Editor's Choice: Top 10 P4P MMA Fighters Rankings
Posted on July 8, 2011, 09:39 AM by Anton GurevichDespite Chael Sonnen's recent comments, let's assume we live in a parallel universe where there IS such thing as P4P weight class. Who would be the ultimate champion? That's something every fan would love to find out, especially in a sport like Mixed Martial Arts.
It's the first staff Pound-for-Pound list ever posted on LowKick.com. From now on, we'll be bringing Pound for Pound Rankings post once a month, written by one of LowKick.com staff members. This one is written only by yours truly, so I'm the only address for "why Dominick Cruz is #3?" and "what Gilbert Melendez and Gray Maynard do there?" type comments.
As always, please make sure to update your Top 10 lists in the Rankings section. Current edition of LowKick.com Community rankings will be closed on July 25th, five days before Fedor Emelianenko's clash against Dan Henderson in Chicago, Illinois.
So here we go. This is my Top 10 Pound-for-Pound rankings, as for July 2011. You are more than welcome to discuss and post your suggestions in the comments section below. And you can also bomb my Twitter at @LowKick_Anton.
Photos by Francis Specker and Scott Hirano
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1. Anderson "The Spider" Silva
UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva proved he's the #1 P4P Mixed Martial Artist on the planet with a spectacular victory over Vitor Belfort at UFC 126. I had Anderson Silva below Georges St. Pierre in my previous lists, but St. Pierre's lackluster performance against Jake Shields at UFC 129 and Silva's mentioned above victory over Vitor Belfort moved "The Spider" up in the rankings. Anderson Silva will defend his title against Yushin Okami at UFC 134, with sights on cementing his status as #1 P4P MMA fighter on the planet. |
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2. Georges "Rush" St. Pierre
St. Pierre faced the toughest competition inside the Octagon than any UFC Champion bar none. However, St. Pierre has only one finish (BJ Penn) in his last five fights, while Anderson Silva has two highlight reel knockouts and one dramatic submission. GSP will face Nick Diaz next, in what could be his last bout as a 170-pounder. |
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3. Dominick "The Dominator" Cruz
Maybe because UFC's Bantamweight division is still not as popular as core Lightweight to Heavyweight, but it looks like people are not giving "The Dominator" Dominick Cruz enough credit. Cruz has an impressive record of 18-1, with victories over Top 3 Bantamweights Brian Bowles, Joseph Benavidez, Scott Jorgensen and of course Urijah Faber in his last 5 bouts. Skill-wise, there's no other fighter in MMA, Boxing or Kickboxing who has a movement style even remotely similar to the one of Dominick Cruz. "The Dominator" is a unique fighter, and a solid #3 in my list. |
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4. Jose "Junior" Aldo
Black House product Jose Aldo is without a doubt one of the most exciting fighters to ever compete in MMA, with some of the most brutal TKO/KO victories on his record. Aldo's most recent performance (Mark Hominick at UFC 129) left some question marks that the Brazilian phenom will look to remove against Kenny Florian, later this year |
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5. Jon "Bones" Jones
Jon Jones went through Brandon Vera, Vladimir Matyushenko, Ryan Bader and finally Shogun Rua to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Jones is incredibly skilled, and has the necessary mental strength to become the best Pound for Pound fighter on the planet. Bones Jones will fight Rampage Jackson later this year, with sights on adding another top-tier name to his long list of victims. |
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6. Frankie "The Answer" Edgar
Frankie Edgar didn't lose a fight since getting "bullied" by Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 19, back in 2008. Despite being a relatively small fighter even for a 155’er, Edgar holds victories over UFC Lightweight division's best, including a double triumph over "The Prodigy" BJ Penn at UFC 112 and UFC 118. “The Answer” also proved he has a heart of true Champion, with an inspirational comeback against Gray Maynard at UFC 125. |
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7. Jon Fitch
The Ultimate Grinder Jon Fitch defeated every UFC Welterweight, but the reigning Champion Georges St. Pierre. Fitch often comes under fire for his inability to finish fights, but it's hard to argue with his winning record, and the fact that Jon Fitch is one of the most dominant fighters in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Just like Gray Maynard vs. Frankie Edgar, Fitch’s encounter against BJ Penn ended in a draw, as the pair are expected to rematch at UFC 138. |
