10 Greatest Fighters of the 20th Century

Who are the ten greatest fghters of the past century? That's a question that can only be answered subjectively, of course, but let's take a shot at it. There are quite a few things to consider, including but not limited to athletic ability, ring craft and craftiness, technique skills, courage, performance under pressure, adaptability, creativity, innovation, influence, guts, and most of all, heart. With those qualities in mind, I have narrowed the selection down and chosen my top ten. Here it is, as I see it!






(10) Huo Yuanjia



A small chinese Kung Fu master who preached the importance of blending martial arts styles, defeating all challengers who tried to stop him from teaching the martial arts to Westerners. Did I just describe Bruce Lee, maybe, but Huo Yuanjia actually did all of that first. In fact, you could call him the first mixed martial artist of the 20th century. With a passion for sharing information when most teachers hid it, Huo Yuanjia put a price on his head and, according to many historians, was eventually poisoned. But not before he beat multitudes of foreign challengers at their own games, even in death matches! That's one bad little dude!






(9) Jack Dempsy

If I could pick a top three fighters to have on my side in a fight for my life, Jack Dempsy would be one of them. He defined the word "toughness". And he was as men as they come. When Dempsy fought six-feet six monster Jess Willard for the tittle, he broke multiple bones in his face and ribs before putting him down for the count. Dempsy also had incredible power through body mechanics, earning him a still stnding record fo 25 first round knockouts! That's scarry!

(8) Chuck Norris


Interestingly, Chuck Norris is the only fighter on this list who never participated in continuous full contact bouts. He was a point fighter, but his fights were in the blood and guts days where points were scored when one contestant hit or kicked another while barefoot and barefisted. And Norris was the point fighting king of the blood and guts days. He innovated combinations in martial arts matches and had a reputation for being a very sneaky opponent. His biggest advantage though, was simple....he's Chuck Norris!









(7) Jack Johnson




Long, lean, technical, and unforgivably black, Jack Johnson made quite an impact when he dismantled what was, at the time, the white man's sport. No black fighter had ever won the heavyweight boxing crown and Jack Johnson took it as if none of his opponents had ever boxed before. He made really good fighters look incredibly bad. He was loud and cocky, even taunting his opponents in the ring as he toyed with them before beating them sensless. Remind you of anyone? He was one of the greatest fighters of all time for sure and brought a lot of technical skill to the game that it didn't have before. Sugar Ray Leonards and Anderson Silvas would not exist without Jack Johnson.






(6) Benny Urquidez




Benny "The Jet" Urquidez might be the most gutsy fighter to ever step foot in the ring. He was small but he was one of the most well rounded and adaptable fighters to ever live, beating men who were larger, stronger, faster, younger, and more experienced. But best of all, he did it all under their own rules, in there own hometowns, and he did it 58 times in a row! Forget your UFC five fight "winning streak", show me a 58 fight winning streak and then I'll be impressed!






(5) Joe Louis



Joe Louis is a legend among fighters of all styles and eras. He had what we call the "it" factor. He was smooth, methodical, and had some of the best power in the fight game. His up and over combination (uppercut/hook) alone was jaw dropping or in the case of his opponents, jaw breakng. The guy could do something that most fighters can't and that is recognize your advantage, neutralize it, exploit your weakness, and take you apart. He had an impressive 25 tittle defenses and is the longest raining champion in boxing history. he's also an American hero for taking apart Max Schmelling, the Nazi poster boy who Hitler personally claimed would show superiority to Americans, specfically black Americans. How could you not love a guy who beats the crap out of Nazis.


(4) Joe Lewis




Big, strong, fast, pwerfull, mean, confident, and technically superior, Joe Lewis was the total package that everyone in the fight game was afraid of. He beat the crap out of everyone! This was during the blood and guts days of Karate too, where you fought with bare knuckles. Lewis also pioneered full contact martial arts in America and became it's first champion with ten first round knockouts. He also studied with Bruce Lee and showcased his techniques and philosophies to perfection.




