SUP FIGHT FANS! Seeing Dom Cruz comments and def should have thought to include him in the honorable mentions on reputation alone, but it was his 2.61 absorbed rate (which is higher than anybody we included by a lot) that got me to decide to leave him off the list. 1000% an elite unhittable fighter, just didn't fit for me qualitatively. Certainly subjective. But as I mentioned at the end, luckily the winner was pretty clear cut so I'm good with some debate on who should have made the 10.
Great content as always. I do feel Cruz belongs on there more than someone like Khabib who was only hard to hit, not because he was an elite striker with great defense, but because he’s generally on top of you or has his head in your groinal region. Also his level of competition is significantly lower because he retired after 3 title defenses. Just my own two cents, but certainly subjective as you said. I definitely agree on #1.
For anybody further interested I'll leave this reply comment to discuss it a bit more because it's kinda funny, Jon Jones was either going to be #6 or not at all on the list, which I know is weird way to look at it, but I made the concession for him outside the data because I felt he made sense on the list with the most strikes thrown at him, but because he was at a 2.22 SApM I wasn't going to include him initially at all since that was so much higher than the rest of the field. The same goes for Mousasi related to his volume. But his other stats were so good it made sense to me and so those were the two I was willing to make concessions for to include in the 10. I could have done the same with Cruz but then it felt like too much of the list was going to be decisions I made about the data vs what the data was telling me and so it was a judgement call to have Jones in there instead of Cruz, who was similarly situated.
I love that Gegard Mousasi is on this list. One of the most underrated fighters ever. Won belts in every promotion except for the UFC, because he didn’t get the chance. Absolute legend of the sport. The reason why they didn’t throw that many shots at him is because he finished opponents, 50% of his fights he finished in the first round. He also was at his best when USADA was gone and always campaigned against steroids.
@@thediaz07 100% that’s why bisping and the UFC didn’t want to make that fight. Sad thing is, many people would put bisping higher on a goat list than Mousasi.
I love that. It perfectly puts in perspective how insane some fighters were, especially for newer fans. When I gain interest in a new sport I like to watch overly dramatic yt videos to contextualize how great some players/fighters were lol.
I’m Dutch and biased but I’m so happy to see Mousasi on this list. Legend of the sport, who should be in some hall of fame, but because he wasn’t popular enough, he’ll never get the recognition he deserves.
@@rianislam5578correct! born in Iran to Armenian refugees. But he grew up in the Netherlands from the age of 3-4 I believe. He came through one of our best martial arts academies under Chris Dolman (first non-Russian to win gold in a sambo world championship).
I wonder how Anderson Silica’s stats would have looked if you separated his career in two halves; before and after his lost the strap. I feel like that’d be two very different sets of data.
Exactly what I was thinking, i get they don’t want to be biased and so they take it all as it is but if you cut that streak off the numbers would definitely look completely different
If i remember correctly, his UFC significang strike defense percentage until the Weidman fights was around 65 or 68%. Numbers don't tell everything though. I think it's harder to not get hit if you'll put yourself in dangerous spots (like Silva) versus playing it strategically from the beginning (like GSP).
@@madgavin7568 he dropped a couple big ones in the first Machida and the second Jacaré fight. And there is admittedly some post-prime/pre-prime consideration with his best wins. But I think it’s the skills that stand out. His wins are often so convincing. He’s a very potent finisher that makes very little mistakes. That makes him a great fighter to me. Certainly not overrated. Though I also believe underrated is a bit of a stretch. I think that is revisionist history, since most people believed he was done dirty by the UFC and deserved a title shot/#1 contender fight against Romero or Whittaker. I remember his prime well and most commentators and other fighters were well aware of his quality at the time.
@@owenlichtenberg7932 This might come across like I'm a hater but Moose has a deceptively good record as I can't think of a fighter who has as many asterisks wins as Mousasi does honestly. The closest might be Henry Cejudo but even then, Cejudo was actually an elite talent. Moose did have some good things going for him as a fighter. He had a solid jab, leg kick and 1-2, his striking defense wasn't overly bad and he has a good single-leg for takedowns. He also has (and still has) a great chin. He's pretty one-note however, and he never seemingly had a plan B in any of his fights which is why he had the occasional bottle-job fight.
Unless you're a diaz fan who believes gsp was also on steroids, I still don't get anyone who complains about that robbery. Dude was the second most obvious manic steroid abuser behind Vitor..
@georgeeast9271 those aren't diaz fanboys those are Coke Jones fans they are pissed off that their boy was on steroids so they keep saying everybody on steroids they even say Khabib was on it a guy who never drinks or smokes gonna do steroids!!!! 😂 these guys are crazy
Not that I should ever be surprised by GSP’s greatness… but wow, I did not expect him to have such outstanding numbers defensively. Never fails to impress me
GSP and Mighty Mouse of course blow my mind for the fact that they've avoided ~2400 strikes combined, but man, Ryan Bader's defense is incredible. 700 avoided out of 985 thrown is actually hard to comprehend. Was he even in the same cage as his opponent? Is he two-dimensional? Does his body materialize around punches like the T-1000???
