Who is the best pound for pound fighter in MMA

[funnytiger]

The problem I have with people claiming Fedor is "the best pound for pound" fighter is exactly what a lot of people are saying here. He hasn't fought anyone that made you stop and go, "Damn, I don't know if Fedor can pull this one off". I mean, seriously, Tim Sylvia? In my opinion he was a lame Champion who only got there because he is such a behemoth of a human being no one really knew what to do with him (except Couture). He isn't really THAT good of a fighter, and the fact that Fedor made short work of him was absolutely NO surprise to me.

Course, Sylva is about to have a fight similar to it when he takes on Cote for the title. Cote is in WAY over his head and is going to be smashed. His last fight was a really, really, really poor showing and I just don't think he is even in the same solar system as Sylva.

My 2 cents.

 

[funnytiger]

BJ Penn is a phenomenal fighter as well, now that I am thinking about it. He might be a close second to Sylva if you ask me.

If he was to fight GSP right now, with his conditioning, his striking, and his groundwork, I think it would be a VERY close contest. Not sure if I would call either one because I just don't think you could. If they fought it, I strongly believe that the winner would be whoever is stronger minded that day. I honestly think that if they fought and let's say BJ won, the next time they fought GSP would win.

 

[tko4u]

Anderson silva, hands down. for many reasons:
1. Rampage couldnt finish hendo, but silva did.
2. Franklin owned the division, till silva, now silva owns franklin.
3. Silva went up to lhw, fought a natural lhw, and kod him in under a minute.

The guy is a beast and doesnt seem to be scared of anyone. going to be hard to beat.

 

[JadeDragon3]

At one time I would have said Royce Gracie because he was able to beat fighters much larger than him BUT now I'd have to go with Matt Hughes or Renzo Gracie because they are smaller in size than most of the other fighters but they still win thier fights either by KO or submission.

 

[tko4u]

yes but in all fairness, matt hughes has lost to gsp twice and thiago alves. but renzo would probably be a candidate

 

[JadeDragon3]

Out of all the Gracie fighters though Rickson is considered by many to be the best of the Gracies so would you put Rickson in there for pound for pound best fighter?

 

[Skpotamus]

Rickson has never fought any quality opponents in MMA. He mainly stuck to pro wrestlers and newbs. He also tucked his tail and hid from Sakuraba, even after Sakuraba challenged him repeatedly. He was challenged after Sak beat Royler, then again after Renzo stepped up, then after Royce, then after Ryan. Rickson wanted nothing to do with the Gracie Hunter.

Anderson Silva is a great fighter, but he's got some blemishes. He's shown he's susceptible submissions with his losses to Ryo Chonan (highlight reel flying heel hook from a 12-8 fighter who's only submission victory is over Silva), and a choke out loss to Daiju Takse (a 7-12 record fighter who's only other submission victory is over laverne Clark, a B level fighter at best).

He also showed that he can lose his composure and do rather stupid things, like when he was DQ'ed for kicking Okami in the head on the gorund while okami was gnping him. Also, when he fought Travis Lutter, he didn't look too good on the ground until he caught the triangle, even then he used elbow spikes, which were considered illegal until that fight (Even Randy Coutore said they were illegal during the broadcast).

He has yet to avenge any of those losses.

Fedor only has one loss on his record, a TKO from a cut that was done with an illegal technique. He avenged that loss by stopping Kohsaka later on.

While Silva did go up in weight to 205 versus a good journeyman fighter at 205, he still came in at 205. Fedor has been outweighed by up to 100lbs in some fights. Against a former UFC champion he gave up between 30 adn 40lbs and made him look like a little kid who got caught stealing his dads wallet.

Both are great fighters, but until Silva avenges those losses on his record or owns a title in two weight classes, i would say GSP and Fedor are both above him P4P.

YMMV

 

[thetruth]

Out of all the Gracie fighters though Rickson is considered by many to be the best of the Gracies so would you put Rickson in there for pound for pound best fighter?

Back in the day Rickson would have been one of the best but does he even still fight?

Cheers
Sam:asian:

 

[thetruth]

i would say GSP and Fedor are both above him P4P.

