MMA vs Special Forces vs Shaolin Monks

These are the three areas I thought might have the most bad ass fighters on the planet.
Special Forces can be anyone trained in SAS, CIA or anything similar.
So say it is middleweight class.
There is competition held between world top 8 fighters
Who wins and where do they come from?

Unarmed: Shaolin Monks. They're trained from an early age. They really don't do much more than train, meditate, and eat right.
 
Armed: Special Forces for obvious reasons.

H2H only: Monks
With Weapons: SF's

H2H: MMA < Spec Ops < Monks
 
Armed: Monks < MMA < Spec Ops

" H2H: MMA < Spec Ops < Monks  Armed: Monks < MMA < Spec Ops "

H2H: MMA < Spec Ops < Monks 
 
Armed: MMA < Monks < Spec Ops    

" @capall2:   With morals on and unarmed, Monks would win. "

Why would MMA fighters be any better with weapons than the Monks? MMA in and of itself provides zero training with any weapons of any sort, whereas shaolin kung fu should provide extensive training with things like swords, staffs, spears, etc; maybe archery too (not sure). 

I suppose you could make the argument that most MMA fighters are American, and the average American is probably somewhat familiar with guns, ergo they are more likely to know how to use a gun than a shaolin monk, maybe, but that still doesn't mean they're actually any good at it, and it has nothing to do with training MMA. 
 
Otherwise, I tend to agree with what has been said, provided we're talking authentic shaolin monks. 
 
Special forces shouldn't be underestimated though. They have a very no-nonsense approach to combat. For them it's basically, "kill them ASAP and get out."

 Most MMA fighters don't go through the traditional training monks do like: hanging from the neck, bending  spears with the neck, learning to throw a needle through glass. I think your standard monk is beyond the MMA conditioning. But your standard MMA probably will have more grappling training. Overall, probably the monk.
 
Overall in this entire fight; Special Ops/ forces. They train in hand-to-hand, knives, guns, bombs, ect. That's your true warrior.

" Special Forces tend to use Guns... They Win 
 
:P "

Here's an idea

What about MMA people that have served in armed forces , people like Tim Kennedy and Brian Stann

Depends on the SF.

If you're going for the best British S.A.S, Australia's S.B.S or Israels Shayetet 13 then there's a high possibly that they could be better than most MMA's (especially the Shayetet and S.A.S as they are trained in MMA and knife combat) and they will obviously beat anyone there with firearms.

@Grimnir said:

These are the three areas I thought might have the most bad ass fighters on the planet. Special Forces can be anyone trained in SAS, CIA or anything similar. So say it is middleweight class. There is competition held between world top 8 fighters Who wins and where do they come from?

This battle isnt well defined enough. Is the competition an MMA competition like UFC, is it a street fight thing? Can you use weapons?

If you assume it's just an unarmed h2h fighting competition, I'd say the MMA guys win. Top MMA fighters train all the time and are proven to win in actual competitions, not just training like the shaolins. Any time experts in a single martial art faces off against mma fighters, the mma guys win. The Spec Ops people would be good fighters, but they dont spend all their time training in h2h, they spread their training on all forms of combat including blades, guns, improvised weapons, explosives, etc.

@CadenceV2 said:

Navy Seal with a 3 1/2 inch blade decapitates a Synthetic Tissue and Bone Blistic Doll.


North Korea SOF and Army Ranger Hand to Hand. Sip to 2:26 I Like this one in paticular cause Army Rangers Explain they use there Guns in H2H. I say H2H has to go to Shaolins. There Fighting style is too flashy to be real in all honstly but there diciplin and training is a way of life from birth and total Religious Zeal Conviction, unlike Special Forces or MMA. That gives them the edge. With Weapons Special Forces everyday. MMA is a non factor. Monk weapons are outdated comapred to Assault Rifles and Hand Guns utilize in Martial Atrs Fighting Styles.

When has a Shaolin ever defeated a top MMA fighter? However, MMA guys regularly beat any and all martial arts forms on the ring/octagon.

@CadenceV2 said:

@WillPayton: MMA beat single styles all the time. No suprise the Rules and Ring aloow Grapplers to be the Best. A Soccer Player is not going to beat a Footplayer at there own Game. Out in no restrictions with actual land mass they win. They are also physicaly tougher. Notice I say Tougher not Stronger. MMA fighter do it for the money and nothing more. Shaolins do it from birth as a way of life. They will take Boncrushing hits with no reaction, they will die. MMA will not unless its in a ring with RULES.

