After a big win at UFC 101, Anderson Silva has moved up the mixed martial arts pound-for-pound rankings. But is he now the No. 1 fighter in the world? Not in my rankings, which are below.
Top 10 Pound for Pound Fighters in MMA
1. Fedor Emelianenko: I'm sticking with Fedor, based on his incredible consistency and his ability to finish opponents quickly. But to stay at the top, he needs to fight high-quality opposition regularly. We'll see whether he does now that he has spurned the UFC's offer to sign with Strikeforce.
2. Anderson Silva: His ability to move up a weight class and dominate a bigger opponent has Silva hot on Fedor's heels. One more win could be enough to vault him to the top.
3. Georges St. Pierre: He's dominating his own weight class, but he falls behind Silva because Silva can dominate two weight classes.
4. Lyoto Machida: The fight I really want to see is Machida vs. Silva. I'll settle for Machida vs. Shogun Rua at UFC 104, though.
5. B.J. Penn: When he's in shape, he simply dominates the lightweight division. Kenny Florian couldn't keep up with him, and I don't think Diego Sanchez will be able to, either.
6. Mike Brown: With Miguel Torres going down, Brown is now the best fighter in the WEC.
7. Rampage Jackson: Rampage has won eight of his last nine (and I think he deserved to win the decision against Forrest Griffin) and consistently takes on Top 10 opponents. Rampage is such a colorful character that I sometimes think people overlook his talent as a fighter.
8. Brian Bowles: Bowles' shocking upset of Miguel Torres was perhaps the single most impressive performance of the year in MMA.
9. Rashad Evans: His fight with Rampage Jackson in December will be the next time MMA fans get to see two Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the cage together.
10. Miguel Torres: After having his 17-fight winning streak snapped, Torres has a big challenge ahead of him, with a rematch against Takeya Mizugaki possibly on the horizon. He says he's looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know by telling me on my MMA Twitter page, starting with @MichaelDavSmith.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-10-2009 @ 3:04PM
capncrack2 said...
personally i think gsp should be lower, he wins yes but he more times then not wins via judges by takdowns, while his takedown ability is above average is still would reserve the top 3 for people who finish. plus the fact that he wants nothing to do with silva shows what alot of people are saying about fedor he does not want to face a fighter who could pose a real threat. gsp is happy being the big guy and a smaller weight class. my opinion though im sure alot will disagree.
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8-10-2009 @ 9:31PM
Wolflodge said...
Everyone wants to knock GSP for not moving up to middleweight, but he is a natural welterweight. He walks around at 185 and drops 15lbs to fight. Hughes walks around at 190, Alves 200, Kosh 185, Fitch 185-190. Its Silva is a natural 210 and cuts 25 lbs to fight at 185 compared to GSP's 15 lbs. When Silva fights at LHW he is the same height and length as the guys he is fighting. GSP would be 5" shorter than Silva and would be giving up probably the same in reach. If you were talking about him moving up to fight Bisbing, Leban, Marquardt or anyone of the natural sized 185's, he would have already moved up. But no one wants to see that. But you knock him for not fighting a guy who is unbeaten at two weight class's above him. As for him " winning because he takes guys down" this is MMA not boxing. I like to see a knock out as much as the next guy, but this is MMA. You act like he just lays there. Did you see Alvez's face after their fight? How about Fitch? Serra? Hughes? Penn? Nobody beats their opponent in more ways in MMA than GSP.
8-10-2009 @ 3:13PM
exp said...
haha. This is a joke right? The guy beats Arlovski and Sylvia and he is No. 1 pound for pound. God. Where AOL finds these guys? Fedor doesn't even belong in top 3. This guy hasn't beat anyone in the past 2 years. If he had fought and beat Barnett, I wouldn't have argued, but this is clearly a joke by a joke journalist who is obviously so biased towards Fedor.
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8-10-2009 @ 3:37PM
retrojoke said...
Terrible top list. Lyoto above BJ is proof that you are a rookie. Fedor as Number 1 is all hype now. He isnt in the big show and that alone makes him NOT #1 in the world.
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8-10-2009 @ 3:43PM
kwilbur10 said...
Wow. Are u really serious. Fedor is a very good fighter and worthy of top p4p king. The HW division is upwards of 206 and higher. So he fights at a range of weight in his class and he finishes with authority. That's why he is number one in most opinions. Silva should be tied at the very least. He destroys people or makes ppl look bad and sometimes both. But that's my opinion. Gsp is should not be in top 3 simply because he doesn't venture out of his weight class. I would love to see him take out ppl his size. Silva proved he can now I want to see gsp do it. Rampage and Rashad shouldn't be up there either. But there isn't a lot of fighters that are willing to change weight classes.