(3) Sugar Ray Robinson


Sugar Ray Robinson sums up what it means to be the pound for pound best in the world. Sugar Ray Robinson was as good as any fighter in history, from the combat games of Ancient Greece to today's mixed martial arts scene. With unmatched hand and foot speed in his devision, brilliant ring craft, and incredible heart, there are only a handful of fighters that can compare with the original Sugar Ray. Just check out his five fight rivalry with Jake Lamotta and you will know what I mean. Sugar Ray could fight , dog!



(2) Bill "Superfoot" Wallace




Bill Wallace is really something. He had techniques that looked like they came straight from Hollywood, only better and more devistating. He could kick at 70mph and throw as many as five or seven kicks without touching his foot to the ground. There are lots of guys who can do the later part for show, but Wallace was the only one who could do it to the best fighters in the world as they were trying to kill him! In addition to that, Wallace was a fighter that no one could ever really figure out. Somehow he always eluded everyone's game plan and always had something you couldn't quite see until you were in the ring with him. "Superfoot" had 23 professinal kickboxing bouts and won them all, retiring as the only undefeated Full Contact World Champion in American martial arts.






(1) Muhammad Ali

No one, before or since, has made an impact on the fight game the way Ali has. From the tender age of 12, Ali had beaten more opponents than you can shake a fist at. After winning 200+ amature bouts, Golden Gloves, and an Olympic Gold medal, Ali took the world heavyweight tittle from the unstoppable monster, Sonny Liston. Ali was loud, cocky, funny, a poet, civil rights activist, and religious man who infused all these attributes into his fight game. He had footwork to shame fast lightweights, the fastest jab in boxing, and the best elusive defensive movement ever seen. He also took on a plethora of incredibly tough opponents. Champion fighters today take on some good opponents and some less skilled opponents, but everyone who fought Ali was a killer! Look at his list of opponents and see if any other fighter consistantly took on competition like this: Sonny Liston, Earny Terell, George Chuvallo, Joe Frzier, Ken Norton, George Forman, Earny Shavers, Ron Lyle, etc. He beat them all and did it with a style and grace that makes him the greatest fighter of the 20th century!

The Three Best Fighters In the UFC

MMA might very well be the fastest growing sport in the world and no single MMA organization is more popular than the UFC. If fact, contestants in other sanctioning bodies, such as Pride, are merely waiting for their invite to the prestigious octagon. Why is it so difficult to make it there? Because it's the most talent rich fighting organization on the planet, with the top competitiors from nearly every major combat sport looking to test their skill against a wider variety of oponents. Just think abou it, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. But who are the best? If forced to make a decision on who the top three MMA competitors are today, I would have to pick the following fighters and give the following reasons.

The Most Technically Skilled: Frankie Edgar
Frankie Edgar, in my assessment, is simply the most technically skilled fighter in the UFC. His skill set is almost perfect and it's getting better. Edgar started his fight career as a wrestler and true to his New Jersey blood, isn't afraid of a scrap. To quote the current light weight champion himself, "Everyone in Jersey can either fight or think they can fight. Most of them only think they can fight but I'm one of those few who actually can fight." After dismanteling the 155 pound devision by defeating skilled oponents such as Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffon, taking the title from B. J. Penn and successfully defending it with a dominant performance in the rematch, few would argue. And those few are probably the ones from New Jersey who only think they can fight.

Edgar showcases an amazing skill set with superior wrestling, fast hands, and great defense, topped off by the best footwork in the UFC. No one moves as much as Frankie Edgar and that's one of the reason's he's so good. Frankie Edgar understands that in the ring, you must either fire, move, or do both. He is also the only fighter in the UFC to display the use of angular attack through the use of broken rhythm. Broken rhythm is a change in speed, direction, or essence, designed to throw your opponent's focuss of track, thereby fortifying your defense and making him more vulerable to your attack. Edgar most often utilizes a change in direction, coming in at one angle and clearing at another.