That's why I said that this battle needs to be better defined.

In any case, just because the Shaolins train all their lives doesnt mean they'd beat any other type of martial artist. The problem with a rigid martial art like this is that they're mostly training against willing opponents that are not intentionally trying to defeat them. In some forms they also train in set patterns (katas) that seem mostly useless when it turns into a real fight.

If the shaolins are that good, then lets see some examples. In the terms of CV, the MMA guys have feats. I havent seen any feats from the Shaolins to suggest to me that they'd beat any top MMA guy in a no-rules h2h fight.

MMA guys get in real fights that are witnessed. Who the heck knows how good a Shaolin is and how effective their techniques are in a real fight? I don't see any of them them going into MMA and dominating. You have a much better knowledge base of what you have in MMA and very little of what you have in a monk.

@CadenceV2 said:

@WillPayton:

A Shaolin goes Kick Boxing and beats down whats Advertise as a Seal... I belive hes a Marine Recon... Bruce Lee first Training was Wing Chun which i one of the most Popular Shaolin Styles. He base his Jeet Kune Do heavily off it. He also Incoprated many other Shaolin Moves and Styles into his own. He won Mutiple real MMA Fights in his time and He devolope a serious KO tenique the One Inch Punch that he Mastered. I dont see any MMA fighter on his level to this day. Its all about Protein Shakes and Money. Not a Way of Life.

Shaolin vs a Tai Kwon Doe Master. They move faster than any UFC or most MMA Fighter in the ring. Those Kicks to the head will no doubt KO Myke Tyson.

Shaolin taking Nut Kicks without flinching. He also uses everypart of his body including head as weapon. Thats training and Disiplin from birth that all MAA fighters lack. They get to the age of 16 and say I will be a fighter! These guys arnt seeking stardom. Theres plenty of Shaolins who have incorpated many Styles like Bruce Lee has into there own. Bruce Lee is not a Shaolin but he train in there Art first before making his own out of it. Shaolins have perform Gility and Pain threshholds that no MMA fighter has ever shown for mere everyday training. I guess you can toot the horn of MMA about there Televise and Rules Restricted Fights, but in a H2H life or Death Shaolins have been doing it for Many Centuries. There Styles are still the basis for most of the Best Martial Artists. I want to see a MMA Fighter Take 4 Kicks to the Nuts and be like "whatever".

Thank you for posting the videos! The first video is good, but it's a kick-boxing bout. You're saying that MMA fighters dont impress you because they have "rules restricted fights"... but kick boxing is even more restricted than MMA. It looks to me that any decent MMA fighter would take down that Shaolin guy, and once down I doubt he has a response.

Bruce Lee incorporated many different types of martial arts and even studied fencing and boxing. So, what does that prove? I guess it proves that Bruce Lee didnt think Shaolin Kung Fu was that great, since he thought he needed all those other forms to build a good system. If Shaolin was the ultimate fighting style then Bruce could just have stopped there.

The video of them sparring isnt that impressive since people hold back a lot when practicing. Also, letting yourself get kicked in the groin over and over only tells me they're not that smart.

Some of these martial arts "masters" are really just fooling themselves. They train all their lives and think they're unstoppable, but in a real fight they'd lose quickly... like this poor old dude that thought he had amazing powers to defeat people without even touching them...

For over all fighting MMA because they got the best ground guys in the world. And some of the best strikers.

However if we're talking real war with weapons Special Forces easy.

MMA>SF>monks 

Fighting: MMA

Weapons: Spec Ops unless Monks can get close enuff to use theres.

no weapons : MMA, Spec ops, Monks

My experience with both the military and martial arts tend to say if its straight hand to hand shaolin. If weaps are involved its Special Forces. My personal favorite is a nice tomahawk.

My experience watching UFC and Kung Fu (that was a TV series for you younglings) tells me the MMA guy will have the Shaolin guy in a choke hold within 30 seconds. Also, my experience watching Deadliest Warrior tells me that any Special Forces guy will be able to defeat any random ballistics gel dummy within 10 seconds, less if they're using a tomahawk.

