Martial Arts, Ranked

Royce Gracie's dominance at the first UFC events proved grappling supremacy and reshaped combat sports; ground control and submissions are now foundational to MMA.

An Olympic sport with millions of practitioners, its takedowns and control give elite wrestlers a proven edge across the UFC's champions.

Thailand's national sport weaponizes fists, elbows, knees, and shins, and its clinch and low kicks form the striking core of modern MMA.

The most refined hand-striking system on Earth with a global professional following; its footwork and head movement anchor MMA stand-up.

By combining the most effective techniques under full-contact rules, MMA is the empirical benchmark against which every other style is measured.

An Olympic sport since 1964 practiced worldwide, its explosive throws and standing grappling translate directly into MMA takedowns and clinch control.

A globally popular full-contact striking sport whose Glory-era champions have repeatedly crossed over into successful MMA striking careers.

A Soviet-developed blend of judo and wrestling; combat sambo produced dominant fighters like Fedor Emelianenko and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

A striking art with worldwide reach that debuted at the 2020 Olympics; its point-fighting foundation shaped champions like Lyoto Machida and Stephen Thompson.

An Olympic sport with tens of millions of practitioners globally, its dynamic kicking has fed the arsenals of fighters like Anthony Pettis.

The practical, full-contact combat form of Chinese martial arts, blending strikes with throws and proven in competitive kickboxing rings.

A hard-nosed British-American grappling style emphasizing pins and painful submissions, a direct ancestor of both pro wrestling and modern MMA grappling.

Developed for the Israeli military, it is highly effective for practical self-defense but is not a competitive sport, limiting tested reach.

Japan's ancient national sport rewards devastating balance and shoving power, though its narrow ruleset limits broad combat application.

The classical samurai grappling art that seeded judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, though its traditional forms are less pressure-tested than its descendants.

A Chinese art famed through Bruce Lee and Ip Man, but its non-sparring trapping methods have struggled to prove out under full resistance.

An umbrella for hundreds of Chinese styles rich in history and culture, but most traditional forms lack the live sparring that builds real fighters.

A disciplined Japanese sword sport with deep tradition, but as a weapon-based art it offers little for unarmed combat.

A dazzling Afro-Brazilian art of acrobatic kicks, but its flowing, rhythmic style is rarely effective against resisting opponents.

Built around joint locks and blending with an attacker's force, but its lack of resistant sparring has left it widely criticized as ineffective in real fights.

Practiced by millions for health and balance, its slow forms carry martial roots but almost no practical fighting application today.

One of the oldest martial arts in the world with striking cultural heritage, but little modern competitive or combat validation.