If you're really good (which Ryan is/was) AND you also don't have to fight mostly champ opponents, that's Bader's fortune. GSP and Mighty Mouse, unfortunately, had to fight mostly top contenders or other champs or former champs... the true elites of the elites.... so that's why their numbers are even more impressive. I'm still not sure how Islam was cut off, from the judging criteria as this video presented.... because it is very difficult for anyone to hit him. Yes, he doesn't help his own stats by denying most fighters their strikes against him from happening at all (prolific strikers like Green, Drew, Hooker, Charles et al) by shutting them down via wrestling.
Excellent and fun list! I didn’t expect some of these. The only disappointment is not using the “I tried to hit him and he looked at me like I was stupid” quote from Forrest Griffin. Feel like it would have fit the theme lol
Awesome work as always, Tommy. My biggest takeaway from this list though, was the clear correlation between fighters who are defensively sound and fighters the UFC beef with.
Ryan Bader is dope, but DC’s call-out was insane. When I heard it the first time I physically gasped 😂 most trash talk is super cringy or over the line nowadays, but DC was out for blood
I'm only 3 fighters in and I know this video is awesome!!!!! KenFlo was a guy I wanted to get a belt, it's a great look back at some of the guys who get lost in the mix.
@@lebogangncongwane4298 we can't tell that either Lebo, remember the whole thing between him and Hendricks, fighting over which testing org to use, GSP is a cerebral guy, it's not always as clean cut as some orgs test for some things others don't, which is why Islam failed an Olympic doping test but passed the UFC/USADA test.
@@southerndiscomfort171 you having difficulty understanding the people who invented the English language, I'm Italian and I understand them perfectly fine
I like how when Izzy was talking about fighting Anderson How Anderson's range and timing was so perfect, that you could hit him, but it would just barely brush his skin a little and he could then counter
Khabib had such an unorthodox head/ body movement that threw off the opponents he fought and the threat of takedown also made them hesitant & cautious. Makhachev on the other hand has truly elite defensive stand up and hard to crack.
@moonvenerable7897 yh it's because he is great in that just appreciate him and move on but u all really make an excuse for everything like for him even not getting bled in the octagon not to mention some conkr fans making excuse for Khabib winning fights in ground like come on it's MMA after all 💀
Average rank of opponent would’ve been a useful additional metric. You guys took it into account, but the quantity would’ve been helpful. Great video regardless! Keep these coming!
I love these data video's, can you do one where you look at fighters who hut eachother the most? so 2 fighters who fought eachkther once or multiple times and got the mist significant strikes that way
i wonder how dom cruz stats line up to these other guys, as a guy who’s game plan mostly revolves around making his opponents miss, it would be interesting to see his stats
Just from my first thoughts I was expecting to see Wonderboy and Dominick Cruz on this list too. Do y’all have the stats for them bc I was shocked that either of them didn’t even have an honorable mention
Tommy has a reply with Cruz's aspm rate at 2.61. I assume the later half of his career contributed quite a bit to that. I was surprised wonderboy didn't make the cut but I guess he got hit more than we remember
I know the mentioned him in the honorable mentions, but did hear some where that Sean Strickland has the current best strike defense, or did I fever dream that?
I think this is mainly a list of good wrestlers that could hold people down, which is a legitimate way to avoid strikes but i think the reason people have said strickland or silva is because when people read the title they were thinking of people avoiding strikes while standing
id be very interested to see what andersons numbers were if his final losing streak was taken out of the data. was prime silva comparable statistically to the rest of the list and just stayed in too long?
Number 1 sorta surprised me… but thinking of it no it doesn’t. He’s GSP, he really is the GOAT of MMA. The best overall in everything. You can argue about The Spider Silva, Mighty Mouse, Jon Coke Jones, or even the Eagle Khabib himself being undefeated. But there’s something really special about Rush.
I thought for sure cruz would be high up on the list, but come to think of it due to injuries he didn’t have that many fights in the ufc so some of the late career losses probably dropped his stats quite a bit. Same with Anderson’s post title slump
Bisping literally ran from Gegard, Yoel and Jacare when they were the contenders, opting to fight Number 12 ranked Dan Henderson instead in his title defense and then a bloated GSP coming off the couch, Bisping wanted nothing to do with Gegard which eventually forced him out of the promotion on a 5 fight win streak beating Belfort, Leites, Weidman, Hall and Thiago Santos.
I always love it when someone says you can’t argue with this and then bam here’s all the facts. This is a channel that always has fun content and feels pretty non-biased. Great video!
