Thanks for the tag. Of course I'm already here.
It's an interesting point. You may perhaps be surprised if I tell you that I was on the Kyokushin bandwagon for quite some time after I gained experience in more full-contact arts. The lack of hard sparring in Shotokan really stood out to me then and, as much as it hurt my pride, I had to admit that most of my Shotokan peers would get their asses handed to them in knockdown fights. In kickboxing and MMA rules things get more complicated though - managing distance, timing and speed become more important and can equal out the lack of "toughness" sometimes.
As I collected data on Karate fighters in MMA throughout the years I noticed that an excellent Shotokan guy with solid TDD can often keep winning UDs with his superior movement (until he faces an excellent wrestler), while an excellent Kyokushin guy with solid TDD will usually KO or be KOd - which is great for views but not great for his record or longevity. (see Marcin Prachnio for example)
I'm sure that Kyokushin will remain the top represented Karate style in MMA simply due to their combat-ready mentality but it always takes Kyokushin guys
a lot of cross-training to really achieve greatness - up to a point when their Kyokushin base becomes unrecognizable. (see GSP)
Ultimately I think that hybrid Karate styles are the best base for an MMA transition but, to my disappointment, there are very few Kudo or Shidokan guys coming to MMA and the ones already present aren't really doing that well. I guess we need to wait for the national champs and top dogs to truly shine.
Now I'd like to hear from
@shinkyoku and
@Azam on this topic.