Name Fighters That Seriously Evolved Mid-Career

what would sakuraba do - Anderson silva. Forever he was a very thin, weak physically but technical striker. Bjj guys would throw him around for years until 05-06 he gained 30lbs muscle, got much stronger, started one shot koing muhfukas left and right. He used to have a normal sized head as well. Latent Cranial Gigantism?

 

Voted down for obvious trolling implication.

 

By the way here's Anderson before and after gaining "30lbs muscle" and with and without "normal sized head":

 

IDK if I would say it is mid-career since he had few fights upon entering the UFC, but age-wise it's probably mid-career. During Koscheck's early years with the UFC he was pretty much a one-dimensional grappler, but then became a threat on his feet.

Tad Ghostal - Matt Brown was a .500 TUF reject who is now on a 4 fight win streak, in possibly the most talent rich division in MMA.

this is who i came in to say

varner

cruedi - Randy Couture vastly improved all areas of his game over his career.


he was the first name that came to mind for me.

Tad Ghostal - 
what would sakuraba do - Anderson silva. Forever he was a very thin, weak physically but technical striker. Bjj guys would throw him around for years until 05-06 he gained 30lbs muscle, got much stronger, started one shot koing muhfukas left and right. He used to have a normal sized head as well. Latent Cranial Gigantism?

The only time Anderson has has a 'one shot KO' was against Tony Frykland.

um vitor and irvin also come to mind

greg39tigers - 
Tad Ghostal - 
what would sakuraba do - Anderson silva. Forever he was a very thin, weak physically but technical striker. Bjj guys would throw him around for years until 05-06 he gained 30lbs muscle, got much stronger, started one shot koing muhfukas left and right. He used to have a normal sized head as well. Latent Cranial Gigantism?

The only time Anderson has has a 'one shot KO' was against Tony Frykland.

um vitor and irvin also come to mind

Vitor was close to a clean KO but Andy still needed to hammer in the coffin nails, which he always does with amazing accuracy. Irvin wasn't even close, he had the wherewithal to cover up.

It just goes to show how incredible his technique is, that he doesn't really have much raw power but is one of the most feared strikers alive.

What about GSP? He was mainly a striker that would mix in td's. After Serra he used his wrestling a lot more and became more cautious on the feet. Phone Post

I might get hate for this and I know it's premature but I think Fitch might be an honorable mention soon

I thought he looked awesome in his last fight it was pretty exciting, he took risks and actually brought the fight to erick silva.. Granted he wasn't exactly on a losing streak, But if his last fight was any dictation of what his future fights might bring, maybe he will continue to evolve at least his killer instinct Phone Post

Gsp has to be number one on this list. He was a karate kicking murderer, got tko'd and became the most "dominant" champ. Phone Post

Tad Ghostal - 
greg39tigers - 
Tad Ghostal - 
what would sakuraba do - Anderson silva. Forever he was a very thin, weak physically but technical striker. Bjj guys would throw him around for years until 05-06 he gained 30lbs muscle, got much stronger, started one shot koing muhfukas left and right. He used to have a normal sized head as well. Latent Cranial Gigantism?

The only time Anderson has has a 'one shot KO' was against Tony Frykland.

um vitor and irvin also come to mind

Vitor was close to a clean KO but Andy still needed to hammer in the coffin nails, which he always does with amazing accuracy. Irvin wasn't even close, he had the wherewithal to cover up.

It just goes to show how incredible his technique is, that he doesn't really have much raw power but is one of the most feared strikers alive.


Forrest was a one shot ko too.  

^Forrest got dropped 3 times before the ref stepped in, how does that count as one shot?

alkysmurf - 

Gsp has to be number one on this list. He was a karate kicking murderer, got tko'd and became the most "dominant" champ. Phone Post


I disagree, Serra was his first defence so the level of competition isn't comparable. Also, I imagine that if his wrestling was as good earlier in his career we would have seen him use it more.

DOS anjos! His wrestling and everything is much improves Phone Post

Frank Mir has greatly improved, not only from day one, but from a horrible mid-career bike accident.

Tad Ghostal - ^Forrest got dropped 3 times before the ref stepped in, how does that count as one shot?

I disagree.

There is a clean jab that sends Forrest to the canvas and although he may not be unconscious, he's physically unwilling to continue as the result of a jab. Phone Post

Sean sherk comes to mind. Primarily a wrestler but right at the Penn fight he inexplicably decides he wants to box now and completely ignores his wrestling from then on. Phone Post

Chael. His physical skill set appears the same but he has added showmanship into his arsenal and really taken it to the next level. It got him from unknown to 3 title fights. Phone Post

Great thread Phone Post