YMMV

I know bugger all about Fedor but GSP hasn't really dominated anyone like Silva has been doing. I think he will have to defend his title a few more times to be considered the best pound for pound. If Silva steps up and beats some actual contenders at 205 then hands down he would have to be the best.

Is Fedor that good??????


Cheers
Sam:asian:

 

[MattJ]

I know bugger all about Fedor but GSP hasn't really dominated anyone like Silva has been doing.

What?! Is that a joke? Dominate is EXACTLY what GSP has done to Serra (rematch), Hughes, Fitch.......very good fighters.

 

[Skip Cooper]

Fedor vs. Kimbo...can't wait to see that one!

 

[TheArtofDave]

Fedor vs Kimbo?

That would never happen. Kimbo would get owned in the first minute.

When I think of the best pound for pound fighter "in the world" I don't think we've seen him yet. But as for the current state of MMA there are probably too many prospects for me to list.

Also the P4P thing gets tossed around alot in boxing. At least MMA fighters have to prove why they're the best at what they do.

 

[Skip Cooper]

Fedor vs Kimbo?

That would never happen. Kimbo would get owned in the first minute.

When I think of the best pound for pound fighter "in the world" I don't think we've seen him yet. But as for the current state of MMA there are probably too many prospects for me to list.

Also the P4P thing gets tossed around alot in boxing. At least MMA fighters have to prove why they're the best at what they do.

I still would want to see it.

 

[Skpotamus]

I know bugger all about Fedor but GSP hasn't really dominated anyone like Silva has been doing. I think he will have to defend his title a few more times to be considered the best pound for pound. If Silva steps up and beats some actual contenders at 205 then hands down he would have to be the best.

Is Fedor that good??????


Cheers
Sam:asian:

Silva still has chinks in his armor, even his victory over lutter wasn't exactly dominant, in fact, he looked like he was taking a pounding for a bit on the ground.

GSP has done a great job, and has beat everyone in front of him. His two blemishes were Hughes and Serra. He crushed both in the rematches and made them look like they didn't belong in the same ring as him. IMHO, he had a harder run in the welterweight division than Silva had at middleweight. Silva fought Leben, franklin, hnederson, lutter, mardquardtr and henderson. Tough competition to be sure. However, GSP beat karo, hieron, strasser, miller, trigg, sherk, penn, hughes (twice), koscheck, serra and fitch. He's fought more and beaten better competition IMHO. However, the two are pretty close in my book. I think if Silva were to avenge his previous losses, then he'd be ranked above GSP.

Fedor took apart Tim Sylvia, the longest running UFC heavyweight champ in 36 seconds. He stood toe to toe with Sylvia, flattened him, then took his back and sank a rear naked choke. It took Randy Coutore 5 rounds to get a decision over an injured Sylvia.

He's armbarred mark coleman twice (the only other person to submit coleman legitimately is Nogueira), kevin randleman, Hong man choi (350lb giant). He played the guard game with Nogueira when Nog was the top heavyweight in the world (after armbarring Bob Sapp and dominating the Pride heavyweight division), he stayed in Nog's guard, avoided his submissions and pounded noguera for the entire fight. Nogueira received permanent damage to his eye from the broken bones in his face after that fight (which is why he takes so many punches and kicks now, he can't see them coming).
He stood toe to toe with Cro Cop when cro cop was still a terror, and won the stand up exchanges with him.

His one loss was a cut stoppage in a Rings tournament 8 years ago. He actually won the fight he was cut in, and contined into the next round. Kohsaka landed an unintentional illegal blow (elbow) that opened the cut Fedor got against Arona up worse, and was stopped. Since then, Fedor has fought 26 times without losing. I think he's been the smaller man in every single fight he's had with the exception of the catch weight bought with Matt Lindland (whom he armbarred, making him one of two people to submit lindland). A few of his opponents have outweighed him by over 100lbs.

He's impressive because his win column is a who's who of the heavyweight division. He's fought standing against some of the best strikers in MMA and gotten the better of them, and he's out grappled some of the best grapplers. His chin is ridiculous (randleman spiked him on his head with a hard slam, Fedor responded by armbarring him immediately) and he fights the same speed one minute into the fight as he does 15 minutes into the fight.