Another great aspect of Edgar's technique is the lack of a gap in his offensive timing. Most fighters pause for a split second either between punches or kicks and takedowns, or after they execute the attack and just before they clear or reset. This is called a gap in offensive tming and it's what a good counter fighter (such as another fighter on this top three list) will look for. Edgar has no such gaps. He fires with expert offensive timing and never pauses before reseting. He is a finess fighter, meaning he fires from movement instead of stopping, getting set, then firing (a trademark of many heavyweights).

Lastly, Edgar turns his opponents. When working inside with short range punches or a clinch, most fighters tend to stand in one spot instead of turning their opponent from side to side with good circular footwork. Edgar always turns hs opponents on the inside and doesn't stick around for the counter. He's in witha penetrating jab, executes his double or tripple inside combinations while turning his opponent, and cleares there reach from a different angle than the one he came in with. Executing solid techiques with perfect fundamentals from a large skill set that includes excellent boxing, kicking, and wrestling, Edgar is a force to be reckoned with. I figure he will be champ for a long time.

The Smartest Fighter: Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva has had the longest rein as champion in the UFC for a reason. He's simply too smart for anyone else to deal with. I'm not talking about his IQ (although I suspect it to be very high) but his knowlege of ring generalship and ring tickery. No one in the world can cause you to make a mistake the way Anderson Silva does. He also has the best sense of distancing, to which I dedicated an entire post on this blog. Coming from Curatiba Brazil, Silva has a large and unpredictable skill set, holding black belts in Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He's a good boxer and has even shown some impressive wrestling from time to time (including beautiful switch on Nate Marquart and a very surprising takedown on Chael Sonnen, of all people). When Silva entered the octagon and destroyed Chris Leben, he earned a tittle shot against Rich Franklin, who he dismantled in one round and two in the rematch. No one had been able to beat him since. Here's why. Apart from his beautiful contol of distance and unparalelled sense of timing, Silva's biggest assests are his unpredictability and trickery.

Silva often mentions that he looks for and takes advantage of his opponent's mistakes. What most people don't realise is that Silva actually and quite according to plan, causes his opponents to make mistakes. Silva leaves his hands down because he's inviting his opponents to come after him with intentions of a knock out. Many fighters make that mistake but only Silva capatalizes on it. When you give up your solid defense for the sake of offense, you have made one of the gravest mistakes in the fight game. When fighting, you must establish your defensive gameplan first and then establish your offensive tactics. Silva is very much aware of this and takes advantage of the UFC fighter's love for spectacular finishes by coxing them into trading punches or head hunting. Silva is of course a technician and good counter fighter, just waiting for that gap in offensive timing.

Anderson Silva displays great movement. One of the reasons Silva is so hard to hit is because he moves so well. Moving not only improves your position for offensive purposes, but relocates your target for defensive purposes. Silva displays good in and out movement and great side to side movement. When he fought Chris Leben in his UFC debute, Silva continually opened up Leben for strikes using his side to side footwork. Silva also makes great use of turning his opponents, especially in the clinch.

Silva sees openings that other fighters tend to miss or not be brave enough to take. Who ever saw anyone side kick a guy in the leg (Silva vs. Mia), front kick a standng opponent in the face (Silva vs. Belfort), or use a reverse lead elbow to the chin like Tony Jaa did in Ong Bak (Silva vs. Fyrklund, pre-UFC)? Silva has no problem trying out strange tactics and because of this, combined with his very diverse martial arts background, nobody knows what he's going to do. That's just one more way he gets inside of people's heads. Think abou it. Of all the fighters in the UFC, anderson Silva does the least amount of pre-fight trash talking but is the one fighter garunteed to get inside his opponent's head. It's all because of his tricky ring tactics.