I'm not even an Anderson wanker, but I would like to see his stats before the downfall. And I'm sure many other fighters woul have better stats if remived their late career downfall. Hell I'm sure GSPs stats would be much better if we remove his fight with Bisping
Somebody should put together a list for strikes absorbed per minute of ring time while standing. Khabibs is only so low because isn’t really getting hit when on top which I feel like is not really what people expect list like this to mean
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:03 📊 *The challenge of determining the most unhittable fighters in UFC history.* - Explains the methodology of determining unhittable fighters. - Key defensive stats considered: strikes absorbed per minute, strike defense percentage, strikes absorbed, and total attempted strikes. - Emphasis on the significance of combining these stats for a comprehensive analysis. 02:36 🥋 *Kenny Florian: Surprising inclusion in the list due to high strike defense rate.* - Kenny Florian's impressive 63% strike defense rate. - Avoided 589 out of 935 strikes in 17 UFC bouts. - Only absorbed 346 significant strikes over his career, showcasing his elusive defensive skills. 03:31 🥋 *Leoto Macha: Expected due to his karate background but lower strike defense rate.* - Leoto Macha's 61% strike defense rate. - Faced diverse opponents in 24 fights, including five title bouts. - Avoided 576 strikes out of 1185, maintaining his elusive style. 04:27 🥋 *Benson Henderson: High volume faced, impressive strike defense, and competition level.* - Benson Henderson's 63% strike defense rate despite facing high volume. - Absorbed 485 out of 1311 attempted strikes in 14 UFC bouts. - Noteworthy competition level with five title fights and 10 headline events. 05:37 🥋 *Khabib Nurmagomedov: Elite strike defense but lower volume.* - Khabib's exceptional 65% strike defense rate. - Faced only 860 attempted strikes due to his limited UFC fights. - Maintained a low 1.79 strikes absorbed per minute, showcasing elite defensive skills. 06:46 🥋 *Jon Jones: Controversial inclusion due to high volume faced and absorbed.* - Jon Jones faced the highest volume with 2,114 attempted strikes. - Despite high absorption (761 strikes), his 64% strike defense rate justifies his inclusion. - Emphasis on Jones' extensive high-level competition in 16 title bouts. 08:09 🥋 *Gegard Mousasi: Exceptional strike defense and lowest absorbed per minute.* - Mousasi's remarkable 68% strike defense rate. - Boasts the lowest strikes absorbed per minute (1.21) among the listed fighters. - Despite lower volume, Mousasi's defense against elite opponents stands out. 08:52 🥋 *Ryan Bader: Phenomenal strike defense rate and low absorption.* - Ryan Bader's outstanding 71% strike defense rate. - Absorbed only 285 significant strikes in 20 fights, showcasing his elusiveness. - Emphasis on Bader's remarkable defensive skills and freshness for Bellator dominance. 09:58 🥋 *Phil Davis: Unexpected inclusion with top-tier strike defense.* - Phil Davis' exceptional 72% strike defense rate. - Despite fewer fights (13), Davis' stats and defensive prowess are noteworthy. - Acknowledgment of Davis' impressive performance considering his limited UFC appearances. 10:11 🥋 *Demetrious Johnson: High volume faced and consistent defense.* - Demetrious Johnson's significant volume with 1764 attempted strikes. - Balanced stats with a 67% strike defense rate and 1.66 strikes absorbed per minute. - Highlighting Johnson's prolonged high-level performance in 18 fights, mostly for titles. 11:49 🥋 *George St Pierre (GSP): Unquestionable top spot with exceptional stats.* - GSP's unparalleled 1.4 strikes absorbed per minute and 72% strike defense rate. - Facing a significant volume (1771 attempted strikes) but consistently avoiding them. - GSP's overall dominance in key defensive metrics solidifies his position as the most unhittable UFC fighter. Made with HARPA AI
Sequel to this video essay/ data deep dive - "the most efficient fight wins in UFC history" This would take into account the qualitative data (finishing rate, significant strikes thrown v. landed, takedowns attempted and succeeded of the winning fighter as opposed to the losing one) at a certain data benchmark of "per 3 minute" standard. It would also take into account qualitative ones such as visible tiredness, lack of taunting/ bravado/ flair during the fight, etc.
Sean Strickland often uses a high guard and a Phillie Shell. Most of the 'Significant Strikes" he absorbs are on his arms or shoulders. His defense is obscenely good.
I'm not surprised that Mousasi is on this list, he's the most criminally underrated fighter in all of mma (imho). So, it's not surprising to me that he avoided punches pretty well.
I feel like the strikes thrown against isn’t really a knock against how high the fighter should be on the list. If they are in control most of the time, let’s say in top control on the ground then that means they are unhitble because they are in a dominant position.
