Issue 057

December 2009

Unlike boxing, where fighters wade through the dozens of titles in the alphabet soup of organizations and sanctioning bodies, MMA has few titles. But they mean something.  

People know which titles count; if it’s got UFC stamped on it, it’s the best. If it is WEC, it’s the next best thing. Strikeforce or DREAM are good, but not quite as good. Anything else is a club trophy, nothing more. There are no true ‘world’ titles, and without one giant, all-powerful governing body controlling the sport on a global scale, there never will be.  

For all intents and purposes, the best titles in the world belong to the UFC – they’re the most prestigious, the hardest earned and least stable of all titles (the belts have a habit of changing hands with the seasons). That means they’re hard fought for, and that there is no spoon-feeding of challengers to preferred title-holders going on.  

But a few champions stand out. Anderson Silva, for one. GSP, another. Both are men who have fought for, earned and (most importantly) defended their belts. This sport is littered with one-time title holders, fighters who briefly stole their spot in the limelight, only to relinquish the belt as soon as someone better came along. Silva and GSP are true champions, and men who may be in line for a title of another sort, that of the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter.

Followers of the fistic arts will often talk of who the best fighter is, pound for pound. This innocuous phrase poses the scenario where all physical attributes are removed. Should they fight upon a level playing field, who would be the better fighter based upon pure skill, wits, guile and passion? It opens up a raft of options for fantasy matchmakers: Brock Lesnar vs BJ Penn! Shinya Aoki vs Lyoto Machida! The possibilities are intriguing and endless.  

We will never know who the pound-for-pound greatest fighter in the world is, but we can guess, and that’s where the fun lies. It’s totally subjective though. When you’re discussing matches that will never take place, opinion and personal preferences will no doubt influence their ‘outcome’, but let’s apply a little rational, unbiased thinking here and see what we can come up with.  

The world’s best pound-for-pound fighter should be well rounded, ideally not overly-reliant on pure physicality or natural attributes (bye-bye, Brock). They need to be as complete as they are cunning, as slick as they are ruthless. They need to blend unbridled ability with a clear fighting mind, and infuse their skill with a passion for combat.  

There can only be one man at the top of the list. Without doubt, Anderson Silva is the best MMA fighter on the planet right now – and why would anyone disagree? He’s elevated the ‘art’ in mixed martial arts to a new plane, shocking even the likes of Greg Jackson, considered among the foremost of trainers, a man who works at the cutting edge of the sport.  

Silva’s pound-for-pound status isn’t just evident in his dominance of the middleweight division. He’s fought the best in the world at 185lb and destroyed them all. To cap it off, he moved to 205lb and annihilated Forrest Griffin, a former champion. Seriously, is there any fighter who has achieved more or can operate at a higher level? Silva’s martial mastery, his nuance and subtle understanding of the sport mean he is undoubtedly the greatest fighter in the world right now.  

Who comes second? Well, what about BJ Penn? ‘The Prodigy’ may not have the flair or the record of ‘The Spider’, but he has the 155lb title (and once held the 170lb belt, too). A few years ago, he traveled through the weight classes, beating welterweights, middleweights, and even going the distance with the current UFC 205lb champ, Lyoto Machida. His position as the best lightweight is concrete, and his accomplishments deem him second only to Silva.  

GSP is the better athlete of the three, but what else has he achieved other than beating fellow 170lb fighters? He has never stepped outside of his natural weight class – and nor should he, if he knows what is good for him (men such as The Spider wait for him at middleweight). St Pierre’s clearing out of his division is highly impressive, and surely no 170lb fighter can hold a candle to him. The credit for his genius strategies must go to Greg Jackson though. St Pierre’s athleticism reminds me of a race car. Jackson is the team director, the conditioning coaches the mechanics, while Georges seems little more than a driver. That St Pierre has beaten Penn means nothing to me – it is the same as if St Pierre went to middleweight and challenged Silva. Simply put, size does matter.  

Outside of the top three the waters become murky. Should Machida earn a ranking because of his gold and his unbeaten record? Fedor, the near-mythical Russian heavyweight, doesn’t even figure in my top five. Have a long, hard think, and try to keep it objective – who are your top five pound-for-pound fighters in the world?