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8. Gray "The Bully" Maynard
Unbeaten inside the Octagon, "The Bully" Gray Maynard holds victories over of the best 155'ers in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Gray Maynard is still 1-up against the ranked above Frankie Edgar, as both fighters are waiting to come back from injuries that postponed their long-anticipated trilogy bout at UFC 130. |
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9. Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez
Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez proved why he's one of the best fighters on the planet by crushing "The Crusher" Tatsuya Kawajiri at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley. Melendez called out Frankie Edgar, but it looks like the Cesar Gracie product will have to wait before showcasing his skills inside the UFC Octagon. Jorge Masvidal is next in line for Gilbert Melendez. |
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10. Yushin "Thunder" Okami
Number one contender for the UFC Middleweight title, Yushin "Thunder" Okami holds an impressive UFC record of 10-2, with victories over some of the best fighters the 185lbs weight class has to offer. Okami will face Anderson Silva in Rio, with sights on becoming the first UFC fighter to ever defeat “The Spider”. If victorious, "Thunder" Okami will earn a Top 3 spot in P4P rankings and place in MMA history. |
Comments
Okami over Cain?, oke i aint buying it
I have the same top 6 fighters, however I have them ranked differently in my P4P list. Also, I can agree with Melendez being in the top 10, but as for Maynard, Jon" the Blanket " Fitch and Okami I totally disagree with them being in there. Those guys don't belong in the top 10 P4P fighters whatsoever.
if Edgar deserves to be on the list than why not Maynard?
Because edgar defeated penn twice , and because edgar didnt knock him self out with a slam
i dont think Okami should be on the list. but even though i dont like Fitch his acomplisments are undeniable
i like your style while i dont agree with your list 100% you got the balls not to go with the easy picks and put in some guys that most overlook any body that has aldo at #3 is insane in my opinion he is closer to five or six
This list is awesome for not having cain on it. Soooo many people hate on brock and say he sucks...yet cain is the king for beating him?! Right. Dos santos is the only HW to deserve to be near a p4p list right now.
Aldo totally got outboxed in the hominick fight, but wouldn't put cruz over him just yet. Cruz is an entirely different animal to be sure, but overall aldo is far more dangerous i feel.
I really..REALLY wish that GSP would just say he's got no interest in fighting silva. He was talking about doing the fight back in april 2009, it's more than obvious he doesn't want it and anderson is already 36. Jon fitch is alot like GSP but GSP doesn't get the same flack for some reason.BJ is a fighter who's too small to be in the division and everyone hypes GSP up for holding him down.
Okami is an interesting pick, but atleast there's sound logic behind it. jon jones is higher on my list because i feel he's insanely dangerous and well rounded, the kobe to silvas jordan.
I'd have machida on this list, and frankies comeback against maynard was crazy....only kongos recent comeback compares this year.
WHERES FEDOR?!?!
Anderson
GSP
Jose
Cain
frankie
Anderson 6"1 185 vs. a 6"1 185 Jose who would win. This is what p4p means, p4p is not real its just nice to think about.
And I think no non champion should be in the top ten no matter what the reason, Bad luck is not a good resume vitor would probably still be the champion and probably the best fighter ever to live
p4p top five
superman
terminator
spiderman
batman
wonderwoman
I would have done top ten but i don't know ten superheroes....
One of the few times i agree with Chael Sonnen
youre an idiot. cain has yet to lose a round of competition, and hes the champ, that puts him in front of jds and prolly top 5
Oh? Brock was on the champ and people were crying rivers if he ever made it anywhere near a p4p list, and he actually DEFENDED his title.
Getting rocked by kongo and then holding him down for the rest of the round still doesn't impress me, neither does getting a KO on noguira as much as bandwagoners like you want to hype it up.
dude Cain is top pound for pound material, trust
i never protested brock being on top. i considered him the no. 1 hw when he was champ, but when cain beat him, he took the no. 1 spot and earned top 5 in the p4p list
Well, I have a few questions. Why Cruz over Aldo? I feel Aldo has been more tested, although I may be wrong because I didn't always keep tabs on WEC. I do agree Cruz should be on it. Furthermore, could you explain your exclusion of Velasquez or some of the notable light heavyweights?
