5 Best Boxers In MMA Today

MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts, in this sport you will find many fighters who are skilled in wrestling, karate, BJJ Muay-Thai, and so on. However, boxing is also one of the fighting styles used in MMA too. 

People who love to look up the MMA betting odds love the fighters and how their careers influence the odds, and it is no surprise that bettors get all excited when a hardcore fighter steps into the ring, because the betting action will be legendary. 

Being a skilled boxer doesn’t mean a fighter will slay at every fight, but it does mean that they are good at what they do, and when combined with other styles like BJJ and Karate, it can be a lethal combination. 

For this reason, we want to look at the 5 best boxers in MMA fighting today. Which fighters have the edge, and who should you be placing your bets on?

What Makes A Great Boxer?

Boxing can be tough, and pro boxers will spend ages training to improve. Boxing is not just about throwing a heavy punch it is about many aspects that often get overlooked by spectators in the thrill of the moment.

Some of the traits a boxer needs to have to be named a ‘great boxer’ include; quickness, accurate punching, power behind a punch, defensive ability, conditioning (endurance), discipline, courage and of course, brains. 

Though we don’t really award boxers on having oodles of brain cells, you do need to be smart to box, it includes strategy and quick thinking. A fist is coming in towards you, how do you retaliate? You only have a few seconds to figure that out! 

There is more to it than meets the eye.

The Best MMA Boxers Today

So with all this in mind, who are the best boxers we see in MMA today? 

Here are our top 5 most recent legends. 

#1. Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier

Poirier has plenty of skill in MMA, and he expertly blends in plenty of fighting styles that not only make him brutal but also a well-rounded fighter too. While he uses his legs, his hands are a calling card. 

Whenever he steps into the Octagon he has proven himself over and over again. He took a decision over Holloway in order to claim the interim strap for lightweight in spring 2019, he beat the ‘blessed’ in quite a close call, but that says enough for his skill. 

#2. Max Holloway

Holloway is as pure a boxer as it gets really. He always used his hands to decimate his opponents. He’s not quite as active as he has been in previous years, but we can’t leave him out for that.

He grabbed the belt with a TKO against Jose Aldo, and followed that with another Aldo TKO. 

He has won many battles with his hands, and his niche is decimation through pace and volume. There are few opponents he hasn’t beaten now. 

#3. Petr Yan

Yan is something of a delicate snowball that quickly becomes a full on avalanche. He starts off things real slow, thinks about it, and figures out what he has over his competition. Before the opposition knows it, Yan is pummeling them with power and volume. 

He is one of the best all-around in the sport, from his brutality with his hands to his masterful ground pound. 

He traded with Aldo for a few rounds before he TKO’ed him with a ground pound in the 5th, which any fan of MMA will admit was one of the best moments to view in quite some time. It is safe to say he is short on mercy. 

#4. Connor McGregor

McGregor is one of the most terrifying left hands in the sport, he also gained the title as the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first ever double-champion. He does have a lot of deadly leg power, but it’s his boxing that has destroyed most of his competition. 

He even took our Poirier as well. He is precise and times his punches well, so he is more artful than about sheer power. However, this is effective, and it has led to him holding gold titles at lightweight and featherweight.

#5. Alexander Volkanovski

Volkanovski is a well-rounded fighter, and he ascended to the top of the 145 division. So many thought wrestling was his hallmark, but he has grown a lot in his hand strikes over his time. 

He used a stand-up to defeat Holloway through a unanimous decision the first time they faced off. This was where Volkanovski became a champion. 

His boxing is somewhat underrated as part of his game, but not only has he grown to a champion fast, he has defeated some of the other names on this list in face offs, which definitely says something.