Technique, heart, cardio, power, speed and willing to fight anyone. The guy has it all right now.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Silva still has chinks in his armor, even his victory over lutter wasn't exactly dominant, in fact, he looked like he was taking a pounding for a bit on the ground.

GSP has done a great job, and has beat everyone in front of him. His two blemishes were Hughes and Serra. He crushed both in the rematches and made them look like they didn't belong in the same ring as him. IMHO, he had a harder run in the welterweight division than Silva had at middleweight. Silva fought Leben, franklin, hnederson, lutter, mardquardtr and henderson. Tough competition to be sure. However, GSP beat karo, hieron, strasser, miller, trigg, sherk, penn, hughes (twice), koscheck, serra and fitch. He's fought more and beaten better competition IMHO. However, the two are pretty close in my book. I think if Silva were to avenge his previous losses, then he'd be ranked above GSP.

Fedor took apart Tim Sylvia, the longest running UFC heavyweight champ in 36 seconds. He stood toe to toe with Sylvia, flattened him, then took his back and sank a rear naked choke. It took Randy Coutore 5 rounds to get a decision over an injured Sylvia.

He's armbarred mark coleman twice (the only other person to submit coleman legitimately is Nogueira), kevin randleman, Hong man choi (350lb giant). He played the guard game with Nogueira when Nog was the top heavyweight in the world (after armbarring Bob Sapp and dominating the Pride heavyweight division), he stayed in Nog's guard, avoided his submissions and pounded noguera for the entire fight. Nogueira received permanent damage to his eye from the broken bones in his face after that fight (which is why he takes so many punches and kicks now, he can't see them coming).
He stood toe to toe with Cro Cop when cro cop was still a terror, and won the stand up exchanges with him.

His one loss was a cut stoppage in a Rings tournament 8 years ago. He actually won the fight he was cut in, and contined into the next round. Kohsaka landed an unintentional illegal blow (elbow) that opened the cut Fedor got against Arona up worse, and was stopped. Since then, Fedor has fought 26 times without losing. I think he's been the smaller man in every single fight he's had with the exception of the catch weight bought with Matt Lindland (whom he armbarred, making him one of two people to submit lindland). A few of his opponents have outweighed him by over 100lbs.

He's impressive because his win column is a who's who of the heavyweight division. He's fought standing against some of the best strikers in MMA and gotten the better of them, and he's out grappled some of the best grapplers. His chin is ridiculous (randleman spiked him on his head with a hard slam, Fedor responded by armbarring him immediately) and he fights the same speed one minute into the fight as he does 15 minutes into the fight.

Technique, heart, cardio, power, speed and willing to fight anyone. The guy has it all right now.

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! Everyone disparages the heavyweights when talking 'pound for pound' but FORGET that everyone below heavyweight is fighting guys within just a few pounds of their weight. Guys like Fedor and Randy are fighting guys sometimes 40, 50, 60 pounds and MORE heavier and larger than them.

A small guy in the heavyweight world who has DOMINATED that world like Fedor IS the pound-for-pound best fighter.

 

[sgtmac_46]

I know bugger all about Fedor but GSP hasn't really dominated anyone like Silva has been doing. I think he will have to defend his title a few more times to be considered the best pound for pound. If Silva steps up and beats some actual contenders at 205 then hands down he would have to be the best.

Is Fedor that good??????


Cheers
Sam:asian:

Fedor's record speaks for itself.....we don't know how good Fedor actually is because he makes all his opponents look like amatures in over their heads. But a guy who's NEVER lost a fight despite fighting some of the top heavyweights around? That's got to be worth something.

 

[Kwanjang]

What about GSP??

 

[Skip Cooper]

What about GSP??

He wasn't among the choices...

 

[ProTaekwondo]

Hmm I would either have to say Fedor or Urijah Faber. Anyone who has seen Faber fight knows he is a beast and a force to be reckoned with and given sometime he could be the best but for now I'd still say Fedor is the best P4P fighter.

 

[Bigjoemma]

Fedor def. is pound for pound the best and i hope he comes to the UFC just so i can see him and randy cotoure finally go at at it!