Long story short:
The only Top 5 HW Cain ever beat is Brock Lesnar. Nog was Top 10, according to SOME of the rankings. Sorry, but he's still not there.
Rashad Evans got brutally KO'd by Machida. He's one victory away from getting into my list.
And sorry, but I'm not impressed with Jose Aldo. Cruz beat more Top 5 BW than Aldo Top 10 Featherweights. And of course, Aldo's recent performance against Hominick.
The list makes sense but i tend to like very personal list and not so logical. I like Cain in the p4p list cos its so obvious how this guy is so talented that he's gonna be the hw king.
He beat Brock and old nog which is not enough logically but he should be on your list pretty soon if he beats Dos santos.
Considering how easy a fighter can neutrolize a tough one (cain vs Brock) should be a factor to decide the p4p list imo.
Anyway like chael said those lists are a bit like deciding whos superhero is better
i agree with 4 of your top 5 picks. personally i will rank cruz somewhere around 8th but thats my opinion. i really dont understand how someone like cain velazques isnt on this list. he has a win over a top 3 and also a top 10 like big nog but he has all of his wins by total domination. 8 kos on 9 fights. yushin okami on his last 8 fights is 6-2 with 2 ko (one by doctor stopage) and 4 decision (1 split) and only one win over a top 5 (mr testosterone marquaid) in my opinion brock was a bigger challenge for cain that marquaid for okami and theres no comparisson between them.
Aldo beat a legit defending champion in Brown, beat Faber more impresivley than Cruz did and his performance against Hominick was great considering Hominck is one of the best stand up guys in the sport.
Why is Okami on the list then? The reasoning you are using for Cain to not be listed, is the same reason Okami shouldnt be near that list
the same goes with jon fitch he has only one win over a top five and thats it. and all of his fights went to decision. jon jones for example is 5th on your list (i totally agree on that) but i think he should be just above Cain because he also has one win over a top 3 (that was on a really bad shape) and another one over a top ten (bader). i think cain has been more dominant finishing more of his fights to. maybe cain hasnt fought tough guys like gsp but he has shown a lot of talent and a lot of domination and should also matter in my opinion.
by personal i mean biased offcourse lol
Okay, I can agree on the Aldo note. And while you're right about Cain, I feel the people Cain has faced were proportionally ranked higher. I don't think Marquadt and Munoz were ranked as high as Nog and Lesnar were at the time. That being said, you can defend your list well, which means its a good one. I know some people who have Sonnen at like 5 just cause.
Gah, that was suppose to reply under Anton.
P4P to me means you are well rounded in all aspects of mma. BJ Penn is a top 10 fighter. Hes got it all boxing, BJJ and wrestling. Jon Fitch does not deserve the title of P4P for being able to out wrestle and lay on fighters for 15 minutes.
Yeah i have the same conception of it. Well rounded, dominating perfs, raw talent. I would have Cain or BJ instead of Fitch personally. BJ could win the rematch with Fitch and steal all his wins.
P4p needs to take into account if the fight keeps going on who will eventually get the finish and i would say John Fitch would judt about sub anybody if given enough time. Say 10 rounds. p4p is about who would win in the end and more often for their size and weight.
john fitch are you kidding me. i know its an opinion but john fitch lmfao
I'll be honest, I can't argue with most of that list.
First i have to say , why do people insist so much on this term best p4p
and in the article says it is not a weight class or a division
its just a theory of who would be the best fighter in all weight classes
if he would be the same size as each Champion and beat them all.
while we may get a few good guess with some fighters is just almost impossible to determine the best p4p fighter.
Second i am not going to bash Anton's list , every one deserves their own opinion specially the guy running the site.
and Third why would it be a 10 list fighter in a Pound for Pound category? there is no such thing as 10 p4p best fighter , if there were at least 2 fighters consider p4p material in each class then where is the dominance of the Champion on his own weight class to even consider him a top p4p best fighter?
If we are going to even consider a p4p list ranking it should not be longer than 5.
Not every Champion should be consider p4p , my guess is Top 3 is the most sure thing to go with , Top 5 is still ok.