A perfect example of Silva's crafty state of mind is his victory over Chael Sonnen. Many people say Anderson got lucky with that last minute triangle. I dissagree. I say it was pure brilliance. Silva knew he was losing that fight and had to submit Chael to win. In the fith round with three minutes left, Silva grabs Chael's left wrist from the guard but does not attack. Chael has postured up and is throwing punches with his free hand. Silva gradually pulls Chael's left hand down to his stomach were a fighter in the top position would not want it. But Silva did it so craftily without drawing attention to it by attacking off that side, that Chael never noticed. After a full minute of lulling Chael into a false sense of security and missdirected attention by simply punching a few times with his right hand, Silva waits for the perfect moment. Silva did not attack for a full minute because he wanted that right wrist controll and he wanted Chael to throw his weight at him with a left punch (you cannot submt someone with a traingle easily if they are postured up). And then, BAM! Just as Chael leans forward to punch, Silva slaps on the triangle over the hand he has been controlling for a full minute and has the incredible sense of mind to grab Chael's left arm, preventing him from defending properly. That was simply the single most well thought out submission in any UFC fight to date. It shows that where most people would panich and use uneducated technique, Silva use his mind and causes you to make that fatal flaw. And that is all he needs.

The Hardest Worker: George St. Pierre

In the UFC, you work hard or go home empy handed and bloodied up. And it's been over five years since the current welterweight champion George St. Pierre went home empyhanded and bloodied up. In fact, int the last five years, he has only lost one round. And that's because he works harder than anyone in his sport. Growing up in Quebec Canada, GSP worded multiple jobs to support himself, trained at night, and often slept in the gym because he had nowhere else to go. That alone is more hard work than most of us are willing to consider, but he was just getting started. Having originally studied Kyokoshinkai Karate (a brutal, no nonsense martial art) since the age of seven, George St. Pierre has since developed one of the most well rounded games in the sport. He can box, he likes to kick of both legs (it's rare to see UFC fighters kick off their forward leg), and has what many fight anylists consider the best wrestling in MMA, which is phenomenal, considering he has never competed as a wrestler. Making a name for himself by beating B. J. Penn and a host of other fighters, GSP took the tittle from Matt Hughes but lost it to Matt Cera. That loss sparked the hardest and most focussed regimen in mixed martial arts today. GSP often sites the loss as the best thing to happen to hs career. I believe him. After completely dominating Cera in the rematch and winning back his belt, he has continued to work harder than anyone else.

GSP is a perfectionist. If he makes a single mistake in a fight, you will see him with his coaches, running through the situation again in the dressing room just minutes after the bout. GSP doesn't celebrate in victory after he is anounced the winner, he thinks over in his head how he could have done better and will next time. While other fighters take time off between fights, GSP travels the world seeking the best of the best in order to imrove. He travels to Thailand to practice Muay Thai, to Brazil to practice his Jiu-Jitsu, and even wrestles with the Canadian Olympic Wrestling Team. Most of us would comment that if we made as much money per fight as GSP, we would train like that also. But we forgett that GSP came from humble beginnings and got to where he is be relentless hard work. He has earned it and continues to earn it.

GSP has tremendous conditioning. With a physique that would shame Atlas, it's obvious that GSP is on to something. His fitness regimine is second to none and more importantly, it's constant. GSP does not rest between fights or slack off the nutritional rules. He lives and breathes physical fitness, working out every day. He never has to get back in shape. he also never cuts weight through the use of a sauna. He loses it through dieting, which is it's own form of hard work, as anyone who has made dietary sacrifices can tell you. In the end, GSP is a fanatical perfectionist who never stops working to improve. Nothing is good enough for him, it can always be better. Bruce Lee once said that we must never have limits, that we may have plateus but we must rise bove them. If Bruce Lee where alive today, I can tell you that one of his favorite fighters would be GSP.

What Do They All Have In Common?

