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Pound For Pound - Who's The Best?

Seems like nowadays that MMA fans are extremely interested in discussing who is the best of the best. Especially when you consider the fact that the major promoters seem to engage in this topic frequently. For instance, Dana White has stated on many occasions that Anderson Silva is the best fighter on the planet. My natural reaction is to wonder on what criteria does he base that statement. Obviously he is going to promote a fighter from his organization, but what about Rampage or St. Pierre or Penn? Why Anderson Silva?

Quite frankly, it was this question that led to the original UFC events back in the early 90s. There were no weight classes (or rules for the most part) and the intent was to prove what style of martial arts was superior. However, to be more mainstream and deemed safer for licensing with the different fighting commissions the sport decided (and wisely so) to conform to the weight class structure and institute a set of rules that would help ensure fighter's safety.

So here we are, back to the same question with no clear way of answering it. Boxing has been discussing this topic for years and it has come up with the "pound for pound" ranking system to try and provide that answer to this age old question. However, it has become more of a marketing label than anything else. Let's face it, whenever you start mixing the likes of Fedor into a ranking system with GSP then you know it is just for marketing purposes. Those two fighters will never actually fight each other, so my fundamental questions are: a) What does it truly mean to be the best "pound for pound" fighter and b) who should be considered?

Consider for a moment the following criteria for the pound for pound ranking:

* Fighter has demonstrated an ability to fight and win in multiple MMA weight classes (similar to what Mayweather and Jones Jr. did in Boxing)
* Fighter currently holds an official title in at least one weight class within a sanctioned MMA organization (UFC, WEC, EliteXC, etc)
* Number of successful title defenses of the current official MMA title
* Current Average Total Performance Rating (TPR) (from FightMetrics) for measuring the quality of a fighter’s performance over the last 12 months - similar to the NFL's QB Passer Rating system. However, FightMetrics has not made available all MMA fighter's TPR for the last year, so as a substitute I will use the scoring system provided by FightMatrix. NOTE: For the record I think FightMetrics TPR is a better guage for this system and I will plan to use this as they make more data available.

With the criteria above I think that we have at least some type of objective way for determining who should be considered for the Pound for Pound list and how to rank them. Now, based on this criteria I will attempt to provide you with the first ever "The Beach Top 5 Pound for Pound" rankings with explanations for the ranking as a result of the criteria identified above:

1. Randy "The Natural" Couture - this may strike most of you as odd given the fact that no ranking system anywhere has Randy as the overall best MMA fighter, but consider the following facts: a) The only man to ever win both the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight titles in the UFC b) He successfully defended both titles multiple times and the only reason he will not have more successful defenses is due to a contract issue, c) He has fought in by far the best MMA organization on the planet - the best fighters with the deepest talent pools and d) According to FightMatrix's scoring system he has the third highest rating of all fighters (behind only Fedor and Rampage).
2. Anderson "The Spider" Silva - this should not be too surprising (except for the fact you may have expected him to be number one). The Spider has rattled off 4 consecutive title defenses (only Urijah Faber has equaled that number) and has completely dominated all comers in the UFC middleweight division, including the former 2-division PrideFC title holder, Dan Henderson. Silva is also the highest ranked middleweight according to the FightMatrix rating system and, as we say in the south, by a "country mile."
3. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson - Rampage turns out (to my surprise) to be the number 3 ranked pound for pound fighter in my ranking system, but there is a very large gap between him and the top 2 slots. Silva and Couture (according to my system) are in a class by themselves. However, Rampage's resume over the last year includes beating what was one of the most dominant light heavyweight champs in UFC historty (Liddell) and a hard fought title defense against Dan Henderson (former PrideFC Light Heavyweight Champ). Another key factor helping Rampage is that he has the second highest FightMatrix rating of all fighters (behind only Fedor). Forrest Griffin is up next for Rampage, which could help close the gap with the top 2 if he is successful (which I predict he will be).
4. Fedor Emelianenko - I must admit that the only reason Fedor is this low on our list is because of the fact he has not had many quality fights over the last year (due to collapse of PrideFC) and because he is now fighting in a lower quality MMA organization (M-1). He holds the distinction of being the highest rated MMA fighter in any weight class by FightMatrix, but lack of quality and quantity of fights over the last year has hurt him. If the Couture fight happens, then it will work to keep Fedor in the top 5, but unless something changes Fedor could become the most insignificant great fighter of our time.
5. BJ "The Prodigy" Penn - BJ has taken a lot of hits over the years due to his lack of focus and conditioning, but the Prodigy is back and with a vengeance. He won the interim UFC lightweight title in convincing fashion earlier this year at UFC 80, but more importantly than that BJ is one of only 2 fighters to ever hold a UFC title in multiple weight classes (Welterweight and Lightweight). This distinction and recent dominating wins over Joe Stevenson and Jens Pulver have propelled him to the top 5. The upcoming unification title match against Sean Sherk could propel BJ even closer to the number 1 position. Good luck BJ!

Fighters Ranked 6 - 10 in this ranking system: 6. Sean Sherk, 7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, 8. Urijah Faber, 9. Paulo Fihlo and 10. Georges St. Pierre.

A few additional notes on who you expected to probably see in the top 5 that were not based on my system:

* Georges "Rush" St. Pierre - GSP is hands down one of my favorite fighters and I "feel" like he is absolutely one of the best fighters on the planet and most ranking systems have him as the number one welterweight and even in the top 3 pound for pound fighters. However, with my system the key factors going against him are the following: a) No successful title defenses and b) has not held a title in any other weight class or even successfully competed in any other weight class. With a successful title defense, GSP would potentially be propelled into the top 5. Unless GSP decides to try his hand at another weight class then his move towards the top will be completely dependent on his ability to dominate his class and successfully defend his title many times.
* Dan Henderson - He had all the makings of a top 5 contender with his ability to compete for titles in the multiple weight classes, but no victories means missing out on even being eligible for consideration into the pound for pound ranking. Remember, one of my criteria is that a fighter must currently hold a MMA title in at least one weight class. Until he can win a title in the UFC (or other sanctioned organization) he will not be eligible. However, if he had won either of his title fights he would have been ranked at least as high as number 3 overall.
* Mauricio "Shogun" Rua - Not to pick on Yahoo! Sports, but their current MMA Top 10 has Shogun as the overall number 10 ranked fighter, which I think is ridiculous. First off he does not currently hold any titles, secondly in his last fight he was practically dominated by Forest Griffin (not ranked), and finally over the last year he has only 1 win (with no wins in the UFC yet). It appears that the rationale was based on his "body of work", but in my system the last 12 months is more important and the fighter must hold a title to even be considered. However, let me be clear that a fighter's body of work is considered in my ranking system, but it is not enough (by itself) to get a fighter into the top 10.

Obviously there is no perfect way to answer this question and further than that we could all debate this for eternity with no clear winner. These are my best thoughts around the criteria for trying to logically determine the best pound for pound fighter. The key (at least in my mind) for the top "pound for pound" fighter ranking is all about dominance, especially if demonstrated in multiple weight classes. I think this is the closest real criteria to answering this question.

Please post your opinions and comments. I would love to hear what you think. Aloha!!

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