I think the point of this is to theorize amongst us fans. The point of p4p list is to attempt to satisfy our dreams of certain fights. Anton himself said to post questions and stuff about his list. Of course everyone has their own opinion, but what is the point of the comment section if no one talks about it. Its not bashing really, well some may take that path, but rather more of sharing your thoughts. As far as how long it is, I think its to keep it consistent with the size of every other list. Also, if it was less than 10 it wouldn't be as fun to play around with because there isn't that much room to play with.
You think that the heaviest fighter should be top of the p4p list so why do you keep coming to all discussions on the matter when you don't understand it? It's totally possible to construct a p4p list based on real or percieved ability to transcend weights with success
AMEN!
You're correct. Not all the champs are p4p contenders. The top 5 BW, FW and LW fighters are better p4p than all the heavyweights in reality and that goes for Cain as well. If you carried Jose aldos skills and performance and placed them in a heavyweight body he would simply be the champ. If you took Cains' skills and performance into a featherweight body he would be like in the teens for rank. he would be nobody special. If Matt Mittrione gets his dream of being the heavyweight version of Dominick cruz well then we may not see another champ besides him at heavyweight for another 20 years.
my list will be:
anderson silva
GSP
jon jones
cain velasques
jose aldo
dominick cruz
gilbert melendez
junior do santos
gray maynard
nick diaz
i forgot frankie edgar on that list
Cruz down 1, Edgar up 1, Fitch can't be on there if Shields is not, Get rid of maynard and Okami and but a HW like JDS or Cain and a LHW like Shogun Machida or Evans
P4P lists are purely subjective. People shouldn't take them too seriously, because no one will ever come to a full agreement.
exactly right..wtf are they thinking.
Terrible list lol, cain velasquez hasnt lost and destroys everyone and you're putting him under guys like jon fitch? Yushin Okami really? I love the site and its writers but like come on, how is aldo below dominick cruz? the guys beats uriyah faber after getting knocked down like 60 times and jose aldo's lost a dq in his career and hes like a zillion and 0 and hes below him lol. Terrible
Maynard is a really big 155p so I'd replace him with Cain for sure.
this is a horrible list IMO, but then again I'm not really big on P4P lists in the first place. I do not see there purpose.
IMO, Jones and especially Aldo have to be ranked above Cruz. They finish people.
Cruz over Also is insane.. Cruz has beat a lot of good fighters but so has aldo. Only difference is Aldo is brutally beating his opponents.
The same can be said for Jones. Both have one loss, but Jones's loss was a DQ while Cruz tapped out. Also, Jones has far more finishes in the UFC.
Chael should be ahead of Yushin
I don't understand what Cain Velasquez has to do in ANY P4P list out there. Who he beat?
Ben Rothwell, Cheick Kongo and Minotauro Nogueira? Okay, Lesnar.
That's roughly 2 Top 10 HW victories in his UFC run. He's still far, far away from being a Top 10 P4P fighter. He's a great fighter, but it doesn't mean he's a P4P best.
As for Cruz-Aldo. I was never that impressed with Jose Aldo. He beat some guys decisively, but his top opponents Mike Brown and Urijah Faber are good, but not as good as beating Jorgensen, Bowles, Benavidez and the same Faber.
Plus, I'm amazed with Cruz and the way he fights. There's no other fighter in MMA who moves like that. And to tell you the truth guys, I can't see anyone beating him in BW. If he goes up to FW, I have him over Aldo.
cain had the same level of competition than jon jones... rothwell, kongo = vera, matyushenko. big nog is way better than bader (after last saturday theres no doubt about that) and shogun is way better than brock but he was on a really bad shape. so its almost the same level of comepetition.
anda also brock and big nog are better competition than mark muñoz or marquaid for okami. both had been champions and defended the belt, muñoz has never been close to the belt and marquaid lost his only chance. and if they maybe on your mind they arent cain destroyed both of them. okami went to a boring close decision fight (split with muñoz).
with fitch its almost the same example. maybe cain isnt a top 10 (in my opinion he totally is) but he is way better than okami and fitch no doubt about it. his record is better, he has 8 kos on 9 fights so he is really impressive and he has fought tougher guys than both of them.
so p4p is all about finished and not facing top competition(minus hardy) who are hard to finish.