Before the mixed martial arts and UFC, there was really no way to evaluate what the best martial arts were. Was it Shaolin martial arts? Was it one of those crazy pressure point systems? Maybe it was even this guy….
That’s what made the UFC so great. Really, for the first time, we were getting to see practitioners of different arts in action going head-to-head. So, we could start to evaluate how good some of these arts really were in combat against other skilled opponents. So while no disrespect is meant to the practitioners of any art, these are what appear to be the most effective styles of martial arts against other skilled protagonists.
Honorable mentions: Judo & Sambo.