Your favorite fighters

[Technosphile]

Hey:

I'm curious to know which MMA/K-1 competitors you all would consider your favorites. Currently active fighters only, please. To be "currently active", a fighter has to have competed at least once in the past year and has not since retired. For example, I like Frank Shamrock, but he hasn't fought in years and is therefore ineligible. For me:

Kiyoshi Tamura
Mirko Filipovic
Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera
Rumina Sato
Ernesto Hoost
Dokonjonosuke Mishima
Kazushi Sakuraba
Carlos Newton
Takanori Gomi
Ryuki Ueyama

Those are who come to mind right now.

-Technosphile

[Jason]

I'm fairly new to MMA but my initial favorites are:

UFC: Tito Ortiz
Pride: Vanderlei Silva
K-1: Mirko Cro Cop

I really liked what I've seen of Frank Shamrock too.

[Muiyan]

I don't know bout favourite, but i will surely watch if any of these guys are on!

-Saku (exciting, innovative!)
-Carlos Newton (smooooth operator)
-Dan Henderson (did you see his fight wit Nog?!)
-Bob Sapp (C'mon, it's THE BEAST!)
-Ernesto Hoost (my real name is Ernesto. Gotta root!)
-Emelianenko Fedor (look at Heath Herring's face.)
-Yuki Kondo (just cuz.)
-Wanderlei Silva (are you gonna deny the Axe Murderer?)
-Rodrigo Gracie (awesome entrance music! Anybody knows what it is?)

Actually, i shouldn't even start listing. My list goes on and on and on....

[Mojo]

I haven't seen a Pride show in ages, so I'm having a hard time recalling anyone other than Noguiero and Sapp, both of whom are obviously great.
I was impressed with Genki Sudo the one time I saw him fight, at UFC in England. Other guys in UFC I like include Phil Baroni and Matt Lindland. Hell of a fight between those two last Friday. Matt Hughes is awesome too.

[DarknessDragonM2k]

Favs...

Kazushi Sakuraba
Wanderlei Silva
Rickson Gracie
Bob Sapp
Takada
Ken Shamerock
Don Frye
Kazuyuki Fujita

[Dr Feelgood]

My faves would be the one and only Minotauro (who's really on a planet of his own) and....
DAIJIRO MATSUI!
OK, his skills are pretty mediocre besides his power, relatively decent defense on the ground and ability to take an insane amount of damage. But the guy has huge heart, and his deserved underdog victory against Pele was one of the most enthralling matchs I've seen from PRIDE.
And his merciless beating by Pele's disciple, Ninja, was a great match too.

Otherwise:
Heath Herring (who didn't lose his head under pressure and regrouped really well after taking those hits from Fyodor. The sign of a great fighter)
Fyodor Emelianenko
Igor Vovchanchyn
Mirko Filipovic
Ray Sefo
Genki Sudo
Vanderlei Silva
Anderson Silva
Murilo "Ninja" Rua
Kazushi Sakuraba

[Technosphile]

Hey:

You can learn a lot about MMA fans based on who they like. Thanks to everyone for the replies.

Muiyan--
I completely forgot about Carlos Newton until you included him, I like him too. Fantastic technique, respectful, intelligent, determined. A model for what a fighter should be...

-Technosphile

[Jason]

After just watching Pride 24 add Dan Henderson to my list. What a gutsy performance.

[Dr Feelgood]

How come no-one has listed Joe Son, Tank Abbott or Pele as their favourite fighters, that would say a lot

[Technosphile]

Hey:

Originally posted by Dr Feelgood
How come no-one has listed Joe Son, Tank Abbott or Pele as their favourite fighters, that would say a lot

Add Ray Sefo to that list.

-Technosphile

[PaCrappa]

Matt Hume- My sensei. I hope he steps to the bigtime in Japan again.

Pedro Rizzo- My favorite UFC guy ever. If I could fight like one guy it would be Pedro at his peak. Great movement, power and technique plus he's clearly a nice respectful fellow. He looks a little sleepy now though to be honest.

Kaoru Uno- Currently I love him because he's a Japanese guy livin' it large in the UFC. That means alot to a Japancentric guy like me.

Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera- Sportsmanship means the most to me. Here's the best fighter in the world and I can't imagine a man with finer sportsman's qualities in or out of the ring. A true champ and I hope he reigns for a loooong time.

Kazushi Sakuraba- Probably still my favorite fighter ever. I love his sneaky style with the submissions and his wearing masks to honor the puro resu. Four Gracies in a year is a pretty cool stat, "controversy" or no.

Kazuyuki Fujita- Another wrestler. It's harder for me to pinpoint why I like this guy so much but I do. I was seriously impressed by his treatment of the near helpless Yvel. I wish his knee would have been good when he faced Coleman.

Dan Henderson- I'm from Idaho. This guy reminds me of the farmer kids that rode my bus. They were quiet, respectful and unassuming. And they'd pull the arms off anyone that messed with 'em. That's what I see Dan Henderson. He's got it all.

Mirko Filipovic- Dear *** this man is nasty. I like this guy in K-1 and Pride and I think he's gonna take Sapp down. My newest favorite, I never saw him fight once until 2-3 weeks ago. Wanderlei doesn't want to get back in the ring with Mirko!

Ricardo Arona- This is a truly busy fighter. He works and works in the ring and I think that he too would have a shot against Wanderlei Silva. I hope he gets it because that'd be a serious fight. This is another guy that I would say has it all. Nice grappling, submission skills and powerful strikes(at least punches, I can't recall his kicking).

Semmy Schilt- Way past his prime, I know, but I dig the guy anyway. I'm glad he's working for Pride. For some reason I find Semmy quite frightening to look at.

That's about it. I've seen a couple of Hoost's fights now as well and he sure seems like a genius. I'll probably add him to the list pretty soon.

Pa

[Mutoh-Mania]

Don Frye

[Gracie apologist]

Kazuyuki Fujita
Ryan Gracie
Vanderlei Silva
Kazushi Sakuraba