Shaolin monks ? Find me some that train at fighting, not just sideshow stunts and I'll consider them as contenders. The MMA guys have better nutrition, modern strength and conditioning programs, and actually fight (sport fighting, but it's not the monk sideshow BS). Also, the MMA guys (being Westerners for the most part) are going to have a significant size/weight advantage over the Monks. Despite what comic books and hokey martial arts advertisement tell us, this is a very important thing in a fight.

The Special Operations personnel (Special Forces is a very specific unit in the US Army) also will have most of the advantages the MMA guys will have (minus the fight training and experience, as they train for a much broader spectrum of combat). Also, are these individual fights, or group fights ? If group melee, the the Special Ops troops win, hands down. On an individual basis ? I would say the odds probably favor the MMA guys, with the exception that they are used to fighting in a ring, with rules. They don't necessarily use terrain, psychology, and downright trickery the way the soldiers are trained to do (or think).

Bottom line, in Comicvine Battles forum terms, is that the Shaolin Monks have no fighting/combat feats...

@JediXMan said:

Unarmed: Shaolin Monks. They're trained from an early age. They really don't do much more than train, meditate, and eat right. Armed: Special Forces for obvious reasons.

This is the most correct thing I saw here.

Shaolin Monks are the greatest option planet Earth has to offer in the h2h/melee weapons/close combat sector.Trained from a very young age to achieve perfect physical and mental state.

Nowadays,to be more realistic,advanced weapons have been introduced in the battlefield making the use of unarmed combat less important.So SF are what the current world of war needs right now,cause they are trained in every killing/fighting method,from h2h combat until rifle usage.

So SF are the most complete warriors nowadays.If I had to pick a warrior from these two categories(SF,SM),I d pick Special Forces.

As fo the MMA,so called,fighters,they are just a bunch of spoiled wanabe warriors who dont possess the strenght of character to achieve success.So everyone who calls MMA stars 'fighters' ridicules the name of real warriors and he as ridiculous as them.

EVERYONE WHO VOTED FOR MMA SHOULD SEE THIS.

As a former special forces member who has also fought in martial art tournaments throughout south east Asia and the south Pacific, the answer varies depending on the setting.

In the ring I can and have beaten many but not all fighters. Within the guidelines and rules of sport combat the limitations set on combat stifle the style i was trained in which is basically to kill or incapacitate quickly. Technically when entering combat as a SF operative you sneak up on an assailant and get them in a lock from behind to either cut off their air and knock them out or break the neck in first strike. The idea of a SF operative is to not actually have to fight. If you're sloppy enough that you actually get in a front on confrontation you just put the rest of your unit in danger by allowing the enemy to know your even there. So frankly in an insurgence a SF's team wouldn't fight. In the ring they'd loose to a MMA who was top of his field as they would in a front on battle with a Shaolin. If however they were taking a town defended by either they would do so with their assailants dead at their feet at the end. Personally I'd do that (or give cover fire) from 500 to 800 yards away with a rifle and the right scope (being a former rifle specialist ), if I had to I could be a lot further.

The OP needs to state battle criteria.

Shaolin Monk owns MMA fighter while Special Forces watches then shoots Monk.

Unless this is H2H, than in that case Shaolin Monk owns all.

The MMA train in the best unarmed styles in the world in the world and are picked from some of the best fighters in the world so they have a huge natural advantage. Shaolin monks are about tradition and if they do improve on their techniques they can't compete with the amount of research they put into the theory of putting another man that the MMA do.

Shaolin do not stand a chance even against special forces because of superior training.

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

Shaolin Monk owns MMA fighter while Special Forces watches then shoots Monk.

Unless this is H2H, than in that case Shaolin Monk owns all.

I still dont understand this reverence for Shaolin monks, when their fighting style isnt even a blip on the MMA scene. At least with Karate you have people like Machida who've represented it well. Other styles like wrestling, jiu-jitsu, kick boxing, and muay thai all also have parts in MMA. I'd imagine that anyone who show's up at an MMA tournament doing Shaolin kung fu would get killed easily.

@WillPayton said:

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

Shaolin Monk owns MMA fighter while Special Forces watches then shoots Monk.

Unless this is H2H, than in that case Shaolin Monk owns all.

I still dont understand this reverence for Shaolin monks, when their fighting style isnt even a blip on the MMA scene. At least with Karate you have people like Machida who've represented it well. Other styles like wrestling, jiu-jitsu, kick boxing, and muay thai all also have parts in MMA. I'd imagine that anyone who show's up at an MMA tournament doing Shaolin kung fu would get killed easily.

