For awhile Thai-style kickboxing fighters with traditional training dominated in lighter weight classes. Took the MMA world a little while to catch up to them.
Also, not "no holds barred," whatever that means, but you can call boxing a traditional martial art if not an Eastern one, and Floyd Mayweather absolutely dominated Conor McGregor in their one matchup. Naturally, Floyd would have gotten killed in an MMA match with McGregor, but that's another answer.
What?
The UFC lightweight title (155) was first held by Jens Pulver (a wrestler/boxer) then Sean Sherk (wrestler) then Bj Penn until 2010 (BJJ prodigy)
Every single UFC tournament has been won by wrestlers, sambo fighters, and bjj fighters, with the exception for UFC 3 where Steve Jennum (Ninjitsu) was an alternate and fought in the finals, where he won by a sloppy armbar.
The upperweights are similar. Historically dominated by wrestlers and grapplers
>Steve Jennum (Ninjitsu) was an alternate and fought in the finals, where he won by a sloppy armbar.
Ever heard of confirmation bias? Well, you're engaging in it right now. If winning an early UFC is "evidence" of MA effectiveness (which I don't think it is) then Steve Jennum's victory should be accepted as "evidence" that Ninjitsu is effective. But you've just offhandedly dismissed it.
This a common pattern. Often, when a practitioner of traditional martial arts wins an MMA fight of any sort, MMA fans proclaim it "doesn't count" because of one of the following:
- It supposedly didn't look like their style of fighting.
- They cross-trained in other martial arts.
- The opponent wasn't "good enough" or the match wasn't high-level enough.
On the flip side, the same fans don't seem to care at all whether BJJ people or wrestlers cross-train, whether their actual performance "looks" like their style, or which techniques they used to win. Again, confirmation bias all around.
Also, not "no holds barred," whatever that means, but you can call boxing a traditional martial art if not an Eastern one, and Floyd Mayweather absolutely dominated Conor McGregor in their one matchup. Naturally, Floyd would have gotten killed in an MMA match with McGregor, but that's another answer.