All Time Favorite Fighters
1. Alistair Overeem
A devastating striker, with the best knees in the heavyweight division. And I mean as in kneeing someone in the face kind of knees. Which brings me to another reason he is my #1 favorite fighter of all time – his physique. I was starting to seriously workout and lift weights and this man was a bodybuilder looking fighter. Who knows, I had been seeing Overeem in kickboxing at the time he was turning into Ubereem and this may of helped influence my desire to workout and get big.
2. The Korean Zombie
The most exciting fighter of one of the best eras of MMA and he’s still fighting. He has an upcoming fight against former champ, Max Holloway, who will probably beat him up badly. I love him because his style was true to his name and I also love his name, the Zombie. He’s a small Asian guy knocking guys out, putting on the most exciting fights during his prime.
3. Georges St-Pierre
GSP is the consummate mixed martial artist. He has taught me more about life than I could care for his fighting which in saying that is incredible because he’s a fighter. I have never perfected a French-Canadian accent more so than until he came onto the fight scene. Seriously though, GSP influenced me to fast and make time for fun even when you’re living like a monk. His philosophy is both eye opening and a breath of fresh air compared to all the macho, Affliction wearing, DB’s. Even before the internet era, he was doing things like having someone recording in the crowd during his opponent’s fights and then using that film to figure out their reaction time. To me, he represents the artistry in MMA.
And he’s as close to the perfect fighter as it gets. Demetrious Johnson reached that level. I do feel like Volkanovsi can get there as well.
4. Frankie Edgar
I love Frankie Edgar because he won the lightweight championship when he really should’ve been fighting two weight classes down at 135. Underdogs always have a special place in my heart because I feel like I’m an underdog too and I live my life with that mentality. I still remember when he beat BJ Penn to win the belt and then beat him in the rematch – both times as a huge underdog. He’s been in some incredible fights like his fights with Gray Maynard were awesome. I’m glad he’s now retired and hope he’s living it up.
5. Nate Diaz
Speaking of lightweights, Frankie Edgar and Nate Diaz narrowly missed fighting one another. Because Frankie barely lost the belt to Benson Henderson and in Henderson’s first defense, he fought Nate Diaz.
I find Nate Diaz hilarious; he’s also a very entertaining fighting. The reason Nate sits on this list and not his brother, Nick, is because Nate was on the Ultimate Fighter, and he choked out Conor Mcgregor.
6. Mighty Mouse
Demetrious Johnson is magnificent.
DJ is another guy who’s the epitome of a Mixed Martial Artist. The way he makes everything look so effortless, his speed, his technique are reasons to marvel over his fights. Again, he’s a little guy fighting bigger guys like Adriano Moraes and he doesn’t get the credit he deserves so for those reasons I look at him like an underdog. I love me some underdogs.
7. Glover Texeira
Old man Glover winning the belt is another special moment in MMA history. At 40 something years old, after getting his armed yanked off in his first title shot by Jon Jones, to win the championship; it just doesn’t get any better than that. Old man Glover eats every hard shot you can hit him with, drives in for the takedown regardless of its success, then punishes you in mount.
Current Favorite Fighters
1. Leon Edwards
Last year, in August, I won a lot of money after Leon KOed Usman in the fifth. But that’s not the reason why I’m listing him as one of my favorite current fighters. Leon’s technique is ridiculously good; his striking is a joy to watch. Have you seen Leon’s kickboxing defense? It is a thing of beauty (outside of the Nate Diaz fight, remember that?). Good luck landing a punch on Leon when he’s against the cage or standing in the pocket. If his arms were longer, I believe he would achieve everything that Israel Adesanya has achieved. And I hope I eat my words.
2. Ciryl Gane
Ciryl Gane sold out in his last fight versus Jon Jones but I will forgive him as he’s the best-moving heavyweight I’ve ever seen and has the striking to match his superb footwork. He lacks in killer instinct but he’s French and the French have a way of making whatever they’re doing visually enticing. Yeah, that fight vs JBJ was terrible.
3. Alexander Volkanovski
I’m writing this after his amazing performance against Yair Rodriguez. Alexander Volkanovski is levels above everyone in his division and his well-rounded skillset causes me to compare him to Georges St-Pierre. But it’s not just his speed and footwork or his technique – the man is ultra-tough. Remember when Brian Ortega caught him in that guillotine and Volkanovski refused to tap, eventually getting out to continue beating on Ortega. I also love his mentality as a fighter; he is completely focused on what he needs to do and is willing to test himself against monsters like lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev.
4. Israel Adesanya
I could care less about his antics. I don’t measure how much I like a fighter based off their personality. Israel Adesanya is the BEST striker currently in the UFC. And what you get from that isn’t just the highest level of technique but there’s the speed, timing, vision, and control of distance that only Adesanya possesses. He’s also shown a tremendous amount of heart in his dog fight versus Kelvin Gastelum and fights with Alex Pereira. And just like Volkanovski fighting Islam Makhachev, Adesanya took up the challenge of moving up a weight class versus then champion, Jan Blachowicz.
🤡🤣🤣🤣
5. Tony Ferguson
I don’t think Tony was ever that good but, man, he always won.
Tony gets my affection through all the unfortunate things that he had to go through. From his canceled fights for the title or after winning the interim title, he should have been champion because the then champion, Conor Mcgregor, didn’t fight for eons and should have been stripped. I will always love Ferguson for his ability to create a bloodbath during his 12 fight win streak that lasted six years.
6. Javid Basharat
Keep the name Javid Basharat in the back of y’alls heads as you’ll be seeing him do even bigger things in due time. This guy is good! The reason Basharat resides on my list of current favorite fighters is because he’s so damn good, yet people don’t know about him. Consequently, he gets good odds, so I’ve made so much money from his fights. He’s also not a finisher so you get to see how terrific his technique is over the course of fifteen minutes. His brother, Farid Basharat, is also very good and I’ll happily put him on one of my lists once he’s ready.
Favorite Fighters to Bet On
1. Javid Basharat
2. Lerone Murphy
Lerone’s such a nice guy that during the fight he simply matches the level of his opponent and exceeds it just enough to win the fight. Just like Javid Basharat, this guy is really good and flies under most people’s radars. Also, like Javid Basharat, he’s undefeated in the UFC, meaning I’ve made good money off his fights. Expect a higher number next to his name.
3. Blagoy Ivanov
Maybe you’re scratching your head with this one but win, lose, or draw, Blagoy’s fights have gone the distance since his UFC debut in 2018. That’s 8 fights in less than 5 years where someone could have bet their house on each fight going the distance. I didn’t bet my house but I do make good money from Blagoy and other heavyweight’s like Andrei Arlovski/Ilir Latifi whose fights go the distance.
4. Grant Dawson
This is another guy people didn’t know about until more recently. Grant Dawson is unbeaten in his UFC career. He’s got 8 wins and 1 draw from the time Covid began. Needless to say, I’ve made good money from his fights even if the odds were bad. Because he’s that good!
5. Women’s MMA
Women fighters will never have the same finishing ability as male fighters. Therefore, a lot of women fights go the distance. Of course, this depends on the match up so choose carefully. Candidly, one of my strong suits is betting on women’ fights to go the distance.
🏃♀️💨
6. Belal Muhammad
Belal, as a fighter, is what I call a two-way bet. What this means is he creates two sure bets when he fights. He’s such a skilled fighter that he’ll either win the fight or the fight will go the distance. Often times both will happen, depending on who he’s fighting.
Bolo Dolo 
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