A big difference is who wrestles more and brings their fights to the ground more. Like Khabib is prob on the ground way more than A. Silva. Cuz Anderson likes to box and kick more than wrestle.
The UFC does not exclude grounded significant strikes from their strike data. Eg sig strikes by position for Magomed vs Walker, ankalaev had 38 at distance, 0 clinch, 1 ground. In his total sig strikes metric, he has 39 proving it indeed counts grounded strikes. Meaning this list will favor guys who are excellent grapplers but have a tendency to trade with their take down threat greatly affecting the fight. Ironically I think most know Khabib for instance was INCREDIBLY hittable. But you know you were eating one to get slammed. GSP might be the best example of this too. But this is very hard for mma so I feel for you - this is the best way to do it. KFlo for pure defensive prowess id imagine in a pure qualitative sense I have in the top 3. Guys who trade and defensive fighting is their MO. It’s really easy to identify boxers who are defensive wizards bc all they can do is use their hands. Part of Jon’s defense is his offensive threat. A fantastic list that did exactly what I come here: to think about something I hadn’t considered cheers boys
SUP FIGHT FANS! Seeing Dom Cruz comments and def should have thought to include him in the honorable mentions on reputation alone, but it was his 2.61 absorbed rate (which is higher than anybody we included by a lot) that got me to decide to leave him off the list. 1000% an elite unhittable fighter, just didn't fit for me qualitatively. Certainly subjective. But as I mentioned at the end, luckily the winner was pretty clear cut so I'm good with some debate on who should have made the 10.
Great content as always.
I do feel Cruz belongs on there more than someone like Khabib who was only hard to hit, not because he was an elite striker with great defense, but because he’s generally on top of you or has his head in your groinal region. Also his level of competition is significantly lower because he retired after 3 title defenses.
Just my own two cents, but certainly subjective as you said. I definitely agree on #1.
For anybody further interested I'll leave this reply comment to discuss it a bit more because it's kinda funny, Jon Jones was either going to be #6 or not at all on the list, which I know is weird way to look at it, but I made the concession for him outside the data because I felt he made sense on the list with the most strikes thrown at him, but because he was at a 2.22 SApM I wasn't going to include him initially at all since that was so much higher than the rest of the field. The same goes for Mousasi related to his volume. But his other stats were so good it made sense to me and so those were the two I was willing to make concessions for to include in the 10. I could have done the same with Cruz but then it felt like too much of the list was going to be decisions I made about the data vs what the data was telling me and so it was a judgement call to have Jones in there instead of Cruz, who was similarly situated.
thing is you dont get many chances to miss khabib. if you miss your going to the ground and your nights likly over.
Where’s Wonderboy? Not honorable mention…
How about stephen thomson , dis he not make the honourbale Mention.
I love that Gegard Mousasi is on this list. One of the most underrated fighters ever. Won belts in every promotion except for the UFC, because he didn’t get the chance. Absolute legend of the sport.
The reason why they didn’t throw that many shots at him is because he finished opponents, 50% of his fights he finished in the first round.
He also was at his best when USADA was gone and always campaigned against steroids.
Imo he would've stomped through Bisping.
@@thediaz07A lot of the division at the time would’ve
@@thediaz07 100% that’s why bisping and the UFC didn’t want to make that fight. Sad thing is, many people would put bisping higher on a goat list than Mousasi.
✊❤👍
@@thediaz07 there's no doubt in my mind
The ending was intense af lol felt like a movie
I love that. It perfectly puts in perspective how insane some fighters were, especially for newer fans. When I gain interest in a new sport I like to watch overly dramatic yt videos to contextualize how great some players/fighters were lol.
I’m Dutch and biased but I’m so happy to see Mousasi on this list. Legend of the sport, who should be in some hall of fame, but because he wasn’t popular enough, he’ll never get the recognition he deserves.
I’m not Dutch but I totally agree. Even Khabib said he’s one of the most underrated fighters of all time.
isn't Mousasi Armenian
@@rianislam5578correct! born in Iran to Armenian refugees. But he grew up in the Netherlands from the age of 3-4 I believe. He came through one of our best martial arts academies under Chris Dolman (first non-Russian to win gold in a sambo world championship).
@@rianislam5578 he’s Armenian, born in Teheran and lives in the Netherlands. He proudly wears the Armenian and Dutch flag.
@@owenlichtenberg7932 and Bertje Kops haha
I wonder how Anderson Silica’s stats would have looked if you separated his career in two halves; before and after his lost the strap. I feel like that’d be two very different sets of data.
Just what I was thinking. Simply remove his last 7 fights and he makes the Top 10. GSP is still the goat though🐐
I'd like to see a 1b) of pre losing strap stats with and without the chael fight.
