Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest MMA Grapplers

7. Fabricio Werdum

Werdum, who was widely considered the greatest heavyweight grappler ever, even surpassing countryman Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, comes in at seventh. Werdum was a very good wrestler, able to take down many foes and stay upright against almost anyone. Yet, it's his Brazilian jiu-jitsu that truly shined, with a level of speed, flexibility, and perfect technique that we've simply never witnessed among MMA heavyweights before or since. So dangerous was Werdum that no one wanted anything to do with the ground against him, even on top. That was true of Werdum's two greatest victories: Cain Velasquez was a fantastic wrestler with tremendous jiu-jitsu of his own, yet after Werdum won a war of attrition on his feet, Velasquez shot in for a takedown and found himself instantly caught in a guillotine, forced to tap. Fedor Emelianenko was a superlative grappler in his prime, even receiving votes on this list as well. He survived and even thrived against Nogueira across three fights totaling about 44 minutes, contested mostly on the ground, yet after knocking down Werdum with punches in the opening minute of their fight, Emelianenko followed Werdum to the ground to pound him out and instead found himself instantly trapped in a triangle, the first true loss of his amazing career.

Other notable victories for Werdum include submitting Alistair Overeem in their first fight via kimura and even submitting Nogueira himself via armbar in their 2013 rematch, though Nogueira was clearly far past his prime by then. His improving striking skills over the course of his career shouldn't obscure Werdum's fantastic grappling, which set a mark in the heavyweight division which still hasn't been matched.

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