Name best examples of fighters that reinvented themselves?

[WHITE ANDERSON]

matt serra
won the TUF reject season and destroyed GSP
there's no bigger reinvention

honorable mention: andrei arlovski post strikeforce and return to UFC until he got destroyed by stipe
mark hunt's early UFC run before getting killed by JDS

 

[mb23100]

 

[theTKDguy]

Werdum, rda, masvidal, oliveira, lawler, overeem. cejudo after the mm loss. I'd even throw nate in there after his loopsided losses to bendo and rda (he had favorable matchups and knew how to earn some hype tho)

 

[SeattleFightFan]

I think the most quintessential answer to this question has to be the bjj guys who were forced to learn standup in order to be competitive in MMA.

Start with Big Nog, who dedicated himself to it around 2001 or 2002. By 2006 he was on par with Josh Barnett.
Lil Nog boxed with the Brazilian Olympic Team IIRC.
And last but not least, Jacare.
(EDIT +Werdum)

I would include Maia, but although he got better (and he did get a lot better), he never really went away from his single leg takedown --> ground game roots. Unlike the others, he never consciously chose to keep a fight standing.

With a shout out to Kron Gracie, who got dominated by Cub Swanson, but was game the entire time.

 

[VAfan]

AA comes to mind. people thought he was done before he fixed his striking defense. almost came all the way back to a title shot.

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

Matt Brown had like 7 wins in a row including Stephen Thompson after a 1-4 stint.

browns streak was insanely entertaining, sucked to see it end against lawler but matt did hurt him and was competitive, then hendricks laid on him like a bitch.

 

[DuncanFan819]

Carlos Condit realized he couldn't beat Nick Diaz, so he reinvented himself as a marathon runner.

 

[faustian]

Two that haven't been mentioned:

Anderson Silva: was cut from Pride and reinvented himself by bulking up to MW and dominating UFC

Rumble: cut from the UFC after trying to fight at WW/MW, came back as an elite LHW

 

[azerty]

mark hunt after the mccorkle fight
i wouldn't say oliveira reinvented himself, he was always good and always had that offensive style but he finaly didn't fold in a big fight let's hope he keep going

 

[faustian]

Hendo is another one

Pretty much anyone with a high-level career lasting as long as Hendo/Vitor/Reem/etc has had to reinvent themselves at some point

 

[Hannibal Lector]

Best examples that come to mind.

TJ dillashaw: as soon as he started working a lot with Duane Ludwig, his striking improved leaps and bounds.

GSP: After losing to Serra, seemed to gain some size, focused on the wrestling and grappling more, became more of a wrestler than before.

Chad mendes: after Aldo loss he was a straight wrestler, after the loss he became a knockout machine with 4 or 5 consecutive knockouts I think and the majority in the first round.

Fabricio werdum: joined kings and became a viscous striker, compared to when he first started was almost pure jiu jitsu.


Anthony Johnson:
Moved up from welterweight to light heavyweight joined blackzillians also improved his Dutch kickboxing and overall game leaps and bounds.


Vitor Belfort: joined blackzillions added more kicks to his arsenal, also got on testosterone replacement therapy


Tyrone Woodley:

was a pure wrestler before the Koscheck fight, turned to a knockout artist who bullrushed his opponents. After Rory loss became much more conservative only fighting in short spurts, to conserve his gas tank and stayed outperforming his opponents just enough to win fights. Attained smart fight IQ towards the later of his career.

 

[lostdog000]

crocop- great in pride
sucked in ufc. went back to kicking ass after

 

[Gaffeln]

No mention of RDA?

 

[Chubi]

browns streak was insanely entertaining, sucked to see it end against lawler but matt did hurt him and was competitive, then hendricks laid on him like a bitch.

Brown vs Hendricks was a pain to watch.

 

[Herwald]

Henry, Chael and Colby.

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

Brown vs Hendricks was a pain to watch.

the judges actually rewarding someone for bottom work was super satisfying in hendricks vs magny.

 

[sabretitan]

Matt brown

 

[CannotWin]

I believe RDA did a complete 180 career wise. He was going nowhere and suddenly he became one of the very best.

 

[Hotora86]

Performing better isn't really a re-invention. Did his style or applied skillset change in either of those fights vs before? Did he take Nate down and out BJJ him? Both of those fights were him executing stand-up striking vs being a stand-up striker.

This is pretty much a "fail" response.

Contards, man.
It's always about the Con.

 

[strebitel86]

Cheick Kongo with his knee to the balls tactic, made him a winner