All three of these magnificent fighters share similar attributes. (1) They each continue to improve every time we see them. They strive to be better then they were the fight before. (2) Each man also has a large and unpredictable skill set, truely demonstrating the full range of mixed martial arts at it's best. (3) They each train outside their comfort zone. Each man listed will use what works, regardless of where the information comes from. Too many fighters and martial artists in general will only stick to their comfort zone, afraid of venturing into new territory. These three are not ordinary martial artists and they go searching for whatever it is they find the most uncomfortable, because they know it will help them improve. (4) They learn from their mistakes. If something doesn't go as planned, there is work to be done. See how many times each of these men make the same mistake twice. It isn't often. They learn, adapt, and move foreward, which is what mixed martial arts is all about.

Martial Artist of the Month: Joe Lewis

Joe Lewis may very well be the best and most influential martial arts fighter of the 20th century. With a physique chiseled out of stone and some of the very best technque in the sport, Joe Lewis was a formidable opponent for anyone. As a fighter, even the best (Chuck Norris and Bill Wallace included) were afraid to face him in the ring. As an instructor, even the best ravel miles seeking his instruction. As a man, who I have had the privilege to speak to, he is an artist, a philosopher, a comedian, a scientist, and most of all, an inspiration. Today, he is Martial Artist of the Month.

Biography:

Growing up in South Carolina during the 1940s and 1950s, Joe Lewis came from a rough neighborhood. Lewis was brought up on a farm, leaning early on about hard work, which was something he would outshine other martial artists on for over half a century. Taking up an interest in bodybuilding and power lifting, Lewis began training in secret to avoid his father's dissaproval, lifting weights at night after completeing chores on the farm. Joining the Marines in 1962, Lewis was deployed to Vietnam where he worked in communictions. After being transfered from Vietnam to Okinawa, against Lewis' whishes and request for another tour of duty in Vietnam (yes, you read that correctly), he began studying karate under renowned instructors Ezio Shimabuku, John Korab (who Lewis credits as the man who taught him how to spar), and Kinjo Kinsoku. Lewis earned his first black belt in seven months. Most instructors consider two years to be excellent progress. After returning to America, Lewis entered his first tournament, Jhoon Rhee's U.S Nationals, with only twenty-two months of karate training and won the grand championship in both kata and sparring divisions. He scored every point with his trademark sidekick (an irony considering Lewis' self proffessed love of inside fighting). After racking up victories over Chuck Norris, Skipper Mullins, Alan Steen and a plethora of other martial arts greats, and setting numerous records, including another three consecutive wins at the U.S Nationals, Lewis was recognized as the most intimidating fighter in sport Karate. During this time, Joe Lewis began studying Jeet Kune Do with Bruce Lee, who would remain his cheif instructor for the next two-and-a-half years. It was in 1970 that Lewis made the breakthrough in modern martial arts history by introducing Full Contact Karate or "Kickboxing", as it would become known. It was America's first sanctioned full contact martial arts event. Winning the original Heavyweight Championship and defending his tittle ten times, Lewis retired until the PKA World Championship in Full Contact Karate in 1973, in which he again won the world title in the Heavyweight devision. It should also be noted that Lewis was the key figure responsible for convincing Bill Wallace to join the sport that year (Wallace won and held the tittle until his retirement in 1980). Retiring in the late 1970s, Lewis embarked on a short film career, starring in the thriller "Jaguar Lives!" as well as co-starring with fellow martial arts legends Benny Urquidez, Richard Norton, and Bong Soo Han in "Force Five". Lewis was not done, however. He launched the martial arts seminar market, becoming, along with Bill Wallace, perhaps the most successful seminar instructor. Today, Lewis continues to teach his cutting edge seminars and has his own martial arts curriculum, the JLFS.

Why So Great?

How does one answer this question in light of the fact that Joe Lewis has done it all, done it first, and done it best? I guess you pick out the reasons that stand out among the rest.

