MMA Top 10 Pound-for-Pound: Lyoto Machida, Mike Brown Rise

In a span of just 15 days, mixed martial arts fans were treated to the sight of two different fights involving one Top 10 pound-for-pound fighter taking on another: Lyoto Machida beat Rashad Evans at UFC 98 on May 23, and Mike Brown beat Urijah Faber at WEC 41 on June 7. That means it's time to revise our MMA rankings.

My latest list of the Top 10 Pound-for-Pound Fighters in MMA is below.

1. Fedor Emelianenko: Still the best, Fedor will take on Josh Barnett at Affliction: Trilogy on August 1.

2. Georges St Pierre: He'll have his toughest test yet against Thiago Alves at UFC 100.

3. Lyoto Machida: Yes, I now consider Machida to be a better all-around fighter than his buddy Anderson Silva.

4. Anderson Silva: Silva gets his most difficult challenge on August 8 when he fights Forrest Griffin.

5. Miguel Torres: Takes on the undefeated Brian Bowles on August 9.

6. Mike Brown: Fresh off beating Faber, he'll likely get another tough test against Jose Aldo some time in the fall or winter.

7. Rampage Jackson: Passing up Machida to fight Rashad Evans.

8. BJ Penn: Takes on Kenny Florian on August 8.

9. Rashad Evans: Looked bad against Machida, but Machida makes everyone look bad.

10. Urijah Faber: He's still among the best in the sport, but he's not as good as Brown.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

6-08-2009 @ 2:36PM

richardbikle said...

so wheres shogun? or maybe akiyama, jose aldo, sheilds, belfort, fitch.. you get the idea.

pound for pound is about as productive as the acient greek pastime of how many spirits can dance on the head of a pin.

6-08-2009 @ 2:37PM

neozoo said...

Just curious, how come Nick Diaz gets no respect in regards to p4p.
I know he comes across badly to most, but the dude destroyed Gomi...Lawler...Shamrock...and now Smith.
And he is a natural WW. Is it because he is not in the UFC anymore?
The kid is truly an awesome fighter, yeah he comes across mean and nasty but for the most part it works for him.
I mean after the Shamrock fight he showed him respect even though Frank was really rude before the fight.
I definately think he should be wearing a belt at either WW or middle. However, a rematch with Joe Riggs should be fun to watch.

6-08-2009 @ 4:58PM

i have to agree with that,(in fact i meant to list him). Diez is as deserving as say Evans, maybe more so. #4# he's fought the better competition.

6-09-2009 @ 12:32AM

boxer129 said...

Just the thought of people praising him pisses me off. So plain and simple here it is. NICK DIAZ IS A BITCH. Stick that arm out against me and get your elbow snapped. How about an over hand right or a front kick. He's easy to beat, and it will be seen if he fights a real fighter and not the tomato cans in strikeforce. I would love for him to get his request granted and fight roy jones jr or any boxer for that matter.

6-08-2009 @ 5:38PM

ESKimo said...

I think these guys mean Nick Diaz, not Nate, but mostly they're just spouting off nonsense.

Shogun is nowhere near Top 10 P4P, nor are any of the other dudes Richard mentioned. As for Nick, he's a solid fighter and highly entertaining, but he's not anywhere near the same class as truly dominant middleweights like Anderson Silva or his closest competitors Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia, Dan Henderson or Mike Bisping.

BJ is higher in my books, but not a bad list overall, MDS.

6-08-2009 @ 6:25PM

i think you mean nick diez, not nate. read again.
As for Shogun, if he's really back, he's going to own the LHW division, possibly the most stacked division of all. Belfort is possibly the most talented of all, he had some problems that distracted him. If his head is in the game few are going to hang with him. As for akiyama, aldo, sheilds, belfort, fitch - their win streaks are much better than (cry)Baby j Penn. His success comes from cutting 30 pounds and fighting much smaller guys; who by the way would probally beat his ass if weigh ins were the day of the fight and he didn't get to go put on 15-20 pounds. Sure was good to see that speedo wearing Canadian beat his ass and make him quit in the corner... pound for pound the best quiter.

6-08-2009 @ 9:08PM

steverenegade said...

Jon Jones will be the star of the future, he should fight Shogun first then Machida. He would beat both of them.

6-09-2009 @ 12:10AM

Spud said...

1. Fedor
2. Anderson
3. St. Pierre
4. Torres
5. Machida
6. Brown
7. Rampage
8. Kojima
9. Alves
10. Shields

Bj Penn doesnt deserve to be on it after his performance against GSP especially after all the smack he talked
Rashad doesnt deserve to be on this list because he really gets lucky in his fights. Lidell was winning until he got countered bad, and he got his sh*t rocked by Machida
Idk why Faber is on this especially after 2 straight losses
Needs some major work MDS, dont really think your lists are that good anymore you dont look at every division and every organization

6-09-2009 @ 7:12AM

Dolly said...