Kung-fu movies have this old is better thing going on when the best of almost any physical sport is probably alive today because of a better understanding of how the human body works giving us improved training and nutrition.

@WillPayton said:

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

Shaolin Monk owns MMA fighter while Special Forces watches then shoots Monk.

Unless this is H2H, than in that case Shaolin Monk owns all.

I still dont understand this reverence for Shaolin monks, when their fighting style isnt even a blip on the MMA scene. At least with Karate you have people like Machida who've represented it well. Other styles like wrestling, jiu-jitsu, kick boxing, and muay thai all also have parts in MMA. I'd imagine that anyone who show's up at an MMA tournament doing Shaolin kung fu would get killed easily.

You're !@#$ing me right? Refer to CadenceV2's post.

@CadenceV2 said:

@WillPayton:

A Shaolin goes Kick Boxing and beats down whats Advertise as a Seal... I belive hes a Marine Recon...

Bruce Lee first Training was Wing Chun which i one of the most Popular Shaolin Styles. He base his Jeet Kune Do heavily off it. He also Incoprated many other Shaolin Moves and Styles into his own. He won Mutiple real MMA Fights in his time and He devolope a serious KO tenique the One Inch Punch that he Mastered. I dont see any MMA fighter on his level to this day. Its all about Protein Shakes and Money. Not a Way of Life.

Shaolin vs a Tai Kwon Doe Master. They move faster than any UFC or most MMA Fighter in the ring. Those Kicks to the head will no doubt KO Myke Tyson.

Shaolin taking Nut Kicks without flinching. He also uses everypart of his body including head as weapon. Thats training and Disiplin from birth that all MAA fighters lack. They get to the age of 16 and say I will be a fighter! These guys arnt seeking stardom. Theres plenty of Shaolins who have incorpated many Styles like Bruce Lee has into there own. Bruce Lee is not a Shaolin but he train in there Art first before making his own out of it. Shaolins have perform Gility and Pain threshholds that no MMA fighter has ever shown for mere everyday training. I guess you can toot the horn of MMA about there Televise and Rules Restricted Fights, but in a H2H life or Death Shaolins have been doing it for Many Centuries. There Styles are still the basis for most of the Best Martial Artists. I want to see a MMA Fighter Take 4 Kicks to the Nuts and be like "whatever".

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

@WillPayton said:

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

Shaolin Monk owns MMA fighter while Special Forces watches then shoots Monk.

Unless this is H2H, than in that case Shaolin Monk owns all.

I still dont understand this reverence for Shaolin monks, when their fighting style isnt even a blip on the MMA scene. At least with Karate you have people like Machida who've represented it well. Other styles like wrestling, jiu-jitsu, kick boxing, and muay thai all also have parts in MMA. I'd imagine that anyone who show's up at an MMA tournament doing Shaolin kung fu would get killed easily.

You're !@#$ing me right? Refer to CadenceV2's post.

@CadenceV2 said:

@WillPayton:

A Shaolin goes Kick Boxing and beats down whats Advertise as a Seal... I belive hes a Marine Recon...

Bruce Lee first Training was Wing Chun which i one of the most Popular Shaolin Styles. He base his Jeet Kune Do heavily off it. He also Incoprated many other Shaolin Moves and Styles into his own. He won Mutiple real MMA Fights in his time and He devolope a serious KO tenique the One Inch Punch that he Mastered. I dont see any MMA fighter on his level to this day. Its all about Protein Shakes and Money. Not a Way of Life.

Shaolin vs a Tai Kwon Doe Master. They move faster than any UFC or most MMA Fighter in the ring. Those Kicks to the head will no doubt KO Myke Tyson.

Shaolin taking Nut Kicks without flinching. He also uses everypart of his body including head as weapon. Thats training and Disiplin from birth that all MAA fighters lack. They get to the age of 16 and say I will be a fighter! These guys arnt seeking stardom. Theres plenty of Shaolins who have incorpated many Styles like Bruce Lee has into there own. Bruce Lee is not a Shaolin but he train in there Art first before making his own out of it. Shaolins have perform Gility and Pain threshholds that no MMA fighter has ever shown for mere everyday training. I guess you can toot the horn of MMA about there Televise and Rules Restricted Fights, but in a H2H life or Death Shaolins have been doing it for Many Centuries. There Styles are still the basis for most of the Best Martial Artists. I want to see a MMA Fighter Take 4 Kicks to the Nuts and be like "whatever".