(1) He pioneered full contact. You hve to understnd that before 1970, martial arts competitions were point matches and in most tournaments, contact was not allowed. Although Lewis fought in and won his fair share of these competitions, he was never satisfied that martial artists who proclaimed to be fighters were satisfied by these games of tag. Even tournaments such as Alan Steens' competitions in Texas, which allowed heavy contact, still used the point fighting system and separated fighters after each point was scored. The idea of wearing boxing gloves, adding contact, and fighting continuously through the round was simple, Lewis was the only one who promoted the idea. Perhaps no one wanted to find themselves under these rules looking across the ring at Joe Lewis. Eventually Joe Lewis made a deal with George Bruckner to compete in an East vs. West point tournament if Bruckner would help Lewis establish his new sport. Lewis cleaned house at the point tournament and Bruckner held up his end of the bargain, promoting the first full contact martial arts event in America: Joe Lewis vs. Greg Baines. Lewis won by knockout and the fight footge is still available today (Lewis has even recorded an audio commentary that is available with the footage on his video "What Bruce Lee Taught Me"). I don't think it can be argued otherwise that the UFC and other similar events would not exist the way they do today had it not been for Joe Lewis.

(2) He worked harder than anyone. Take a look at Joe Lewis without his shirt on and it's hard to find proffessional athletes in any sport with his level of fitness and dedication. Lewis was a country raised farm boy (that means hard work to you city boys), Marine, power lifter, long distance runner, wrestler, World Karate Champion, boxer (Lewis studied with Joe Orbillo and is the only martial artist to be featured on the cover of Ring Magazne), and world Kickboxing Champion. He was always in phenominal shape and could out perform and out last even the best of competition. Comparing his ripped physique to your own would be demoralizing in the ring. Joe Lewis wore those open top, short sleeved gis for reason, you know. Even Bruce Lee was enamored at Lewis' defined physique and would frequently ask him detailed questions on how he acquired it.

(3) He was willing to engage with complete and total conviction. This is a rare and important quality in combat sports. When most people punch, kick, or shoot for the takedown, they execute with a lack of conviction, meaning they don't put their very heart, soul, and intended purpose behind the movement. Remember that scene in Enter The Dragon where Bruce Lee says "I sais emotional content"? That's what he was talking about and Joe Lewis had it in spades. It is of course partly due to Bruce Lee's instruction that Lewis developed this defining quality. Whether you are watching Lewis in his old fight footage or as he teaches a seminar today, he moves with a level of mental assuredness and confidence that is hard to find.

(4) Lewis has perfectly broken down the fight game into understandable principles. Lewis understands that it's not the techniques that win fights but what you put behind them and what you put "between" them. What this means is that the techniques themselves are not as important as the principles applied to make them work. Lewis has defined what he refers to as "Universal Combat Principles". These are combat principles that transend style and form. It doesn't matter if you are a karate man or a wrestler, you need to control your opponent's set point, control the distance, dictate the pace, control ring generalship, etc. How many of us try to counter when we should fire first or forget to step in when we execute? What do you do if your favorite technique fails to work for you? Could you set it up another way? These are the fighting principles that Joe Lewis has so successfully defined and made understandable to practitioners of any style. What he has done in the way of martial arts instructional knowlege is unmatched.

(5) Joe Lewis puts the fans first. Attend a martial arts expo, hall of honors, or similar ceremony and you are likely to find Joe Lewis coming by your table to visit. He understands that without people to embrace the martial arts and support it, you work for nothing. After all, who do martial artists fight for if not for the fans? Joe Lewis is as down to earth as a man can be and although he was the greatest martial arts fighter of his time (or in my opinion and in the opinion of many others, all time) and is now one of the leading instructors in his field, he has no ego. Joe Lewis even allowed me to interview him for this blog and that, brother, tells you everything you need to know about a man who has conquered the world, and in the process, a plethora of unlucky opponents, when it comes to putting the fans first!

Overall:

In the end, not enough can be said of the many accomplishments of Joe Lewis. He is "The Greatest Karate Fighter of all Time" as chosen by his peers, the Father of Ameican Kickboxing, and many more unrivaled tittles. But, to keep our definitions simple, as I believe Joe Lewis would, I'll stick to my favorite name for him: "CHAMPION".