Exactly what I was thinking, i get they don’t want to be biased and so they take it all as it is but if you cut that streak off the numbers would definitely look completely different
Anderson Silica lolll. Imagine if that was his fight name 😂😂😂
If i remember correctly, his UFC significang strike defense percentage until the Weidman fights was around 65 or 68%.
Numbers don't tell everything though.
I think it's harder to not get hit if you'll put yourself in dangerous spots (like Silva) versus playing it strategically from the beginning (like GSP).
Mousasi, one of the best résumés in the sport and still underrated af.
his sherdog does look impressive
Low-key overrated af. All his best wins are against pre-prime or past-prime opponents.
@@madgavin7568 he dropped a couple big ones in the first Machida and the second Jacaré fight. And there is admittedly some post-prime/pre-prime consideration with his best wins. But I think it’s the skills that stand out. His wins are often so convincing. He’s a very potent finisher that makes very little mistakes. That makes him a great fighter to me. Certainly not overrated.
Though I also believe underrated is a bit of a stretch. I think that is revisionist history, since most people believed he was done dirty by the UFC and deserved a title shot/#1 contender fight against Romero or Whittaker. I remember his prime well and most commentators and other fighters were well aware of his quality at the time.
@@owenlichtenberg7932 This might come across like I'm a hater but Moose has a deceptively good record as I can't think of a fighter who has as many asterisks wins as Mousasi does honestly. The closest might be Henry Cejudo but even then, Cejudo was actually an elite talent.
Moose did have some good things going for him as a fighter. He had a solid jab, leg kick and 1-2, his striking defense wasn't overly bad and he has a good single-leg for takedowns. He also has (and still has) a great chin. He's pretty one-note however, and he never seemingly had a plan B in any of his fights which is why he had the occasional bottle-job fight.
St. Pierre absorbed 437 out of 2, 2034 strikes. All of them by Johnny hendrix.
Unless you're a diaz fan who believes gsp was also on steroids, I still don't get anyone who complains about that robbery. Dude was the second most obvious manic steroid abuser behind Vitor..
@georgeeast9271 those aren't diaz fanboys those are Coke Jones fans they are pissed off that their boy was on steroids so they keep saying everybody on steroids they even say Khabib was on it a guy who never drinks or smokes gonna do steroids!!!! 😂 these guys are crazy
Not that I should ever be surprised by GSP’s greatness… but wow, I did not expect him to have such outstanding numbers defensively. Never fails to impress me
Crazy bc the wrestling stats list was similar. 10-2 were all great but GSP at 1 just blew everyone else out of the water
GSP and Mighty Mouse of course blow my mind for the fact that they've avoided ~2400 strikes combined, but man, Ryan Bader's defense is incredible. 700 avoided out of 985 thrown is actually hard to comprehend. Was he even in the same cage as his opponent? Is he two-dimensional? Does his body materialize around punches like the T-1000???
If you're really good (which Ryan is/was) AND you also don't have to fight mostly champ opponents, that's Bader's fortune. GSP and Mighty Mouse, unfortunately, had to fight mostly top contenders or other champs or former champs... the true elites of the elites.... so that's why their numbers are even more impressive.
I'm still not sure how Islam was cut off, from the judging criteria as this video presented.... because it is very difficult for anyone to hit him. Yes, he doesn't help his own stats by denying most fighters their strikes against him from happening at all (prolific strikers like Green, Drew, Hooker, Charles et al) by shutting them down via wrestling.
Jones isn’t controversial; can’t hit a dude while he’s clawing your eyes out
Lol bruh, you made me laugh 😂
From a mile away
And after when you therefore can't see Jon Jones
Same reasoning for Khabib and Islam, can't be avoiding punches if your opponent is stuck to the floor
@@PyjamaRex yup but it is not illegal, but eye poking is.
Excellent and fun list! I didn’t expect some of these.
The only disappointment is not using the “I tried to hit him and he looked at me like I was stupid” quote from Forrest Griffin. Feel like it would have fit the theme lol
Where tf is Dominick Cruz???
Where tf is Wonderboy!?!
They used stats and numbers for the list, basically these list are facts
If he isn't on here he didn't avoid enough strikes. Simple
Dom isn't good at avoiding body/leg strikes
See pinned comment
Awesome work as always, Tommy. My biggest takeaway from this list though, was the clear correlation between fighters who are defensively sound and fighters the UFC beef with.
Next put a list of the most hittable fighters.
GSP be giving no one else a chance on these lists
Stats don't lie. That was interesting. Thanks, guys.
Great work on this video! I knew all along....the best ever would be at no.1.
These data-dives are solid gold. Love love love it!
GSP Try not to be the GOAT challenge : IMPOSSIBLE
Love these deep dives
Really surprised Dominic Cruz isn’t on here!
the garbrandt ,cejudo & even the chito losses all effected his % im sure
More impressive for GSP, about 20% of strikes landed were from one fight.