I already addressed this post. Please read that instead of just reposting this without adding anything of substance.

@WillPayton: I am pretty sure you did not reply to CandenceV2's post. I looked and saw no reply. (or was it that one without the @ with it?)

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

@WillPayton: I am pretty sure you did not reply to CandenceV2's post. I looked and saw no reply. (or was it that one without the @ with it?)

It's in the previous page... sorry I dont know how to include a link to just one post without having to re-include it. But if you click back I'm sure you'll see it. I did take out the video links to shorten the post.

@WillPayton said:

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

@WillPayton: I am pretty sure you did not reply to CandenceV2's post. I looked and saw no reply. (or was it that one without the @ with it?)

It's in the previous page... sorry I dont know how to include a link to just one post without having to re-include it. But if you click back I'm sure you'll see it. I did take out the video links to shorten the post.

Ah. I think I saw it back there.

And sorry for that aggressiveness, that was uncalled for. No hard feelings right bro?

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

@WillPayton said:

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

@WillPayton: I am pretty sure you did not reply to CandenceV2's post. I looked and saw no reply. (or was it that one without the @ with it?)

It's in the previous page... sorry I dont know how to include a link to just one post without having to re-include it. But if you click back I'm sure you'll see it. I did take out the video links to shorten the post.

Ah. I think I saw it back there.

And sorry for that aggressiveness, that was uncalled for. No hard feelings right bro?

No problem at all. =) I've been known to shoot off my own off-the-cuff comments before... not always as well thought out as I'd have hoped.

@WillPayton said:

My experience watching UFC and Kung Fu (that was a TV series for you younglings) tells me the MMA guy will have the Shaolin guy in a choke hold within 30 seconds. Also, my experience watching Deadliest Warrior tells me that any Special Forces guy will be able to defeat any random ballistics gel dummy within 10 seconds, less if they're using a tomahawk.

By my experience I wasn't trying to be smug or sarcastic (wasn't sure if this was meant to be, inflection is lost over the internet so my apologies ahead of time) I was just referring to my own experiences of 16 years of martails arts training, a USAF Spec Ops candidate, and having a couple of amatuer MMA fights. But really, setting is everything. Hand to hand in a cage MMA fighters will win. its their game. Hand to hand in the open with no rules I'd wager shaolin, they use speed and accuracy to compensate for their size with things like throat strikes and small joint locks (finger breaks etc). if we incorporate weapons (melee only firearms make this a bit one sided) and equipment like flak vests Special Operatives have a deistinct advantage. Plus a lot of our training focuses on weapons with hand to hand, you've always got some sort of blade. Bare knuckle isn't trained as much as MMA fighters or Monks, but we can take a beating for a good long time and keep going. Hooyah.

@WillPayton said:

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

Shaolin Monk owns MMA fighter while Special Forces watches then shoots Monk.

Unless this is H2H, than in that case Shaolin Monk owns all.

I still dont understand this reverence for Shaolin monks, when their fighting style isnt even a blip on the MMA scene. At least with Karate you have people like Machida who've represented it well. Other styles like wrestling, jiu-jitsu, kick boxing, and muay thai all also have parts in MMA. I'd imagine that anyone who show's up at an MMA tournament doing Shaolin kung fu would get killed easily.

This is fallacious reasoning, implying that a fighting style must be represented on MMA in order for it to be good.

If Shaolin Monks are training in whatever isolated place away from society (I dont know if thats true), would you really expect them to be on the MMA scene? If your last sentence is supposed to be the conclusion based on what you said previously, then that's a unsound conclusion.

Not to mention the fact you've already replied to a post showing a Shaolin Monk showcasing his fighting in the kickbox scene and winning relatively easily. Kickboxing isn't comparable to MMA, but my point is that their striking seems to be up to par and alot of MMA fighters like to do pure striking in their fights.

@GraniteSoldier said:

@WillPayton said:

My experience watching UFC and Kung Fu (that was a TV series for you younglings) tells me the MMA guy will have the Shaolin guy in a choke hold within 30 seconds. Also, my experience watching Deadliest Warrior tells me that any Special Forces guy will be able to defeat any random ballistics gel dummy within 10 seconds, less if they're using a tomahawk.