Yeah spud, that's as good a p4p list as any. I got a concern that maybe your not listing Machida high enough but willing to wait and see.

6-09-2009 @ 8:22AM

club45r said...

I disagree with the statement "Urijah Faber is good, but not as good as Mike Brown". Faber broke his hand in the first round and maybe hurt his other hand, but Mike Brown
still could not knock him out, or choke him out.Brown did beat a One Handed fighter, but if he is the force you say,
there should have been a KO or submission. I belive Faber
can beat Brown. I also think Brown will lose his next fight. He hits hard, and is strong, but he's slow and I think he chin is suspect.

6-09-2009 @ 9:09AM

skeen267 said...

Sorry, MDS. Brown's ranking rise is very questionable in light of Urijah's broken hand. Brown should have finished him, but he didn't.

And how is Machida ranked above Torres?!

6-09-2009 @ 10:00AM

retrojoke said...

This list, like so many of the poster's lists is skewed and lacking good judgement.

Just look at BJ Penn on this list, underrated, and i 100% guarantee you that the poster put him their because of his lossess in higher weight divisions. This defeats the purpose of "Pound for Pound". BJ Penn has taken on bigger harder challenges to push himself, guys above him on the list havent nearly accomplished or attempted what Bj has.

Another thing is the lack of historic background on these guys when it comes to highlights/championships/challenges. Look how quick the poster is to put Mike Brown into the scene for a p4p best. Sorry but beating rookies up in Hardcore fighting championships and MD1 coupled with a huge lackluster perfomance against Faber does not make you great. I know the real MMA viewers with knowledge of technique spotted Mike Brown's Deterioting skills after rd 2.5. He became dependant on his Right like a Hendo clone and his takedowns were not skilled/technical- he imposed his weight thru smothering on Faber until the smaller man submitted to takedowns. Takedowns that Brown never capitalized on and all of which Faber got up himself up off the mat from.

Last and most importantly is that the poster is placing the fighters who are in the spotlight right now. Im sure his trigger finger wanted to bump out someone like Rashad for Brett Roger's.

6-09-2009 @ 12:17PM

RegurgoJOKE, you are such an idiot for mouthing off about things you don't know.
First, cry Baby J Penn is ONE inch shorter than GSP vs. THREE inches bigger than Shirk, Stevenson, and other LWs. He's walking around right now a lot closer to 180 than 150, so wTF are you talking about.
Two - you know noting about wrestling. Browns takedowns were techniquely correct, take a lesson.
Three, Hendo is a real badass, you dissin him just shows what a douche you are.

6-09-2009 @ 12:57PM

i've been reading for awhile and i get the hunch that you really dislike retro.
not that i disagree too much.
Although i have a question for you, why do you spell diaz with an "e".
it seems like me and you are the only ones giving him his due.
he has fought in different weight classes against good competition and seems only to get better, oh well.

6-09-2009 @ 7:49PM

Neo my spelling isn't too good, i apoligize. If there was a spell check i'd use it. My friends got me to take a test, i'm actually a liberal neo or something like that. The republicans are a little too uptight for me, the democrats a little too limp wristed. i actually dont like either and if you were to ask me i'd say i was a conserative.

I like diaz because he's a tuff guy with skills. the guy can win on his feet or his back. I can only guess he gave dana some straight talk, and thats why he isn't fighting in the ufc.

The first time i posted something retro gave me a bunch of crap, saying i was this or that. i've had more fights than he's been to. the guy trys to repost what he's read somewhere and act like he knows what he's talking about. the guy doesn't know about fighting. I'd just like to drop a couple on his skull, soften it up for him.

6-09-2009 @ 1:36PM

My post had nothing to do with what Bj's natural weight was. Richard is a dork lol.

Yeh He mispells fighters names all the time. Its almost too funny, you can misspell normal words but if your an MMA fan its hard to even spell Emilianenko wrong. :P

One guy on a forum called Jen's Pulver Little eagle... He still believes thats his nickname

6-09-2009 @ 1:39PM

Excuse me, its Emelianenko lol. OR is it Fyodor Yemelyanenko. OR... Фëдор Владимирович Емельяненко

6-09-2009 @ 5:03PM

actually i was'nt ragging on him, i was just curious.
i've actually agreed with him more than you on alot of comments.
eventhough, he is a right winger.
i've seen some of his repubican leaning comments.
i'm not necassarily left wing or pro demo.
nor am i anti conservative, however, i am definately anti repblican.
just a personal rant here.
point is, i have read both your comments for awhile. and as far as mma goes i tend to agree with him more.