I think that for someone like anderson (or tony), the discrepancy between him at his prime and after it is so wide that it's interesting to examine
Not gonna lie, got real chills seeing GSP at the top of this list. King of Kings and the Legendary Legend of Legends. Number crunching at its finest…
🐐
Ryan Bader is dope, but DC’s call-out was insane. When I heard it the first time I physically gasped 😂 most trash talk is super cringy or over the line nowadays, but DC was out for blood
I'm only 3 fighters in and I know this video is awesome!!!!! KenFlo was a guy I wanted to get a belt, it's a great look back at some of the guys who get lost in the mix.
Great analysis. Thank you!
Damm. What a great video. I entirely appreciate the effort that went into this package.
I, too, can appreciate men who put effort into their package.
This just shows even more that GSP is a GOAT. It's Jon or GSP tough call
He's been finished more than once though
@@bzilla-d4i But we are not sure since Jones was juiced while GSP was clean the whole time
@@lebogangncongwane4298 we can't tell that either Lebo, remember the whole thing between him and Hendricks, fighting over which testing org to use, GSP is a cerebral guy, it's not always as clean cut as some orgs test for some things others don't, which is why Islam failed an Olympic doping test but passed the UFC/USADA test.
@@bzilla-d4i yeah I guess you might be right
@@lebogangncongwane4298 yeah these fighters are sneaky as hell bro, which side of SA are you from?
Anderson silva vs Forrest Griffin is the best "can't touch me" moment
holloway vs cattar/Ortega, izzy vs vettori 2 and garbrandt vs cruz are closely behind that
Conor vs Eddie as well
I actually predicted/ knew who it was, my personal goat and the reason I watch MMA
Gegard is my favourite fighter in mma. He got me into the sport and it makes me happy to see him on this list 🙏🏻
tbh most your guy's videos are for casual viewers, this ones solid.
I don't wanna brag but I've actually never been in the receiving end of a strike in the UFC.
Can’t believe Cruz wasn’t an honourable mention
All that foot work is just for show I guess
Pinned comment explains why
Loved the music crescendo during the number 1 stat run down!!!!
I thought Cruz was gonna be 1 tbh
😭😭😭😭😭 those 5 rounds w cody
See pinned comment
Ok - this is brilliant work. The MAax Holloway stat about being the most hit and most missed at the same time - great work.
tommys the only guy on MMA on point worth listening to
You do realise they have a team of analysts working on the data, this guy is just a mouthpiece.
@@bzilla-d4i yeah i know he has the least annoying voice
@@southerndiscomfort171 you having difficulty understanding the people who invented the English language, I'm Italian and I understand them perfectly fine
@@bzilla-d4i did i say that? you can't even understand what i've typed wop
@@bzilla-d4i who invented English, 😂😂😂 common dude there are people who have annoying voices period
I like how when Izzy was talking about fighting Anderson
How Anderson's range and timing was so perfect, that you could hit him, but it would just barely brush his skin a little and he could then counter
Great list, really interesting!
Thanks for the video
Gsp by fkn miles u forget just how good he was n that window obv a 2nd return after returning n becoming champ. He was ELITE
Khabib had such an unorthodox head/ body movement that threw off the opponents he fought and the threat of takedown also made them hesitant & cautious.
Makhachev on the other hand has truly elite defensive stand up and hard to crack.
Why can't people just admit Khabib is excellent? It's always backhanded BS like this.
@@jsum33 Excellent at what? his stand up is at best decent but his unorthodox stand up and takedown threat is what makes him hard to hit clean.
@@moonvenerable7897excellent at not getting hit😂 ur fucking pathetic😂
@moonvenerable7897 yh it's because he is great in that just appreciate him and move on but u all really make an excuse for everything like for him even not getting bled in the octagon not to mention some conkr fans making excuse for Khabib winning fights in ground like come on it's MMA after all 💀
I mean you've got the data now, I'd love to see the other end of the list, most hittable fighters
Average rank of opponent would’ve been a useful additional metric. You guys took it into account, but the quantity would’ve been helpful. Great video regardless! Keep these coming!
I love these data video's, can you do one where you look at fighters who hut eachother the most? so 2 fighters who fought eachkther once or multiple times and got the mist significant strikes that way
One of the many reasons hy GSP is the goat.
Holloway dodging Kattar combos is the most iconic defensive sequence in UFC history.
i wonder how dom cruz stats line up to these other guys, as a guy who’s game plan mostly revolves around making his opponents miss, it would be interesting to see his stats
for like several years 😂 every GSP fight seemed like only guy knew how to fight inside the cage 😭
Just from my first thoughts I was expecting to see Wonderboy and Dominick Cruz on this list too. Do y’all have the stats for them bc I was shocked that either of them didn’t even have an honorable mention
Tommy has a reply with Cruz's aspm rate at 2.61. I assume the later half of his career contributed quite a bit to that. I was surprised wonderboy didn't make the cut but I guess he got hit more than we remember
Wonderboy got hit a lot
I know the mentioned him in the honorable mentions, but did hear some where that Sean Strickland has the current best strike defense, or did I fever dream that?
