Sherdog’s Top 10: Most Aggressive Fighters

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3. Mauricio Rua

The old Chute Boxe camp in Curitiba, Brazil, was known for producing exceptionally aggressive fighters. From the master Rafael Cordeiro to Jose Landi-Jons and Wanderlei Silva, Chute Boxe earned its place as one of the most feared collections of fighters in the sport’s history. Rua represented the next generation of Curitiba natives to go on to do great things on the world stage, the refinement of everything the first wave had learned and practiced.

Two things defined the Chute Boxe style: powerful punching and fight-ending clinch work. An unchecked streak of violence and aggression made both of those viable strategies, and in “Shogun’s” case, they were backed up with freakish, next-level athleticism. Jumping knees in the clinch? No problem. Flying double kicks at range? Sure. Leaping stomps and soccer kicks over the opponent’s guard? Sign him up.

Shogun’s early fights in Pride display that overwhelming commitment to aggressiveness and insane violence. He knocked out Hiromitsu Kanehara and established top fighter Quinton Jackson with soccer kicks, pounded out Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona with vicious punches and threw Antonio Rogerio Nogueira all over the ring to cap off one of the most impressive years in the sport’s history.

Even the later-career incarnations of “Shogun” still displayed this aggression, albeit in more measured form. He walked down Lyoto Machida for five rounds in their first fight, chopping his legs with low kick after low kick, and found his head for a first-round knockout in their second meeting. He took the fight to Dan Henderson in the fourth and fifth rounds of their first fight after being pummeled in the first three frames, showcasing ridiculous heart and aggressiveness even in the face of adversity.

With his long and illustrious career coming to an end, we should pause for a moment to appreciate the crazy violence “Shogun” provided for so many years.

Number 2 » There had been aggressive fighters before, but he represented something entirely different. He had speed and power on a level that mixed martial arts had never seen, and while by today’s standards he was far from a clean technician as a striker, in 1997, he was a breath of fresh air. The combination of utter ferocity, unreal explosiveness and a bone-deep commitment to finishing fights made him stand out from the very beginning.