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8-10-2009 @ 3:46PM
claytor said...
Why is MDS a rookie???
Machida BEAT Penn at a catch weight, so yes, he SHOULD be above him. Besides have you forgotten the GSP situation???
And as for Fedor, hes beaten a bunch of guys the UFC currently has after bringing them over from PRIDE, so wtf should he be so eager to go there? Hes been disrespected by Dana White MULTIPLE times, and thats before they even negotiated anything! ever!
Get off the damn UFC high horse, this weekends card was nothing short of awful, plodding, uneventful fights, and when there WERE fireworks? it felt like a fix.
Good job placing Bowles up there, for now hes like a Mike Brown clone. Well see how badly Torres wants to re-establish himself after being so sloppy in that fight.
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8-14-2009 @ 6:59PM
blaazin88 said...
flet like a fix.. anderson silva destroyed griffin. so bad people think it was fixed. u should ask griffin if it was fixed. i think your crazy, fedor is not that good anymore.. he got worked by arlovski n just caught him. he does throw some powerful punches but thas all he has. re watch that fight and tell me he still should be number one
8-10-2009 @ 3:56PM
pfw720 said...
Its becoming more and more clear that MDS is a "fedor nut hugger"
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8-10-2009 @ 4:08PM
pfw720 said...
When are people gonna realize that you cant call a guy P4P champ when he wastes the prime of his career KO'ing people who were CUT by the UFC for POOR PERFORMANCE, then signs with strikeforce(Big Overeem fan but if i see a Werdum fight...! Yes fedor is a top 5 p4p, but higher on the list then a GSP or Spider, not very good reasoning
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8-10-2009 @ 4:31PM
Eric said...
Poor performance???
Arlovski won his last 3 fights in the UFC before leaving, and was on a 5 fight winning streak with 4 KOs when Fedor demolished him.
Tim Sylvia was 24-4 with 16 knockouts when he stepped into the ring with Fedor and was picked apart.
The recent performances of an overweight Sylvia & an Arlovski that no longer has an confidence after what Fedor did to him shouldn't reflect poorly on Fedor.
Don't forget that Fedor also fought Coleman, Cro-cop, and Big Nog when they were in the primes!!
8-10-2009 @ 4:42PM
el_dustino said...
With respect, you should really consider revising this list, putting Anderson Silva @ #1 based solely on the recent opponents Fedor has faced in the last few years. Tim Silvia and Arlovski are far from top contenders in the sport, thats a fact.
If not, then consider this. Anderson Silva should be considered not only the best pound-for-pounder fighter, but the best MMA fighter of all time. Anderson fights with such mastery one can consider it art. His accuracy, that's accuracy with superior power, is unparalleled in the sport. Fedor has nasty power as well, but frequently breaks his hand in order to knock someone out.
Fedors standup is effective to say the least, but I feel honored to witness the footwork, hand speed, angles, power and accuracy which Anderson displays.
It this moment, Anderson is willing to relinquish his middleweight belt, not to immediately fight for the light-heavy belt, but to face more competitive challengers in the light-heavy divsion. Fedor on the other hand has recently faced underwhelming fighters who have been dropped from the UFC for very good reasons, and has decided not to face the best in the sport, opting for more money instead.
I could go on, but must get back to work.
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8-10-2009 @ 4:46PM
Eric said...
Your wrong ... look at my post above
8-10-2009 @ 5:18PM
Tokesh said...
no way fedor should be on top.
gotta agree with dana, how anyone can say anderson silva is p4p best in the world is obviously just a fedor fanboy
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8-10-2009 @ 5:20PM
mrcnotes66 said...
silva is number 1.... fedor is a joke and fights washed up ufc fighters.
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8-10-2009 @ 5:22PM
pfw720 said...
No eric your wrong... Lets recap Arlovski's last three fights with the UFC. Cruz- The win stemmed from an ILLEGAL KICK. Werdum- HAHA watch that again. THE REF THREATEND TO START DEDUCTING POINTS BECAUSE THEY WOULDNT FIGHT! and as for O'brien- Goes undefeated against nobodies for 9 fights, beats herring and everybody is kissing his ass. Arlovski finished with an unmemorable tko and GETS DROPPED BY THE UFC
Sylvia??? Are you really gonna try and argue he has crediblity?
