Just a bit of fun really, but considering all strikers who've got into the mma cage/ring, who's been your top strikers & stand-up fighters in their prime.

Mine are probably (not in any particular order past 1-4:

1) Fedor Emelianenko - awsome all rounder in his prime
2) Cung Le - best kicker
3) Cro-Cop - great kicker & nice movement
4) Anderson Silva - speaks for itself, so versatile & accurate
5) Jon Bones Jones - i know a little early to say but he's good
5) Shane Carwin - awsome power
6) Chuck Liddel - good puncher & the best takedown defence
7) Lyoto Machida - makes traiditional karate work
8) Jose Also - fast striker and good GnP

There's loads more but they're who i like to watch the most for their stand-up game.

Doh! I forgot one of my all time favourites in his prime: Igor Vovchanchin!!!! Check out his highlights, great pucnher and takedown defence.

Anderson Silva's accuracy and timing is pretty amazing, at least among MMA strikers....and when he decides to attack. I just wish he were aggressive more often.

I'm more impressed with Anderson than I am with Machida. Machida does some interesting things, but I sorta feel like Machida replies on tricks and he uses the same patterns of movement each time and his explosiveness allows him to get away with it. I think Shogun beat him in their first fight (IMO) and KO'd him in their second fight by picking up on his patterns and not falling for the hip twitches and feints.

Shogun is a great striker among MMA fighters, but I still want to see him tighten up his technique. He does amazing in some moments, but he seems sloppy in others. He absolutely did not look good against Jon Jones in his last fight. His timing and technique were off.

Jon Jones is a baby in terms of striking, and yet he still manages to do some crazy things. He landed a flying knee to the jaw of Shogun! Yet, it seems like I always see openings in his defense. Nobody has connected with them yet. I think that is mainly because he is such a danger with unpredictable takedowns. He doesn't shoot in from a distance. Greco wrestling is such an amazing skillset when applied properly in MMA.

I can't wait to see what Aldo is going to be like in 3-4 years. He seems so confident with his attacks now. When his technique is even more refined (mainly his boxing), he's going to be simply amazing to watch. Just think, his main skillset is supposed to be ground fighting! But he is beating the crap out of people on their feet. He was supposedly ill before his last fight against a serious striker in Hominick and he still won.

Ya know, I thought Yves Edwards had potential to be one of the best MMA strikers, but his skillset seemed to plateau years ago and he lacked aggression in a lot of fights. Shame.

Joachim Hansen is a pretty tough striker, though he could use refinement and it's a shame he has a chip on his shoulder about the UFC. He said he would never fight for them.

Cung Le was entertaining in some matches, but he didn't fight the best, so it's difficult to tell.

I was only impressed with Cro-cop's striking in a few of his Pride fights. He seemed to have lost his fire when he moved to the UFC.

Certainly agree with Cro-cop and Cung Le.. Cro-cop i think is passed it now, he's been there and done it for too long and doesn't seem to have the drive. Cung Le is basically just treating MMA as a hobby now and concentrating on b-movies or whatever they are, however Cung Le's kicking was far superior than most faces around today.

Never seen either of Yves Edwards or Joachim Hansen.

Jon Jones is so unpredictable. He tries things nobody else even things of, like Silva does/did.

Machida - the best use of karate i have seen, and this is where the patterned footwork and explosion comes from. With variation of training a little and ambition i still think Machida could go down as a great.

Jose Aldo has vicious leg kicks, sick head movement, and some seriously quick hands. He is super creative and mixes his strikes up well. He is top of the food chain for me, but I am biased towards lighter weight fighters.

Good shout on Vovchanchin,used to love watching him fight.

Overeem is one of my faves to watch. Maybe not the best around, but like to see Donald Cerrone and Chris Lytle. From the UK Paul Taylor and Terry Etim always entertaining strikers

I know hes not regarded as highly as the names already mentioned but Tom Watson really impressed me against Rua recently, looked a different fighter to the one that fought Reid! clinical stand up.

Yeah Igor was a great striker, he also had good take down defence. Great for his size overall.

I don't know what to make of Tom Watson as never seen much of him, though hopefully he'll rise up and eventually make it into the UFC or Strikeforce one day.

yeah Igor was great. Reminds me of like an earlier version of Fedor

I rate Watson, but he has the standard Brit "struggles with wrestlers" thing going on. im sure he'll keep improving but will get highlighted more the higher level he reaches. but very good striker all the same.

weazeldeazel, watson had fought a tough match in canada two weeks before the reid fight. i think it'd have been a more one sided affair otherwise

Thiago alves gotta be up there with the best - didnt do too well against his last opponent in the UFC (cant remember his name) the wrestler was trying to take him down after he low kicked. But never managed it so instead of carrying on low kick then go high, knee to face when he shoots, etc etc his team just said no more kicks :-O box and knee! and it wasnt working as much as he wanted aswell as the lad he fought being made of concrete and thiagos lack of cage awareness cos the wrestler was backing him into the cage and shooting in = takedown, hence his loss. I love it when he gets them hand and low kicks going there sickening. I sometimes have a buldge in my pants watching it ;-)

Haha..

Yeah Thiago Alves is a solid striker, but he is in a division filled with fighters with strong wrestling ability. So his striking gets easily overlooked as he spends a lot of his time trying to fend off takedowns against the fence, just like in his last fight.

:-) sometimes two different styles make good fights sometimes they make the most boring fights, did you see that right hand he landed and the lad never moved....i'd of ran off and hid for the rest of the round and got one of my corner team to pass me a iron bar in the break :-)

anderson silva and also george st; pierre

Brian i thought them type of videos were not allowed :-) violent mma porn? look at that low kick it's seriously dirty

manhoef is got to be the best stand up great power great combo great speed very heavy hands .just his ground work is not that good and alot of people question his chin but for stand up theres not much better

Can't believe Vitor Belfort hasn't been mentioned on this thread!!! Awesome hands and kicks also good. I think technically Jose Aldo is the best i've seen and Cain Velasquez also worth a mention for his kickboxing, awesome power and speed for a heavyweight!