Seems like jiu jitsu was the first real evolution in mma.
Then came wrestling/ground and pound.
Then Chuck Liddell emphasized defensive wrestling for stand up fighters and how effective that can be.
Seems like there was a bit of a gap between the last evolution phase until the next one which is high level wrestling combined with top heavy submissions.
Khabib, like Chuck Liddell, gets massive credit for this. It seems as if the next evolution of fighting is happening rather quick as now you have guys like Islam who have high level wrestling but also are utilizing a very solid stand up game to compliment their wrestling.
Fighters like Jon Jones and GSP, are truly special b/c they didn’t revolutionize fighting, or make it evolve, they’re just special. Jones the way he changes stances and rarely throws the same strike twice. Also good, but not as great as GSP when it comes to dictating where the fight takes place. GSP was the absolute best at that imo. But I digress, not everyone can train to be a Jon Jones or GSP…
But when it comes to RIGHT NOW, what type of skills do you think are most important for where mma is right now in 2023?