Sherdog’s Top 10: Inside Fighters
Number 4
4. Matt Brown
More than any other elite fighter in MMA today, Brown relies on his inside game to win fights. He is not a bad range striker, showcasing a long right hand and sneaky kicks to cut off his opponents’ angles, but everything about his approach is predicated on corralling his foe against the fence, grabbing the clinch and going to work.
If there is an overlooked facet of the present-day clinch game, it is the relative lack of application of the full range of muay Thai techniques. Too many fans, analysts, fighters and even coaches think solely of the double-collar tie, when in reality the Thai clinch incorporates a dizzying variety of positions from the over-under to the body lock to frames to side clinches, throws and dumps from any and all of those positions, multiple types of knee strikes elbows at all angles and counters to caught kicks. Brown is one of the very few fighters to truly plumb the depths of muay Thai and apply what he has learned in MMA.
Even highly skilled infighters like Erick Silva, Jordan Mein and Robbie Lawler -- though the new welterweight champion managed to induce a relative stalemate -- have struggled to best Brown at close range. His length, at a rangy 6-foot, gives him incredible leverage and the ability to create space to land strikes, while his endless cardio and ridiculous durability allow him to eat a shot or two in order to grind down his opponents with hard knees to the head and body and a steady diet of vertical, diagonal and horizontal elbows designed to open up cuts and literally drain the life from his unfortunate foes.
While Brown came up short on his most recent run for the title, he deserves real credit as an innovator from whom future fighters will surely draw inspiration.
Number 3 » While the Olympic alternate eventually developed a passable striking game and did good work on the ground, from the very beginning of his career his strong suit was always his work in the tie-ups. His strong background in Greco-Roman wrestling lent him a unique ability to control his opponent in the clinch.
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