The Most Famous
MARTIAL ARTS from New Zealand
This page contains a list of the greatest New Zealander Martial Arts. The pantheon dataset contains 179 Martial Arts, 2 of which were born in New Zealand. This makes New Zealand the birth place of the 18th most number of Martial Arts behind Canada, and United Kingdom.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary New Zealander Martial Arts of all time. This list of famous New Zealander Martial Arts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.
1. Mark Hunt (b. 1974)
With an HPI of 50.12, Mark Hunt is the most famous New Zealander Martial Arts. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.
Mark Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. As a mixed martial artist, Hunt competed in Pride Fighting Championships (Pride FC) from 2004 until 2006, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) from 2010 until 2018. As a kickboxer, Hunt achieved success as the winner of the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix. He is known as the "King of Walk-Offs" due to his popularisation of walking away and stopping attacks before the referee officially ends the match.
2. Robert Whittaker (b. 1990)
With an HPI of 43.82, Robert Whittaker is the 2nd most famous New Zealander Martial Arts. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Robert John Whittaker (born 20 December 1990) is an Australian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and the first Australian to win a UFC championship. As of 30 September 2025, he is #8 in the UFC middleweight rankings. A professional MMA competitor since 2009, Whittaker was a contestant on the first series of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes and won the welterweight tournament. Whittaker became interim middleweight champion after winning the title at UFC 213; he was promoted to undisputed champion after Georges St-Pierre vacated the UFC Middleweight Championship in 2017.
3. Dan Hooker (b. 1990)
With an HPI of 42.06, Dan Hooker is the 3rd most famous New Zealander Martial Arts. His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.
Daniel Preston Hooker (born 13 February 1990) is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Hooker was the King in the Ring Middleweight Kickboxing Champion and WKBF X-Rules Welterweight Champion. As of July 22, 2025, he is #6 in the UFC lightweight rankings.
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as New Zealander martial arts born between 1974 and 1990. Of these 3, 3 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living New Zealander martial arts include Mark Hunt, Robert Whittaker, and Dan Hooker. As of April 2024, 1 new New Zealander martial arts have been added to Pantheon including Dan Hooker.
Living New Zealander Martial Arts
Go to all Rankings
Mark Hunt
1974 - Present
HPI: 50.12
Robert Whittaker
1990 - Present
HPI: 43.82
Dan Hooker
1990 - Present
HPI: 42.06