By my experience I wasn't trying to be smug or sarcastic (wasn't sure if this was meant to be, inflection is lost over the internet so my apologies ahead of time) I was just referring to my own experiences of 16 years of martails arts training, a USAF Spec Ops candidate, and having a couple of amatuer MMA fights. But really, setting is everything. Hand to hand in a cage MMA fighters will win. its their game. Hand to hand in the open with no rules I'd wager shaolin, they use speed and accuracy to compensate for their size with things like throat strikes and small joint locks (finger breaks etc). if we incorporate weapons (melee only firearms make this a bit one sided) and equipment like flak vests Special Operatives have a deistinct advantage. Plus a lot of our training focuses on weapons with hand to hand, you've always got some sort of blade. Bare knuckle isn't trained as much as MMA fighters or Monks, but we can take a beating for a good long time and keep going. Hooyah.

I wasnt doubting your experience, I was just trying to be funny. My experience with mma and martial arts is limited to watching UFC and stuff like that.

I have a lot of experience with fencing, however, so I have a certain perspective on the whole "training whole life" versus "competes" thing. In the world of fencing and "sword fighting" and stuff like that, you have different groups ranging all the way from competitive fencers (as in the olympic sport) to SCA and ARMA people. As far as using fencing-like weapons, you have "classical" fencing people that go by what they think fencing was hundreds of years ago, and they train with fencing masters and use old classical books on technique, etc. Some of them study and train that stuff all their lives and become "masters" themselves. They think what they're learning would be effective in a "real world" situation. But, when it comes to competing, they dont last long. Why? Because they're learning something that's sort of arbitrary, and isnt tested in actual competition. They train against others that fence the way they do, do drills against others that know how to react, and dont face people that are doing anything they can to beat them. It's all style over substance.

That's what I think of all these martial arts styles. They're nice and all if you want to learn them for their own sake, but they're not effective as fighting techniques until you actually test it against someone who's actively trying to frustrate and defeat you. That's what happened early on in the UFC... you had masters from all these techniques, but pretty soon you saw that some of them were useless unless the other guy was willing to follow the same rules. And, while modern MMA is still a sport with rules, it's as close as you can get without it becoming a gladiator fight.

Lastly, if Shaolin style was effective at all, I'm sure we'd see at least one practitioner doing well in MMA. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I dont know of a single one.

@Jezer said:

@WillPayton said:

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

Shaolin Monk owns MMA fighter while Special Forces watches then shoots Monk.

Unless this is H2H, than in that case Shaolin Monk owns all.

I still dont understand this reverence for Shaolin monks, when their fighting style isnt even a blip on the MMA scene. At least with Karate you have people like Machida who've represented it well. Other styles like wrestling, jiu-jitsu, kick boxing, and muay thai all also have parts in MMA. I'd imagine that anyone who show's up at an MMA tournament doing Shaolin kung fu would get killed easily.

This is fallacious reasoning, implying that a fighting style must be represented on MMA in order for it to be good.

If Shaolin Monks are training in whatever isolated place away from society (I dont know if thats true), would you really expect them to be on the MMA scene? If your last sentence is supposed to be the conclusion based on what you said previously, then that's a unsound conclusion.

Not to mention the fact you've already replied to a post showing a Shaolin Monk showcasing his fighting in the kickbox scene and winning relatively easily. Kickboxing isn't comparable to MMA, but my point is that their striking seems to be up to par and alot of MMA fighters like to do pure striking in their fights.

I agreed that the video was good, but one video between an unknown shaolin guy and an equally unknown kickboxing guy isnt compelling evidence that shaolin is generally better than mma.

There's been plenty of different fighting styles that have made their way to MMA. Why not Shaolin, especially if it's as good as suggested? But even if you're right that it's too secluded, then what's the evidence that it'd beat MMA? You cant have it both ways. Either it's too isolated, in which case you cant say it's better than MMA because there's not enough evidence. Or there IS evidence, but you've only provided one video of a fight against a no-name kickboxer.

I don't think the special forces are a contender here, most of their training will focus on teamwork and weapon usage. I know that they're competent at unarmed fighting but competent isn't good enough here.

I also think that the MMA fighters would win simply because they focus on unarmed fighting, the Shaolin monks don't as far as I know, their martial arts training is more of a spiritual pursuit for them.