The best in the world
After watching the last few UFC shows and listening to pundit after pundit talk about the greatness of one fighter over another, I decided it was time to throw down my own best of the best list.
I have no idea who the great fighters under 145 pounds are, except that they are probably mostly Japanese. And that’s only because it is the Japanese promotions that give some of the smallest fighters the chance to show their stuff on the bigger stages. I wish we had organizations here in the USA like Japan’s Pancrase and Shooto groups that regularly feature the smaller statured fighters.
Featherweight (145 pounds)
At 145 pounds I think it’s easy to see Urijah Faber as not only the best featherweight in North America but the best in his class on the planet. Choose your promotion, bring your champions, Faber beats all of them. And while his “I’ve never eaten a candy bar” shtick may grow thin rather fast, The California Kid has very few potential challengers to his 145 pound world dominance.
Who’s next in line? Since Faber fights for the relatively insular WEC, don’t look for a challenge any time in the near future. The WEC, like its parent company the UFC, employs what most of the fight world would consider archaic contracts that will keep any cross promotional matchups from happening and without a cross-over from, or to, some of the Japanese organizations, we won’t get to see the best 145 pounders face off.
Up and comers at 145: Tamura, Curan (even though he just lost to Faber) and Inoue.
Light weight (155 pounds)
It amazes me that anyone places Takanori Gomi at the top of the 155lb light weight class. Gomi has decent power standing but he’s like a carp that’s spent the last week out of the water when he goes to the ground. Gomi isn’t #1, he’s not in the top 5 and inside a cage where he can’t run quite as much, he’s not even top 10.
The number one fighter at 155 pounds is easily BJ Penn. BJ is one of the better strikers at 155 pounds and is quite possibly the best grappler as well.
The knock against BJ has always been that he doesn’t train, that he’s just playing at being a fighter, that he has no passion. Well, anyone who witnessed his dismantling of Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 or his drubbing of Jens Pulver understands that the BJ many criticized in the past as being unprepared just doesn’t exist anymore.
BJ against Gomi? Please, if that fight ever happens someone buy Gomi a nice comfy pillow because BJ would put him to sleep before the end of the first round.
BJ’s greatest potential challengers are . . . well, the only realistic challenger at this time is Sean Sherk who BJ will face sometime in the following months for BJ’s first title defense. Outside of the UFC there’s Gilbert Melendez, Gesias Calvacante, Vitor Ribero and not too many others.
Welterweight (170 pounds)
I love Matt Sera. I love the fact that he talks the talk and that he can walk it too. But Matt Sera, UFC champion or not, is in no way the best 170 pounder on the planet. If you want the best, look a little farther north than Serra’s New York home. French Canadian George “Rush” St. Pierre takes the 170 pound crown and makes everyone else look like an amateur while he does it. Even the perennial welterweight champion, Matt Hughes, can’t begin to handle Pierre’s athleticism and general skill.
The next best at 170 pounds? Most likely Hughes but the mercurial Karo Parisyan has the potential to take the #2 spot.
Middleweight (185 pounds)
Alright, lets get this one over with quick. Anderson Silva is easily the best in the world at 185 pounds. The former Chute Boxe standout and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt has shown again and again that he is better than the rest of the pack whether the fight remains standing or goes to the ground. The Spider has no realistic challengers in the current UFC stables.
Who out there can beat Silva?
Matt Lindland would make it a fight but could he bull doze his way to a decision victory by camping inside Silva’s guard for 5 rounds? I don’t think so. Silva wins it by TKO.
Paulo Filho can take Silva on the ground, but his reach is so short and his reliance on hooks so entrenched that he wouldn’t be able to stand with Silva and if you can’t at least present a decent stand up offense then your chances of getting him to the ground is greatly decreased. Silva wins it by late round knock out.
Dan Henderson is the only realistic challenge to Silva’s crown as the world’s best 185 pounder. Henderson won’t submit Silva, he won’t out strike Silva on the feet. What Henderson has the potential to do is get Silva to the ground and control him enough to pound out a decision victory. However, until he does it, Silva stays at #1.
Light Heavyweight (205 pounds)
A year ago I wouldn’t have said this, but Quinton Jackson has evolved his game and has earned the right to be called the world’s best at 205 pounds. Wanderlei Silva? No thanks. Chuck Liddell? Of course not. Keith Jardine? Yah, right. Don’t get me wrong, everyone I just mentioned is a great fighter, they’re also not in Quinton’s league right now.
Chuck Liddel is currently the most likely to get a decent shot at Quinton but I don’t see it happening. Dan Henderson is just too small and should stay at 185 pounds, although he has as good a chance as anyone at beating Quinton. Wanderlei Silva could always surprise us but I think The Axe Murderer’s best days are behind him. And until I see something new from Shogun (Mauricio Rua) I don’t see him being a decent threat to Rampage’s reign.
