a lot of past UFC fighters that paved the way to add boxing. George St Pierre had one of the best jabs in the UFC. His jab alone gave Josh Koscheck a broken orbital, which led to a dominant win. Anderson Silva also had great boxing and mixes it with a lot of flashy movements.