I think this is mainly a list of good wrestlers that could hold people down, which is a legitimate way to avoid strikes but i think the reason people have said strickland or silva is because when people read the title they were thinking of people avoiding strikes while standing
I think Anderson's later run ruined the stats, though the top 2 was predictable from a mile away.
Great videos, guys 🎉
I want to know Dominick Cruz & Wonderboys stats. I thought they'd be on the list. Atleast honourable mentions😊
id be very interested to see what andersons numbers were if his final losing streak was taken out of the data. was prime silva comparable statistically to the rest of the list and just stayed in too long?
That's a nice soundtrack, where can I get a copy of it?
Wait, where's Cruz??
Number 1 sorta surprised me… but thinking of it no it doesn’t. He’s GSP, he really is the GOAT of MMA. The best overall in everything. You can argue about The Spider Silva, Mighty Mouse, Jon Coke Jones, or even the Eagle Khabib himself being undefeated. But there’s something really special about Rush.
I thought for sure cruz would be high up on the list, but come to think of it due to injuries he didn’t have that many fights in the ufc so some of the late career losses probably dropped his stats quite a bit. Same with Anderson’s post title slump
Gegard Mousasi is very under appreciated, because the UFC didn’t like him.
Love these
Really neat list! GSP is the goat
I don't think Daniel Cormier was super worried about Bader's striking defense, Tommy.
Bisping literally ran from Gegard, Yoel and Jacare when they were the contenders, opting to fight Number 12 ranked Dan Henderson instead in his title defense and then a bloated GSP coming off the couch, Bisping wanted nothing to do with Gegard which eventually forced him out of the promotion on a 5 fight win streak beating Belfort, Leites, Weidman, Hall and Thiago Santos.
Where the hell is Artem “30 tried, 15 succeeded” Lobov?!
It's not 15 succeeded, it's ONLY 15 succeeded! Artem the GOAT!
I was surprised not to see D. Cruz on this list considering he was always considered such a movement heavy, elusive fighter.
You guys are quality, and class. Keep it coming. 🔥
I always love it when someone says you can’t argue with this and then bam here’s all the facts. This is a channel that always has fun content and feels pretty non-biased. Great video!
That ending was so epic, I felt that shit
I’m guessing it was a #s issue with him too but I expected Dominick Cruz to be on this list.
I'm not even an Anderson wanker, but I would like to see his stats before the downfall. And I'm sure many other fighters woul have better stats if remived their late career downfall.
Hell I'm sure GSPs stats would be much better if we remove his fight with Bisping
Somebody should put together a list for strikes absorbed per minute of ring time while standing. Khabibs is only so low because isn’t really getting hit when on top which I feel like is not really what people expect list like this to mean
DJ's is impressive to me due to the output you generally see at a weight class like flyweight.
I'd be interested in seeing silva's numbers in his prime.
Moussasi is criminally underrated frr
you guys should post some of the fighters who didnt make the top 10, kinda interesting to see
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:03 📊 *The challenge of determining the most unhittable fighters in UFC history.*
- Explains the methodology of determining unhittable fighters.
- Key defensive stats considered: strikes absorbed per minute, strike defense percentage, strikes absorbed, and total attempted strikes.
- Emphasis on the significance of combining these stats for a comprehensive analysis.
02:36 🥋 *Kenny Florian: Surprising inclusion in the list due to high strike defense rate.*
- Kenny Florian's impressive 63% strike defense rate.
- Avoided 589 out of 935 strikes in 17 UFC bouts.
- Only absorbed 346 significant strikes over his career, showcasing his elusive defensive skills.
03:31 🥋 *Leoto Macha: Expected due to his karate background but lower strike defense rate.*
- Leoto Macha's 61% strike defense rate.
- Faced diverse opponents in 24 fights, including five title bouts.
- Avoided 576 strikes out of 1185, maintaining his elusive style.
04:27 🥋 *Benson Henderson: High volume faced, impressive strike defense, and competition level.*
- Benson Henderson's 63% strike defense rate despite facing high volume.
- Absorbed 485 out of 1311 attempted strikes in 14 UFC bouts.
- Noteworthy competition level with five title fights and 10 headline events.
05:37 🥋 *Khabib Nurmagomedov: Elite strike defense but lower volume.*
- Khabib's exceptional 65% strike defense rate.
- Faced only 860 attempted strikes due to his limited UFC fights.
- Maintained a low 1.79 strikes absorbed per minute, showcasing elite defensive skills.