Heavyweight (205+ pounds)
How can anyone forget the clinic Fedor Emelianenko put on in his fights against Nogeuira, or what he did to Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filopovic? The man some people lovingly refer to as “Darth” Fedor has long been the consensus #1 Heavyweight and in the mind of many fans the #1 pound for pound fighter in all of MMA. But how long can we recognize Fedor’s greatness when his last five fights consisted of two circus side shows in Hong Man Choi and Zulu, a great middle weight fighting up two weight classes, and a long since effective Mark Coleman?
And now Fedor has signed with his own manager’s promotion. Oooh! We’re in for some exciting fights now!
Alright, alright, I can hear some of the MMA intelligentsia already pouting. Too bad, get over it.
Some people out there might even believe that Randy Couture is going to get to fight Fedor and that that fight will define the careers of both fighters. It would be nice, but anyone who thinks that Couture is going to fight outside of the UFC anytime soon should take their thorazine and go back to bed. Fedor and Randy won’t happen, not for a long time. Fedor and anyone from the UFC won’t happen unless the Fertittas’ buy the M1 organization and dismantle it in the same way they tore apart PrideFC. And outside of the UFC there really isn’t an interesting heavyweight matchup for Fedor.
So, once again, how long does the Russian cyborg remain on the “Best of the best” list? For me, he fell off that train yesterday.
The heavyweight crown is up in the air, I don’t know who #1 is but until Fedor comes out of MMA Siberia we can’t give him the crown.
So, if not Fedor then who? Randy Couture? Maybe, but I doubt the natural takes it. Who then? I’d say Josh Barnett if he was currently active in any organization that mattered. Sure, his striking may be so-so but he’s one of the few heavyweights who can roll with Fedor and Nogeuira. Next in line would be Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira. And after that the talent pool drops off fast.
Pound for pound
This isn’t as difficult as it may seem. The best pound for pound fighter title comes down to BJ Penn and George St. Pierre. Both fighters have proven that they can dominate their respective weight classes. Penn is by far the better grappler and St. Pierre is the better striker. St. Pierre did beat an uninspired BJ Penn in their fight last year but can he beat the “new and improved” BJ Penn? Of course he can, I just don’t think he will if the two of them meet again.
BJ “The Prodigy” Penn, when focused, can beat George St. Pierre. And after BJ fights, and beats, Sean Sherk it looks like the Dana White and the UFC will give BJ “The Prodigy” Penn a chance to avenge his loss to St. Pierre and cement his position as the best in the world.
Disagree? Leave a comment and let me know who you would pick as the best fighters in the world!
I have no idea who the great fighters under 145 pounds are, except that they are probably mostly Japanese. And that’s only because it is the Japanese promotions that give some of the smallest fighters the chance to show their stuff on the bigger stages. I wish we had organizations here in the USA like Japan’s Pancrase and Shooto groups that regularly feature the smaller statured fighters.
Featherweight (145 pounds)
At 145 pounds I think it’s easy to see Urijah Faber as not only the best featherweight in North America but the best in his class on the planet. Choose your promotion, bring your champions, Faber beats all of them. And while his “I’ve never eaten a candy bar” shtick may grow thin rather fast, The California Kid has very few potential challengers to his 145 pound world dominance.
Who’s next in line? Since Faber fights for the relatively insular WEC, don’t look for a challenge any time in the near future. The WEC, like its parent company the UFC, employs what most of the fight world would consider archaic contracts that will keep any cross promotional matchups from happening and without a cross-over from, or to, some of the Japanese organizations, we won’t get to see the best 145 pounders face off.
Up and comers at 145: Tamura, Curan (even though he just lost to Faber) and Inoue.
Light weight (155 pounds)
It amazes me that anyone places Takanori Gomi at the top of the 155lb light weight class. Gomi has decent power standing but he’s like a carp that’s spent the last week out of the water when he goes to the ground. Gomi isn’t #1, he’s not in the top 5 and inside a cage where he can’t run quite as much, he’s not even top 10.
The number one fighter at 155 pounds is easily BJ Penn. BJ is one of the better strikers at 155 pounds and is quite possibly the best grappler as well.
The knock against BJ has always been that he doesn’t train, that he’s just playing at being a fighter, that he has no passion. Well, anyone who witnessed his dismantling of Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 or his drubbing of Jens Pulver understands that the BJ many criticized in the past as being unprepared just doesn’t exist anymore.
BJ against Gomi? Please, if that fight ever happens someone buy Gomi a nice comfy pillow because BJ would put him to sleep before the end of the first round.
BJ’s greatest potential challengers are . . . well, the only realistic challenger at this time is Sean Sherk who BJ will face sometime in the following months for BJ’s first title defense. Outside of the UFC there’s Gilbert Melendez, Gesias Calvacante, Vitor Ribero and not too many others.
