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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Dan Tom

Top 10 best UFC southpaws of all time, ranked

Robbie Lawler UFC Conor McGregor Jim Miller Leon Edwards Valentina Shevchenko dos Anjos MMA Dustin Poirier Holly Holm

For those unaware, “southpaw” is a term in combat sports that references the opposite of an orthodox stance, where a person operates with their right foot forward – thereby making their left side the power side by default.

The term originated in 19th-century baseball, where the word ‘southpaw’ was used to cite everyone from left-handed pitchers to first basemen alike. It would soon be applied to other sports like boxing, where it was used sparsely up until the 1950s to describe lefties.

Aside from the fact that orthodox fighters would and could outright refuse to fight southpaws in boxing’s earlier days (which, in turn, forced more fighters to adopt orthodox stances), the world – in general – was much less flexible toward left-handed people back then.

It wasn’t until the 1970s to where southpaws started to become more of a common occurrence in boxing communities, but there are still prejudices about the stance that are held to this day.

MMA, which notably fast-forwarded martial arts and combat sports progression during its eruption in the 1990s, didn’t take as long to populate its sphere with southpaw stances.

Left-handed sensibilities aside, there are plenty of reasons why fighters, even right-handed ones, may end up operating out of a southpaw stance.

With “mixed” being the operative word in MMA, fighters who come from wrestling or traditional martial arts backgrounds will often find themselves fighting from southpaw regardless of which side they deem dominant.

Wrestlers often prefer to shoot with their strong leg in the lead position, while traditional martial artists tend to be trained from both stances but favor their strong sides forward (e.g. Anthony Pettis and Stephen Thompson).

I won’t be mentioning fighters like Pettis or Thompson on this list due to the fact that they officially list themselves as “switch-stance fighters.” Instead, I’ll be limiting this list to my favorite officially-listed southpaws who fought in the UFC.

As per usual, these lists reflect my personal tastes and biases and are not meant to serve as some ultimate authority. That said, I did my best within the given parameters to spread the love to some of this sport’s most impactful southpaw strikers.

So, without further ado…

10
Valentina Shevchenko

Regardless of how you feel about her fights, there is no better southpaw representative in women’s MMA than Valentina Shevchenko.

Sure, Holly Holm may come to mind for many; but like other popular southpaws who we’ll get to on the men’s side, Holm lacks a strong lead-hand presence that really shows itself when she’s pitted against other lefties.

For this reason, I specifically called for Shevchenko’s check right hook (a strike that any good southpaw should never leave home without) to be the strike to watch out for ahead of their meeting at UFC on FOX 20.

Shevchenko, who has experience in both taekwondo and muay Thai, also possesses everything from spinning side kicks to a serious southpaw double attack.

9
Leon Edwards

Coming in at the number nine slot is another active southpaw who earned UFC gold — Leon Edwards.

A true mixed martial artist, Edwards is a well-rounded operator who can practically do it all. That said, Edwards, akin to the previous selection, is also your classic southpaw counter fighter in the sense that he has the ability to stymie the progression of action.

Edwards, as seen in the latter parts of his series with pound-for-pound great Kamaru Usman, got a lot better at building off of his southpaw arsenal, embracing his devastating double attack.

Whether we’re talking kicks, counters or clinch tactics, Edwards is a savvy striker who deserves some love on this list.

8
Robbie Lawler

Staying at welterweight for number eight is a tribute to everyone’s favorite warlord, Robbie Lawler.

Initially billed as “the next big thing” when he first busted onto the UFC scene, Lawler would end up spending the first half of his career bouncing between weight classes and organizations with mixed results.

However, after refocusing and moving back down to 170 pounds ahead of his second UFC stint, Lawler appeared to take things into another gear.

From smarter fight prep to improved kicking tactics, the move to American Top Team appeared to be just what the doctor ordered for that point of Lawler’s career.

Even when pitted against other southpaws like Johny Hendricks, Lawler displayed the poise to roll and return shots in the closed stance – but also had the wherewithal to make adjustments the second time around.

Ultimately, Lawler’s southpaw skills are a big part of why he has been able to give us as many wars as he has.

7
Jim Miller

Although this may not be someone you’d expect to see here, I can assure you that Jim Miller – despite being ranked in a different spot in my initial deep dive of this topic via The Protect Ya’ Neck Podcast – is more than qualified to be on this list.

When Dustin Poirier was asked about the calf kicks he landed on fellow southpaw Conor McGregor, he cited the lessons he took away from his brutal battle with Miller that saw “The Diamond” sustain severe damage to his lead leg.

Despite Poirier coming into UFC 208 with a game plan to attack his opponent’s legs, it was Miller who kicked his calf first, which is a move he has been doing since UFC 155.

Whether he’s hitting inside cross counters or slicing up elbows off of collar ties, Miller is an absolute marauder from the southpaw stance.

In fact, Miller, like many great fighters, continues to get wins against younger competition despite being well past his prime.

6
Rafael dos Anjos

Coming in at the number six spot is Rafael dos Anjos, who is arguably the best southpaw pressure fighter on this list.

A former lightweight champion who also campaigned at 170 pounds, dos Anjos is a stout Brazilian powerhouse that bombs from below.