06:46 🥋 *Jon Jones: Controversial inclusion due to high volume faced and absorbed.*
- Jon Jones faced the highest volume with 2,114 attempted strikes.
- Despite high absorption (761 strikes), his 64% strike defense rate justifies his inclusion.
- Emphasis on Jones' extensive high-level competition in 16 title bouts.
08:09 🥋 *Gegard Mousasi: Exceptional strike defense and lowest absorbed per minute.*
- Mousasi's remarkable 68% strike defense rate.
- Boasts the lowest strikes absorbed per minute (1.21) among the listed fighters.
- Despite lower volume, Mousasi's defense against elite opponents stands out.
08:52 🥋 *Ryan Bader: Phenomenal strike defense rate and low absorption.*
- Ryan Bader's outstanding 71% strike defense rate.
- Absorbed only 285 significant strikes in 20 fights, showcasing his elusiveness.
- Emphasis on Bader's remarkable defensive skills and freshness for Bellator dominance.
09:58 🥋 *Phil Davis: Unexpected inclusion with top-tier strike defense.*
- Phil Davis' exceptional 72% strike defense rate.
- Despite fewer fights (13), Davis' stats and defensive prowess are noteworthy.
- Acknowledgment of Davis' impressive performance considering his limited UFC appearances.
10:11 🥋 *Demetrious Johnson: High volume faced and consistent defense.*
- Demetrious Johnson's significant volume with 1764 attempted strikes.
- Balanced stats with a 67% strike defense rate and 1.66 strikes absorbed per minute.
- Highlighting Johnson's prolonged high-level performance in 18 fights, mostly for titles.
11:49 🥋 *George St Pierre (GSP): Unquestionable top spot with exceptional stats.*
- GSP's unparalleled 1.4 strikes absorbed per minute and 72% strike defense rate.
- Facing a significant volume (1771 attempted strikes) but consistently avoiding them.
- GSP's overall dominance in key defensive metrics solidifies his position as the most unhittable UFC fighter.
Made with HARPA AI
Sequel to this video essay/ data deep dive - "the most efficient fight wins in UFC history"
This would take into account the qualitative data (finishing rate, significant strikes thrown v. landed, takedowns attempted and succeeded of the winning fighter as opposed to the losing one) at a certain data benchmark of "per 3 minute" standard. It would also take into account qualitative ones such as visible tiredness, lack of taunting/ bravado/ flair during the fight, etc.
Bro what's the OST in background while Talking about gsp drop the name please.
Always dropping some quality content
However. Jones has had matches which were later converted to no contests for PED .
Was that considered while making the calculations
Cruz????
See pinned comment
It’s truly remarkable how you guys never run out of video concepts
My man GSP
Danas wife needs to train with these teams.
😂😂
I knew there was no way that Anderson would actually make this list after his loss streak. But BEFORE he fought Weidman, how untouchable was he?
Sean Strickland often uses a high guard and a Phillie Shell.
Most of the 'Significant Strikes" he absorbs are on his arms or shoulders.
His defense is obscenely good.
Vaseline really worked for GSP
The way you ride GSP is wild. I get it. He is GOAT….
List is not accurate due to the weight division difference. A good factor would have been average sig. strikes thrown per weight division.
GSP - hard to hit a guy who tackles you 30 seconds into the fight.
I'm not surprised that Mousasi is on this list, he's the most criminally underrated fighter in all of mma (imho). So, it's not surprising to me that he avoided punches pretty well.
I deadset thought cruise was the number one
I feel like the strikes thrown against isn’t really a knock against how high the fighter should be on the list. If they are in control most of the time, let’s say in top control on the ground then that means they are unhitble because they are in a dominant position.
A big difference is who wrestles more and brings their fights to the ground more. Like Khabib is prob on the ground way more than A. Silva. Cuz Anderson likes to box and kick more than wrestle.
The UFC does not exclude grounded significant strikes from their strike data. Eg sig strikes by position for Magomed vs Walker, ankalaev had 38 at distance, 0 clinch, 1 ground. In his total sig strikes metric, he has 39 proving it indeed counts grounded strikes.
Meaning this list will favor guys who are excellent grapplers but have a tendency to trade with their take down threat greatly affecting the fight. Ironically I think most know Khabib for instance was INCREDIBLY hittable. But you know you were eating one to get slammed. GSP might be the best example of this too. But this is very hard for mma so I feel for you - this is the best way to do it. KFlo for pure defensive prowess id imagine in a pure qualitative sense I have in the top 3. Guys who trade and defensive fighting is their MO. It’s really easy to identify boxers who are defensive wizards bc all they can do is use their hands. Part of Jon’s defense is his offensive threat.
A fantastic list that did exactly what I come here: to think about something I hadn’t considered cheers boys