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8-10-2009 @ 8:06PM
johnnynumber5 said...
Arlovski didn't get dropped from the UFC he left after his contract expired to fight in other organizations. The first round of that Werdum fight was one of the best in recent memory but I don't blame him for rounds 2 & 3 anymore than I do Silva for his 5 rounds against Leites. Werdum simply didn't engage but his striking has evolved a lot since then.
That's just his last 3 UFC fights. Don't forget he also defeated Roy Nelson and Ben Rothwell prior to getting his shot at Fedor.
Tim Sylvia sucks so bad that Dana White put him into the interim title fight against Noguiera when Couture was on UFC hiatus to try and fight Fedor.
Don't be a hater. It's fighting man and Arlovski & Sylvia were some good heavyweights. It would be one thing if Fedor lucked out a decision but he completely destroyed them before the end of round 1. The two fights combined weren't even a full round. Thats impressive.
8-10-2009 @ 5:37PM
capncrack2 said...
arlovski is the only fighter i will give fedor credit on beating,(in the last few years) despite his lack of explosive finishes in his last days in the ufc i always thought he was extremely talented he just has the same issue as bj penn conditioning and state of mind when he is at 100% he was a really dangerous fighter. sylvia on the other hand defends a rear naked choke almost as well as joe daddy
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8-10-2009 @ 7:14PM
mitch said...
Why are you bashing MDS wether I agree with his list or not "I dont Silva is #1" I wouldnt call him a rookie.I enjoy his imformative and entertaining articles.
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8-10-2009 @ 8:00PM
johnnynumber5 said...
If you don't like the P4P list from MDS them make your own. It's wholly subjective and you can quantify different parameters however you like. I like to give merit to how a great fighter bounces back from adversity and how dominant they are in their weight class compared to their peers. I prefer a large sampling of fights ... no flavor of the week in my lists.
My List:
1. Fedor Emelianenko - Still the P4P king in all of MMA. Has faced and destroyed top flight opponents in his last two fights.
2. Anderson Silva - If Fedor is 1 then Silva is 1A. It was nice to see a dominant performance after his previous two sub par outings.
3. Lyoto Machida - I wasn't convinced that The Dragon was the real deal until he destroyed top LHW's in his previous two fights.
4. Georges St.Pierre - Great fighter but he needs to get his killer instinct back and finish fighters when he has them beaten.
5. BJ Penn - The prodigy has returned. With his new found conditioning regiment Penn has solidified his status that he may have fractured after a sub par performance against #4 P4P fighter GSP.
6. Rampage Jackson - In my opinion Rampage is still the legitimate LHW champion because I thought he beat Griffin. He looses points for choosing to fight Evans instead of Machida for the UFC LHW title.
7. Gegard Mousasi - The best fighter most fans have never heard of. Dream GP winner has steam rolled all comers and made it look easy. A convincing win against Sobral moves him up higher. The sky is the limit for the young Mousasi.
8. Mauricio Rua - He never went anywhere. WIth A career threatening injury behind him he could fulfill all the promise he had from PRIDE FC when he was considered the best LHW in the world.
9. Shinya Aoki - The best submission fighter in the world. It was a nice bounce back performance for Aoki against Ribeiro coming off the brutal knockout at welterweight by Mach Sakurai.
10. Paulo Filho - One of the most dominant 185 lb fighters in the sports history. Hopefully his troubled past with substance abuse is behind him that caused him to lose his spot in the WEC after a maligned performance against Chael Sonnen. After he survived a brutal onslaught from mini Tyson Melvin Manhoef and got the submission victory it's safe to say ELY is back on the right track for his status in P4P royalty.
Thats my list ...
I dropped Faber & Torres out of my P4P rankings. Nick Diaz and Mike Brown are on the cusp of breaking my list. If Brown goes out there and beats Jose Aldo the same way he did Leonard Garcia & Urijah Faber then he will be making a great argument for himself as a P4P fighter. The same way I feel about Brock Lesnar is how I feel about Brian Bowles: They need to show me something over a larger sample size before I consider them legitimate top 10 P4P fighters.
Go ahead and tell me how stupid I am ....
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8-10-2009 @ 11:49PM
richardbikle said...
vitor. hendo. brown. lesnar. and hey, if it wasnt for gsp, fitch would be the best WW.
anybody know what happened to bustamonte?
and i know he doesnt fight mma, but there isnt a ufc/wec/dream/shooto/etc that could muay thai fight with pramuk, one of the greatest fighters ever.