Although dos Anjos later improved his boxing under the care of Jason Parillo, “RDA” has always had the ability to kick like a mule due to his time spent with Rafael Cordeiro.

Whether we’re talking about the inside leg kicks he assaulted Rob Emerson with or the crushing liver kick that he landed on Donald Cerrone, dos Anjos was not a fighter whom people looked forward to competing with.

Even when pitted against fellow southpaws like Lawler, dos Anjos’ leg and bodywork still translated well in the closed-stance pairing.

5
Conor McGregor

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Conor McGregor deserves a prominent spot on this list.

You can critique the depth of McGregor’s lead-side tools if you want to split hairs, but you can’t ignore the life-changing power in his left hand.

From his hard-wired counters to his overhands off of inside slips, McGregor’s placement on the shots that you see on his highlight reels is pristine. And akin to the baseball-related southpaw history that I stated at the top of the article, McGregor almost mimics an early 1900s pitcher in his title-winning performance opposite Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.

Although McGregor’s left hand tends to get a lion’s share of the credit, the Irishman quietly does a diverse amount of bodywork that contributes to his success.

McGregor also displayed solid double-attack variations during his featherweight run, but I’m not sure how much kicking (or fighting) we’ll see from him post-UFC 264.

4
Dustin Poirier

For the last half-decade or so, the UFC’s lightweight division has given us about the closest parallel we’re gonna get to boxing’s “Four Kings” of the early 1980s.

We could spend the rest of the decade arguing over who those four are in MMA, but there is no arguing that Dustin Poirier is the Marvin Haggler of the bunch.

A southpaw who can shift and switch hit hard with his right when he needs to, Poirier has all the necessary weapons to wage war inside of the pocket.

Whether he’s boxing around the guard and working the body or hitting straight shots off the counter, Poirier has demonstrated an ability to beat the very best in this game.

When faced with fellow southpaws, Poirier’s lead hand continues to be a powerful saving grace for the Louisiana slugger (something that particularly shined through during his rematch with McGregor at UFC 257).

3
Mirko Filipovic

Despite having a forgettably-bad UFC run, there’s no way I wasn’t gonna sneak Mirko Filipovic onto this list.

Sure, I’m technically doing it under the guise of this article’s title, but you can’t ignore the impact that this man had on MMA during the mid-00s.

Although some criticized the level of competition that comprised Filipovic’s Pride-era highlight reels, “Cro Cop” was able to knock out some serious names like Wanderlei Silva and Igor Vovchanchyn during his time in Japan.

Like all great southpaw kickers, Filipovic built off of body threats and disguised his high kick kill-shots behind crosses.

The left high kick may have been a hallmark of Filipovic’s career, but it was his boxing experience and ringcraft that carried the Croatian through his post-prime iterations.

Regardless of his results in the UFC, Cro Cop’s influence over multiple generations earns him a firm spot on this list.

“Right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery.” -Mirko Filipovic

2
Anderson Silva

At the risk of making my list look like it was written on a Buffalo Wild Wings barstool back in 2008, I ended up going with Anderson Silva for my number two spot.

Easily the most dynamic and creative fighter on this list, you can’t understate the influence that “The Spider” has had on this sport as a whole.

From all the fighters who have tried to imitate Silva’s reverse elbow knockout of Tony Fryklund to the front kick he landed on Vitor Belfort, it’s hard not to be impressed with the Brazilian’s body of work.

Silva’s pre-programmed head movement at UFC 101 was a sight to behold, and his checking jab was a perfect example of why fighting southpaws can be so frustrating.

1
Yves Edwards

Coming in as my number one southpaw is easily one of the most underrated fighters in MMA history, Yves Edwards.

Aside from the fact that Edwards was executing Demetrious Johnson-level clinch knees on the HOOKnSHOOT circuit all the way back in 1999, there was a point in time when the “Thugjitsu Master” was considered the best lightweight in the world.

As many hardcores know, the UFC has traditionally mistreated the lighter weight classes on its proverbial totem pole – particularly the lightweight division. And after multiple failed attempts that saw them lose a sitting champion in Jens Pulver and a star-in-the-making with B.J. Penn, the UFC seemingly had little enthusiasm in putting another belt up for grabs when Edwards collided with Josh Thomson back at UFC 47.

Despite not getting his flowers as one of the best lightweights on the planet, Edwards still went out and provided one of the greatest highlights of all time en route to what should’ve been the biggest victory of his career.

Edwards would continue to take on top talent around the world and took some tough losses as a result, but still managed to produce many inspiring moments late into his career.

From checking leg kicks to building off of bodywork, watching a young Edwards operate was like looking into the future. The man was ahead of his time and inspired so many of your favorite fighters, including Dustin Poirier (who Bruce Buffer still introduces as a “Thugjitsu fighter”).

For me, the most important punch for a southpaw to master is the check right hook – and I don’t think anyone will have a more masterful example of one than Edwards.

*Honorable mentions: Lyoto Machida, Tim Means, Jens Pulver, Michael Johnson, Benson Henderson, Rick Story, Kenny Florian, Chris Curtis, Vitor Belfort, Nick Diaz, Nathan Diaz, Islam Makhachev, Johny Hendricks

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