Who is the Best Muay Thai Fighter in MMA? Top Athletes Ranked

Muay Thai is known as “the art of eight limbs”, this is because the discipline focuses on powerful kicks, knee and elbow strikes, as well as boxing. Muay Thai is one of the most dangerous martial arts, hence why many of the top MMA fighters in history have been practitioners of this discipline. Because Muay Thai is a striking combat sport, the sport has seen several devastating knockouts throughout its time, and those explosive moments transfer into the cage in MMA.

Muay Thai fighters know how to easily disable an opponent during a fight by using leg kicks to good effect. From there, they have a strong clinch game where they can ram vicious knees and elbows into the skull of their opponent, and they can follow up these strikes with punching combinations. 

Who Are Some of the Best Muay Thai Fighters in MMA History?

General view of the Octagon//Getty Images

Professional Muay Thai bouts at the elite level are usually five rounds long, lasting three minutes, and fighters have a two-minute break to recover in between rounds. This can be where excellent Muay Thai fighters get undone when they transition over to MMA because of the difference in fight duration and rest time. Plus, in Muay Thai you don't come up against wrestlers, whereas in MMA you do, so your stamina could be depleted even more.

However, we have seen some all-time greats of mixed martial arts who have a Muay Thai base style, and have evolved their game to be a well-rounded MMA fighter. Here are some of those fighters.

6. Rafael Fiziev

While Rafael Fiziev will be one of the newer names on this list, this shouldn't take anything away from his elite Muay Thai skills. The Azerbaijan fighter has wowed us all since coming into the UFC lightweight division. It's not just his combinations that are eye-catching, he has even shown off his unbelievable reactions from a defensive point of view. 

Fiziev is a master on the feet, but that will only take you so far in the lightweight division, which has one of the best grapplers in the game as the current champion, Islam Makhachev, as well as top contender Charles Oliveira.

5. Edson Barboza

Although prime Edson Barboza may have not lifted a UFC lightweight title, he was one of the most lethal strikers in the business. He made a name for himself with his devastating leg kicks, and switch kicks to the body. Once he threw these strikes out of there, he made his opponents so scared to absorb shots to their lower body that the head became open for attacks. This is where he would produce some stunning spinning kicks to cause damage and knockouts. 

His spinning wheel kick knockout of Terry Etim is still considered one of the best head kick KO's in UFC history. 

3. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Joanna Jedrzejczyk, one of the greatest female MMA fighters ever, was one of the first female fighters to have a Muay Thai style in MMA. Because of her length for the strawweight division, she was able to control distance and make sure she was out of range from her opponents’ strikes whilst still being able to land her own pinpoint strikes. 

2. Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva kicks Derek Brunson//Getty Images

Anderson “The Spider” Silva is regarded as one of the best MMA fighters of all time, and part of this is because of his excellent Muay Thai skills which saw him dominate the UFC middleweight division for several years.

The Brazilian combat sports legend showcased his creativity by having some unique striking combinations, mixing in all eight of his limbs to bust up his opponents.