My Top Ten Pound For Pound

1) Georges ‘Rush’ St. Pierre:
Georges St. Pierre (GSP) is kind of like Jordan in his prime; he’s excellent at all aspects of the sport. With his phenomenal athleticism, great fundamentals, and instinctive ring intelligence, when he’s at his best, he’s as close to unbeatable as fighters get. He hits like a freight train and moves like a dancer. Described by one journalist as “a physical freak of a man”, that would usually be hyperbole, but in his case I’d have to agree. On a side note, he’s also widely known as one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet; so he gets kudos for that, God knows great athletic skills and great character don’t always go together. He has two losses, but in both of them, you could make a legitimate case that he beat himself. Against Matt Hughes, he admits he gave the champion too much respect, but was still doing well in the fight before tapping to an arm-bar with one second left. In both rematches, he OWNED Hughes. Against Serra he was clearly not as on his game as usual; there was uncharacteristic cautiousness in ‘Rush’, and his cardio may not have been what it normally was either, as he got rocked and then pounded out. He mentioned afterwards he’d had a lot of personal issues coming into the fight and hadn’t prepared as he should have; he’s expected to dominate Serra in their rematch also. He is probably both the best striker and best ground ‘n’ pounder in the division, two traits which are rarely in the same fighter. He also has extraordinary takedown defense, as shown in his fights with takedown machines Josh Koscheck, Sean Sherk and Hughes. He often physically overwhelms very good opponents, despite their skill, they can’t match his strength, quickness, and coordination. At UFC 74, he did what many considered impossible, outwrestling Josh Koscheck, a fighter widely considered to be the best wrestler in MMA. Although some questioned his mental toughness after the Serra loss, he’s rebounded with consecutive dominant wins over top competition, and he strikes me as the kind of guy who doesn’t make the same mistake twice; I don’t expect that to be an issue in the future. Only twenty-six, he has the tools to rule his sport for a very long time.

2) ‘The Prodigy’, B.J. Penn:
If fighters were actors Penn would be Brando. Extremely gifted, but inconsistent and enigmatic. Known as ‘The Prodigy’, Penn is a legend among MMA purists, and very well may be the most naturally talented fighter ever. Another fighter who’s very well-rounded, he’s an awesome Jiu-Jitsu practitioner with great fighting instincts and a great chin. Penn has fought very well at many different weight classes, making his claim as a pound-for-pound great even better. He has excellent standup, heavy hands, and ridiculous submissions. His most amazing trait is probably his extraordinary flexibility and balance; he can use his feet the way most people use their arms, and can take his foot and put it behind his head without using his hands. He has unorthodox but tremendous takedown defense that relies less on a traditional spread-legged sprawl than on his aforementioned balance and flexibility; this was showcased in his second fight with Hughes, in which he repeatedly repelled Hughes takedowns for minutes at a time, at one point resisting it on one leg. With a motto of “There are no weight classes in the street,” Penn’s proven himself willing to take on all comers, regardless of size. In 2005 he fought Lyoto Machida, one of the best 205 lbers in the world, and gave Machida all he could handle, despite Penn’s fighting the majority of his career at 155 pounds. He also has dominated Hughes, winning 3 out of the 4 rounds they’ve fought, and given St. Pierre his toughest fight, a grueling 3 round split decision (though some of that was probably because of an eye poke and nose injury St. Pierre received in the first round). One of Penn’s longstanding problems has been his cardio and occasional lack of drive, but he’s said recently that he has rededicated himself for the future. If so, that is very bad news for any future opposition.

3) Fedor Emelianenko:
This is the fighter who’d be #1 on most mainstream MMA pound-for-pound lists, a fact which is made more amazing when considering that he’s a heavyweight. He’s probably the most respected fighter of this era, a very well-rounded juggernaut with few discernible weaknesses. He’s beaten the best strikers and best submission artists, and seems to have a knack for beating opponents in their supposed area of expertise, as shown when he out-struck devastating striker Mirko ‘Cro-Cop’ Filipovic. He’s beaten a “Who’s Who” of MMA greats including Mark Hunt, Cro-Cop, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (twice), Mark Coleman (twice), Kevin Randleman, Ricardo Arona, Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral, and Matt Lindland. Perhaps we get our best sense of his dominance by seeing what his peers have to say about him:

"Look, I've fought many people from around the world, so I've seen many strong fighters. But like him, never." - Renato Sobral

"NOBODY wants to fight Fedor." - Wanderlei Silva

“Fedor has no weakness! I have seen so many fights, and even the best fighters in the world have a flaw in their game but I have yet to find one in Fedor Emelianenko."
- Bas Rutten

4) Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua:
Shogun is widely regarded as one of the most exciting, and best MMA fighters on the planet. A whirling dervish of unrelenting attack, his defeats of Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson (who called him the best fighter he ever faced), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, and Ricardo Arona from April to August of 2005 may be the best performances against top competition in a short period of time that MMA has ever seen. A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) black belt as well as a Muay Thai practitioner, Shogun trains with Brazil’s legendary Chute Boxe camp, and is regarded as their star disciple. Winner of the Pride Fighting Championship’s 2005 205 lb Grand Prix, many felt he would have been Pride’s overall 205 lb champion as well but for his refusal to fight teammate and good friend Wanderlei Silva, who held the belt. Over the last few years he’s been considered the de facto Pride champion by many, and the best 205 lber in the world by die-hard fans. …And then came September 22, 2007, his first fight for the UFC… A huge favorite against UFC contender Forrest Griffin, who was considered game but simply outmatched skill-wise, Shogun was manhandled. He seemed sluggish and sloppy from the start and gassed from the 2nd round’s midpoint on as Griffin physically overwhelmed him. The ending was the final indignity, as the BJJ black belt tapped after Griffin took his back and sank in a choke. Within 15 minutes Shogun went from the 205 lb division’s consensus heir apparent and #1 ranked light-heavyweight in the world to the #6 one. He later acknowleged he had fought with a damaged knee that also hindered the shape he could get into while training, and has since had surgery on it. However, not yet 26, Shogun seems to have the time to correct whatever went wrong, re-right his ship, and get back to being the fighter who destroyed his division in Pride. Hey, it worked for GSP after Serra. And I know all of Shogun’s fans, fans of one of the most dominant and exciting fighters in the world, hope it works for him also.

5) ‘Dangerous’ Dan Henderson:
If this were a list based on the pure respect MMA competitors and fans have for fighters, Henderson might be #1. He embodies all the attributes fighters admire and wish they had more of: courage, determination, work ethic, even humility. And to top it off, man, can ‘Dangerous Dan’ fight! And despite recently turning 37 he may be giving his best performances presently. An Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler who’s added the other MMA components to hone his skills, Henderson is now very well rounded and dangerous no matter were the fight goes and what position he’s in. His iron chin, which was showcased most recently against Rampage Jackson, is as solid as they come, allowing him to have never been KOd or TKOd in 28 fights.

6) Josh Koscheck:
Koscheck being on this list may be somewhat of a surprise for casual observers of the sport, many of whom remember him mostly as the annoying, bottle-blonde house instigator on season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter. But having watched his recent performances I have to tell you, ‘Kos’ ain’t as dumb as he looks, and as a fighter, the 4-time Division I Wrestling All American has the goods. When you take into consideration that he says he’s only really been training in MMA for 3-4 years, his progress becomes positively frightening, and his potential upside becomes tremendous. His striking is already average to good, and when you add the fact that he has the best takedowns in MMA, it gives him the trump card that he can turn any MMA fight into essentially a wrestling match, an area in which, among fighters, he may be the best in the world at. Those who watched him get manhandled by GSP may disagree, but I feel it’s good to remember a few things:

1) GSP is a physical freak; it’s one of the reasons he’s at the top of our list. There may be 5 guys on the planet who are Koscheck’s size (in MMA or not) who could’ve handled him like that, and he was unfortunate enough to be fighting one of them.

2) GSP dominated him when he was on top; when Kos was on top he dominated also (we may never know how dominant he may have been because the round soon ended).

3) It may be premature to feel we now know GSP is a better wrestler than Kos; at least some of the trouble Koscheck experienced may have been because he was surprised GSP was looking for the takedown, as pretty much everyone assumed GSP would want to keep the fight standing.

4) Koscheck (potentially) has more upside as an MMA fighter than St. Pierre; having not trained in non-wrestling aspects of it for anywhere near as long as GSP has he could conceivably get much better at them. Essentially, GSP may be closer to his apex as a fighter than Koscheck. Even now, I feel he’d beat everyone in his division, with the exception of St. Pierre and possibly BJ Penn.

7) Matt ‘The Law’ Lindland:
A fighter with a tremendous Wrestling base (2000 Olympics Greco-Roman Silver Medalist), Lindland has been one of the most dominant 185 lbers on the planet for many years. He easily adapted his wrestling skills to MMA, creating a smothering and effective clinch-fighting and ground ‘n’ pounding style. Some fans have felt his style was boring, and have accused him of laying-and-praying (a style in which a good grappler with mediocre finishing skills attains a top position, but doesn’t do much with it, and is content to win on points), but he’s finished 8 of his last 10 victories, and the 70% career finishing percentage of his wins (by contrast, Karo Parisyan, considered one of MMA’s most exciting fighters, has only a 53% finishing percentage), and the caliber of opponents he’s beaten (Carlos Newton, Jeremy Horn, Joe Doerksen, Travis Lutter, Tony Fryklund, along with a razor close decision loss to 205 lber Rampage Jackson, and a controversial bout with legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, of all people) don’t lie. The main point is, whether you like his style or not, the man is extremely effective. Rumors about him not fighting in the UFC because of beef with their management have swirled, but if he does return to the organization, ‘The Law’ could be the new sheriff in town. Fans might have a showdown between him and current 185 lb kingpin Anderson Silva, a great match-up of styles and a long awaited fight which was supposed to have taken place a year and a half ago but never materialized to look forward to.

8) Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva:
A phenomenal striker, Silva is regarded by many as the best striker in all of MMA. Another member of Brazil’s famed Chute Boxe camp, Silva burst onto the UFC scene with a 49 second, highlight reel knockout of iron-chinned Chris Leben, and followed that up with an even more thorough, three minute destruction of 185 lb champion Rich Franklin, who was considered one of the UFC’s best pound-for-pound fighters. An extremely efficient striker, his Muay-Thai Kickboxing is devastating, for reference, see the clinch he got Franklin in for the last minute and a half of their fight; despite being the physically stronger fighter Franklin just simply couldn’t break free, as Silva pounded him with knees to the torso, turning Franklin’s flesh pink. When a fighter has such a clear stand-up advantage his opponent’s game-plan becomes simple; take him to the ground. However, Silva is also very well rounded, and is a Brazilian-Jiu-Jitsu black belt as well, and is very hard to hurt or finish on the ground. The main reason he’s not higher on my list is he may have questionable take-down-defense, opponents seem to be able to take him down sometimes, they just can’t do anything with him when he’s down there. But every moment the fight is standing they are definitely in the danger zone.

9) Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson:
A fighter's fighter, ‘Page is one of most exciting fighters in MMA. And seeing that he's seemed to accomplish much of what he has without the best instructors and fighting partners, the more he gets with a good team, the more I see the sky being the limit. Having a self-described fighting style of “Whup That Ass”, one of the amazing things about him is he continually has beaten fighters whom, on paper, appear to have distinct advantages. He's out-wrestled wrestling standouts Kevin Randleman, Matt Lindland, and Dan Henderson, and out-struck feared striker Chuck Liddell, twice. Having two great battles with feared Pride champ Wanderlei Silva, and having already beaten Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Arona, Igor Vovchanchyn, Lindland, Liddell, and Henderson, one can only imagine how much better he'll get as he trains with better people. If his naturally aggressive, nothing-to-lose style which has served him so well gets supplemented by better technical skills, I really think he could go down in history as one of the best fighters ever. He has all the potential; it's just a matter of if it's utilized.

10) Nate ‘The Great’ Marquardt:
I realize this last spot is probably controversial; I found it hard to fill. I basically believed it was between him, Jon Fitch, and Lyoto Machida. I picked Marquardt beause I felt that in general, when he’s on, he was the most effective out of those fighters. He's very experienced, very smart, and very well-rounded. Some people have discounted him after he lost to Anderson Silva, but I watched that fight, and I think he did fairly well before he got caught, and let's face it, Silva can knock out ANYONE. But it's not like he got dominated from beginning to end, he did pretty well except for the final moments. He may be one of the best technical Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in MMA. He can win any fight he's in, because basically if he can get a hold of you (and we know most fighters can induce a clinch), then he can take you to the ground, and then he can dominate you. And he's good enough in standup that he can hang with, and sometimes dominate most fighters until he's able to get the clinch. Only 28, and training with a camp which may be one of the best in MMA (Greg Jackson's), he should only have improvement in his future.

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):

1) Chuck Liddell: The Iceman’s fighting style has always been very simple and very effective. Strike with his opponent, sprawl if they try to take him down, then strike with them some more, until they fall down. A recent problem has been that the last two haven’t fallen down, he has. And if Chuck can’t out-strike his opponents, he can’t win. However, throughout his career he has been one of the most effective fighters out there, and he deserves mentioning when p4p lists arise, especially given his body of work.

2) Jon Fitch: Fitch is one of the more well-rounded fighters out there. A fighter who lives, sleeps, and breathes MMA, no one is going to have studied and prepared better. With an impressive recent win over Diego Sanchez, Fitch continues his climb up the 170 lb. division. Unfortunately for him, that’s the toughest division in MMA, and as good as he becomes, I just don’t think he’s athletically skilled enough to beat the truly elite like GSP, BJ Penn, and his teammate, Josh Koscheck.

3) Sean Serk: Sherk could easily have made the top ten. But with so many great fighters out there, not everyone’s going to make the cut. Sherk is in general extremely effective and (potential ‘roid use or not) appears to be getting better. However, he remains somewhat one dimensional, and as GSP (and Nick Diaz to a lesser extent) showed, if he can’t take you down he’s not nearly as imposing. He CAN take most fighters down, but that flaw in his skill set probably stops him from joining the top ten (not that he’s crying over what I think ☺).

4) Nick Diaz: Diaz is one of those guys I love seeing fight. He’s very well-rounded and always brings it. I think MMA purists love the guy. With 6 losses he has one of the most deceptive records out there, 1 loss was 5 yrs ago when he was 19, 2 were split decisions against very tough opposition, and the others were close decisions against Diego Sanchez, Joe Riggs, and Sean Sherk who were all top contenders. Then he beat Takanori Gomi, who’s on many p4p lists, in February. He’s definitely one of the best fighters out there that casual fans might not know.

Honorable Mention also (but I’m too tired to write about them ☺): Lyoto Machida, Din Thomas, Karo Parisyan, Josh Barnett, Rich Franklin, Yushin Okami.

Hate to say it, but…

Currently Overrated: These fighters performances (especially recently, in some cases for awhile now) have not lived up to their reputations: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Takanori Gomi, Matt Hughes, Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral, Wanderlei Silva.

Article Source: http://MMAWriters.com

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