Is Jon Jones the 1st muay thai/wrestling fighter?

Seems like most wrestlers prefer to focus on boxing, maybe with a little bit of kickboxing, like Hendo, Rampage, Couture, etc.



Muay Thai guys like Shogun and Anderson have some wrestling, but it's really part of their BJJ game, not so much focused on takedowns and top control. 



Has there ever been a guy like Jones who combines sick muay thai with elite wrestling/gnp? The only other guy I can think of is Marvin Eastman.

In the past, most wrestlers gravitated to boxing as a striking art. Balancing on one leg via kicking isn't a natural feeling for wrestlers.

Also, BJJ guys gravitated to muay thai. Catch their leg when they kick and you go down...just what a lot of BJJ guys wanted.

I've always looked at Muay as a grappling art via clinching. Plum (muay thai) actually means wrestling.

I always thought that Cung Le had a more complete clinching game than Randy C.

A complete clinching game incorporates wrestling, muay thai and judo/sambo. Jon Jones has the wrestling, judo and muay thai.

DoNotTapOutUntilSomethingBreaks - 

Not sure if it's racist to point this out, but it seems a lot of black fighters tend to be wrestling muay thai guys.

I was going to call you a racist, but then I tried thinking of a white muay thai wrestler, and I couldn't, so now I'm worried that I might be a racist.  

jct95 - Maybe, Cain Velasquez but I still consider him a kickoxer/wrestler.
Yeah, he's a tricky one, he throws excellent leg kicks but still seems to be trapped inside a 'wrestler's body' if that makes sense.

 

@dr violence: shit I just spent the last ten minutes trying to think of a white wrestler/ muy Thai and I honestly cannot come up with a name! Anybody got one? Phone Post

OriginalTUFer - If you think Jon Jones can be characterized as having any main disciplines, at this point, you're not watching closely enough.



He is nothing, he is everything.



Well Jones himself describes his standup as muay thai, although of course everyone trains everything nowadays. I think it's fairly obvious though from watching Jones that he possesses a rare combination of muay thai and wrestling/gnp skills. It's kind of fitting that he won the title from Shogun, because Shogun was the previous master of that style. 

OriginalTUFer - If you think Jon Jones can be characterized as having any main disciplines, at this point, you're not watching closely enough.

He is nothing, he is everything.<br type="_moz" />



He's Shonie Carter 3.0

 

I've always wondered why the greco roman wrestlers didn't add the muay thai clinch to their arsenal, and went for dirty boxing instead.



I can understand the lack of high kicks to an extent, since that hip flexibilty is hard to develop once you've already got very tight and powerful wrestling hips.



But it's becoming uncomfortably apparent now that only elite athletes have the innate ability to master both arts. And by elite athletes, I mean... well you know what I mean. 

Brandon Vera

Vera could have been a good one, but it seems like we always heard much more about his wrestling than we actually got to see in the ring.