opponent. In his seventh and most
recent successful title defense, Jones willingly kept the fight in the
clinch with Glover Teixeira, a place where many believed the challenger
would have the upper hand, but it was “Bones” who bullied his way to
victory with elbows and scoring on 50% of his takedown attempts. What
first caught fight fans’ attention about Jones was his high-arching
takedowns, especially in his scrap against Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94. The
Team Jackson superstar pulled off several beautiful belly-to-back
German suplexes. It should be of no surprise with Jones’ background as a
New York state champion wrestler in high school and a junior college
champion and All-American. He was also making waves on the Greco-Roman
wrestling circuit, nabbing a junior northeast regional championship. The
UFC champ’s reach is, arguably, the toughest hurdle for opponents to
getdusted off his judo expertise and is ready to throw his opponents around as well as knock them down.

KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOVAt this moment, the quintessential takedown artist of the UFC is most definitely the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov. With an insane 22-0 pro record, including six one-sided performances inside the Octagon, “The Eagle,” who hails from Dagestan, Russia, is more committed to the art of tossing around his opponent than anyone else. At UFC 160, Nurmagomedov set the UFC record for most takedowns completed with 21 on 27 attempts. Just last month at UFC on FOX, he imposed his slamming will on top-ranked Rafael dos Anjos for three rounds, scoring six of 12 takedowns to net another win and move himself one step closer to a title shot.

YOEL ROMEROIf worrying