The best style for Pankration and mma is......Freestyle Wrestling!

Wrestling is statistically the dominant style in the world of free fighting. About 60% of the ufc champions in the history have a mixed Freestyle-folkstyle background. The major number of Pride fc champions have the same base. With a total of 15 fighting styles...


Stand up fighting

Freestyle wrestling really teaches the fundamentals of the sport. The Freestyle Wrestling high amplitude throws forces a slightly more upright posture than seen in American Folk Wrestling that fits mixed martial arts clinch grappling very well, but without the restrictions of Greco-Roman wrestling (the highest posture in the grappling based combat sports) and other jacket grappling styles like sambo or judo. Unlike its folkstyle (collegiate, high school) wrestling counterpart, Freestyle encourages explosive takedowns and throws.

For example :

Folkstyle

Freestyle

 

Another different point between Freestyle and Folkstyle is clinch. In Freestyle you haven't limits on throws and takedowns so the international style has a biggest arsenal and better control in the clinch fighting. 

Freestyle is a difficult style to get used to on your feet. All too many times I see folkstyle kids shoot in on legs unable to finish or with their heads on the mat. In Freestyle this could end the period. The repercussions of these tactical and technical mistakes are amplified in Freestyle.  How much better a wrestler would you be if you finished every time you touched a leg? Or at least never gave up a go behind for a takedown? What would be the reason to not shoot? Worst-case scenario is a fight back up to your feet. The mistakes that don’t cost us too much in folk-style will cost us greatly in Freestyle. It also develops mat awareness. The headlock, lateral drop, and body lock throws all utilize its skillset but folkstyle doesn’t appear to be emphasizing it. An athlete that learns to properly backstep and backarch usually adds a deadly element to their offense. 

In the cage

As a wrestler, you dictate where the fight goes. If you want to stand, you can stand but if you start lose standing you must have the ability to takedown your opponent. This is the most important aspect for a wrestler : to finish the takedown. Training freestyle benefits your stand up wrestling technique, precision and control. The best executed offense eliminates an opponent’s defense. 

Khabib Nurmagomedov set a new UFC record (21 takedowns on 27 attempts) for the number of takedowns landed in a single fight. His background is Freestyle Wrestling and now he trains this discipline in Daghestan and Kazakistan.

Ground fighting

Folkstyle is a better choice in ground fighting control but with the last freestyle ruleset the gap is smaller. 

According to the new international freestyle wrestling regulations (july 2014) :

The instantaneous fall, “both shoulders of the wrestler touching simultaneously and instantaneously
the mat”, is not considered as a fall (totally controlled by the opponent) (article 44)

2 points
- To the wrestler who overcomes and then controls his opponent by passing behind
- To the wrestler who brings his opponent to the ground and passes behind him, and while in this position holding him down with control .

The Fall
When the defensive wrestler is held by his opponent with his two shoulders against the mat for a
sufficient time to allow the referee to observe the total control of the fall, the resulting manoeuvre is
considered to be a fall.

" Bottom offense in freestyle doesn’t seem to offer much to a wrestler, surface, but, in fact, the freestyle bottom position teaches a vital element to the folkstyle wrestler. Bottom freestyle demands a wrestler to learn a position to maintain a strong base. Positioning is not one dimensional in freestyle. A wrestler must learn how to position to defend a gut wrench, which is very similar to defending a tight waist in folkstyle. Defending and moving from an ankle lace attack can quickly teach a folkstyle wrestler how to reposition to defend an ankle ride in folkstyle. Although the bottom position in freestyle appears to happen with little movement, the reality is that it teaches a wrestler how to reposition themselves and hold a strong base. 

Freestyle top position offense teaches a wrestler the importance of hip control. The wrestler on top in freestyle has to expose their opponent’s shoulders to the mat for points, but most of these scoring opportunities are presented after you open the bottom wrestlers hips. In a gut wrench, you must learn to properly lock and drive, but without popping the bottom wrestler’s hips, exposure can remain futile. Another common freestyle technique is the figure-four leg ride, or bent leg turk that allows you to hip your opponent over for exposure. This turn can be done exactly identical in folkstyle so this technique is a great way to transition the technique between both. If a wrestler properly learns how to control an opponent’s hips, cheap tilts, leg rides, and dominance in top position become easily transitioned. 

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2014/March/18/Making-the-Transition-from-Folkstyle-to-Freestyle

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Current champions like Cain Velasquez, Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Tj Dillashow and other top 5  contenders have freestyle wrestling background. Since 1995 freestyle wrestling is the dominant style in the mixed fighting.

Now the head coach at American University in Washington, D.C., Moore said: "My freestyle experience and exposure are the only reasons why I succeeded in folkstyle. Without freestyle, I would have been mediocre at best."