Welterweight (170 pounds)
I love Matt Sera. I love the fact that he talks the talk and that he can walk it too. But Matt Sera, UFC champion or not, is in no way the best 170 pounder on the planet. If you want the best, look a little farther north than Serra’s New York home. French Canadian George “Rush” St. Pierre takes the 170 pound crown and makes everyone else look like an amateur while he does it. Even the perennial welterweight champion, Matt Hughes, can’t begin to handle Pierre’s athleticism and general skill.
The next best at 170 pounds? Most likely Hughes but the mercurial Karo Parisyan has the potential to take the #2 spot.
Middleweight (185 pounds)
Alright, lets get this one over with quick. Anderson Silva is easily the best in the world at 185 pounds. The former Chute Boxe standout and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt has shown again and again that he is better than the rest of the pack whether the fight remains standing or goes to the ground. The Spider has no realistic challengers in the current UFC stables.
Who out there can beat Silva?
Matt Lindland would make it a fight but could he bull doze his way to a decision victory by camping inside Silva’s guard for 5 rounds? I don’t think so. Silva wins it by TKO.
Paulo Filho can take Silva on the ground, but his reach is so short and his reliance on hooks so entrenched that he wouldn’t be able to stand with Silva and if you can’t at least present a decent stand up offense then your chances of getting him to the ground is greatly decreased. Silva wins it by late round knock out.
Dan Henderson is the only realistic challenge to Silva’s crown as the world’s best 185 pounder. Henderson won’t submit Silva, he won’t out strike Silva on the feet. What Henderson has the potential to do is get Silva to the ground and control him enough to pound out a decision victory. However, until he does it, Silva stays at #1.
Light Heavyweight (205 pounds)
A year ago I wouldn’t have said this, but Quinton Jackson has evolved his game and has earned the right to be called the world’s best at 205 pounds. Wanderlei Silva? No thanks. Chuck Liddell? Of course not. Keith Jardine? Yah, right. Don’t get me wrong, everyone I just mentioned is a great fighter, they’re also not in Quinton’s league right now.
Chuck Liddel is currently the most likely to get a decent shot at Quinton but I don’t see it happening. Dan Henderson is just too small and should stay at 185 pounds, although he has as good a chance as anyone at beating Quinton. Wanderlei Silva could always surprise us but I think The Axe Murderer’s best days are behind him. And until I see something new from Shogun (Mauricio Rua) I don’t see him being a decent threat to Rampage’s reign.
Heavyweight (205+ pounds)
How can anyone forget the clinic Fedor Emelianenko put on in his fights against Nogeuira, or what he did to Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filopovic? The man some people lovingly refer to as “Darth” Fedor has long been the consensus #1 Heavyweight and in the mind of many fans the #1 pound for pound fighter in all of MMA. But how long can we recognize Fedor’s greatness when his last five fights consisted of two circus side shows in Hong Man Choi and Zulu, a great middle weight fighting up two weight classes, and a long since effective Mark Coleman?
And now Fedor has signed with his own manager’s promotion. Oooh! We’re in for some exciting fights now!
Alright, alright, I can hear some of the MMA intelligentsia already pouting. Too bad, get over it.
Some people out there might even believe that Randy Couture is going to get to fight Fedor and that that fight will define the careers of both fighters. It would be nice, but anyone who thinks that Couture is going to fight outside of the UFC anytime soon should take their thorazine and go back to bed. Fedor and Randy won’t happen, not for a long time. Fedor and anyone from the UFC won’t happen unless the Fertittas’ buy the M1 organization and dismantle it in the same way they tore apart PrideFC. And outside of the UFC there really isn’t an interesting heavyweight matchup for Fedor.
So, once again, how long does the Russian cyborg remain on the “Best of the best” list? For me, he fell off that train yesterday.
The heavyweight crown is up in the air, I don’t know who #1 is but until Fedor comes out of MMA Siberia we can’t give him the crown.
So, if not Fedor then who? Randy Couture? Maybe, but I doubt the natural takes it. Who then? I’d say Josh Barnett if he was currently active in any organization that mattered. Sure, his striking may be so-so but he’s one of the few heavyweights who can roll with Fedor and Nogeuira. Next in line would be Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira. And after that the talent pool drops off fast.
Pound for pound
This isn’t as difficult as it may seem. The best pound for pound fighter title comes down to BJ Penn and George St. Pierre. Both fighters have proven that they can dominate their respective weight classes. Penn is by far the better grappler and St. Pierre is the better striker. St. Pierre did beat an uninspired BJ Penn in their fight last year but can he beat the “new and improved” BJ Penn? Of course he can, I just don’t think he will if the two of them meet again.
BJ “The Prodigy” Penn, when focused, can beat George St. Pierre. And after BJ fights, and beats, Sean Sherk it looks like the Dana White and the UFC will give BJ “The Prodigy” Penn a chance to avenge his loss to St. Pierre and cement his position as the best in the world.
Disagree? Leave a comment and let me know who you would pick as the best fighters in the world!
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