Pound for Pound: MMA's Elite (Part 2)

Who are the best fighters in the world that have truly earned the status? In my mind, few can argue that Anderson Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are the best fighters in the world based on their accomplishments. All three are well rounded fighters, though each have their strong suits that outshine their other skills. Nogueira with his jiu jitsu, Fedor with his ground and pound and sambo, and Anderson Silva of course, has the striking. Each of these 3 fighters have proven without a doubt that they are the cream of the crop based on their performances and the wins they have accumulated.

Anderson Silva seemed to come out of nowhere when he defeated Chris Leben at a UFC fight night in 2006. Leben had just come off of the Ultimate Fighter show and was riding high on a 6 fight win streak. Then he got bit by the "Spider." In 49 seconds, Leben went from next in line for the title to a journeyman/gatekeeper status. Anderson Silva utterly destroyed Chris Leben and in doing so, set himself up for a shot at Rich Franklin's middleweight title. It was another smash. This time quite literally, as Silva threw knees at Franklin's face until Rich's nose gave out and broke like a 2x4 over Mark Hunt's head. From there, Anderson Silva would go and reel off 4 more wins against the best the UFC had to offer and cemented himself as the Kingpin of not only the middleweight division, but also most pundit's pound for pound lists.

Fedor, Fedor, Fedor. The guy is a mystery. Certainly one I cannot figure out. Watching him fight, I cannot see how he has not been knocked out or submitted. His striking style for instance, I do not understand how he can throw punches the way he does and no one has ever been able to throw a straight one down the pipe and crack him in the face. He throws punches from outer space and seems to land them every time. His ground game is very high level, yet he was put into a very precarious position by Mark Hunt who does not know a kimura from a heel hook. It just seems to me that based on his fighting style, he should lose fights. Yet, not only does he win, he demolishes his opponents. My opinion on his ability to win is that he really has no sense of self preservation when he fights. Apparently no fear of loss equals no losses, because outside of cutting him open, Fedor does not lose. The only criticism the "Last Emperor" incites is his lack of top competition over the last 3 years. Arguably, Fedor has not fought legitimate top competition since Mirko Cro Cop in 2005. It is hard to argue the point that many make as well. How can you claim to be the best if you are not fighting the best. We will find out if Fedor is still the man to beat at heavyweight come Saturday July 19th when he faces the ginormic Tim Sylvia, his first top ten competition in 3 years.

Nogueira is hands down the toughest MMA fighter, if not human being, in the world. The man has been run over by a car and lived to tell the tale. He has been pile driven on his melon by Bob freakin Sapp, and subsequently beat to death by Fedor, Cro Cop and Tim Sylvia. Yet, besides Fedor, he defeated the aforementioned fighters that put an ass kicking on him of epic proportions. Screw Chuck Norris, Nogueira is the toughest man alive. Besides his absurd ability to absorb punishment, Nogueira is the best jiu jitsu practitioner for MMA in the heavyweight division. He pulls submissions out of nowhere and can catch opponents from virtually every position. One needs only to watch his second fight with Dan Henderson to see that his submission game is beyond ludicrous. Nogueira has never lost to anyone accept to elite competiion. And if not for Fedor, he would be considered the greatest heavyweight mixed martial artist of all time. If that is not enough to put Nogueira near the top of a pound for pound list, I don't know what is.

Ultimately, as the sport progresses, we will see many fighters be well rounded and MMA will become much more competitive. But for the time, these fighters are the best the sport has to offer.