Get In The Cage: The Ten Best Pound-for-Pound MMA Fighters
With the explosive growth in popularity of mixed martial arts, new avenues have opened up for the expanding talent pool in this exciting new sport. Ultimate fighters from all over the world display their talents in venues from small gyms to major arenas.
Cable TV channels, pay-per-view shows and over-the-air broadcast networks deliver fights to millions of viewers each month. Many of these new viewers are still learning about the sport and the fighters. We’ve created a list of the best fighters to watch regardless of weight class, nationality or promotion.
(Note: All stats and photos courtesy of Sherdog.com)
Name: Rashad Evans
Nickname: Sugar
Height: 5′ 11″
Weight: 205 lbs
Country: USA
Promotion: UFC
From his victory on “The Ultimate Fighter” TV show to his controversial draw against MMA legend Tito Ortiz to his title fight against Forrest Griffin, the undefeated former Michigan State wrestler has proven that he has what it takes to be a major star in the light heavyweight division. Even now, he has taken his fame to a new level with a cameo in a commercial for Microsoft Windows.
Name: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Nickname: Minotauro
Height: 6′ 3″
Weight: 231 lbs
Country: Brazil
Promotion: UFC
A former PRIDE heavyweight champion, “Minotauro” dominated that division for sixteen months from late 2001 to early 2003. In early 2008, he defeated Tim Sylvia for the vacant UFC heavyweight title, becoming the only man to win the heavyweight titles in both of MMA’s major promotions.
Name: Forrest Griffin
Height: 6′ 3″
Weight: 205 lbs
Country: USA
Promotion: UFC
The first winner of “The Ultimate Fighter”, Griffin won what UFC president Dana White has called “the most important fight in UFC history”. Griffin was for awhile the UFC Light Heavyweight champion, following in the footsteps of such greats as Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell and Vitor Belfort.
Name: Diego Sanchez
Nickname: Nightmare
Height: 5′ 10″
Weight: 170 lbs
Country: USA
Promotion: UFC
“The Ultimate Fighter” continues to produce well-rounded fighters and tough contenders as every weight class. Sanchez came through a tournament that included such notable fighters as Josh Koscheck, Chris Leben and Kenny Florian. His wins include victories over top-flight contenders such as Nick Diaz, Karo Parisyan and Luigi Fioravanti.
Name: Paulo Filho
Nickname: Ely
Height: 5′ 8″
Weight: 185 lbs
Country: Brazil
Promotion: WEC
This Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert has held the WEC Middleweight Title for over a year and was a long-time veteran of Japan’s PRIDE promotion. His armbar submission is one of his main weapons and has helped him to win six of his sixteen fights. His incredible endurance and punching power show that big talent truly does come in small packages.
Name: Georges St. Pierre
Nickname: Rush
Height: 5′ 10″
Weight: 170 lbs
Country: Canada
Promotion: UFC
St. Pierre’s three-way wars with former UFC Welterweight champions Matt Hughes and Matt Serra were the talk of the sport in 2007. His ferocity and lightning-quick strikes have earned him the nickname “Rush”.
Name: BJ Penn
Nickname: The Prodigy
Height: 5 ‘9″
Weight: 155 lbs
Country: USA
Promotion: UFC
This Hawaiian hellion has proven himself as one of the top fighters in the history of the sport. Penn is the current UFC Lightweight champion and the only fighter in UFC history to win both the UFC Lightweight and Welterweight titles. Only one other fighter, the legendary Randy Couture, has held earned UFC titles in two different weight classes.
Name: Fedor Emelianenko
Nickname: The Last Emperor
Height: 6′ 0″
Weight: 233 lbs
Country: Russia
Promotion: Affliction
The Russian Sambo expert has accomplished what few MMA fighters have achieved: a fan following outside the UFC promotion machine. Most experts consider Fedor the best heavyweight MMA fighter in the world today, possibly the best of all time. Fans have been clamoring for years to see a fight between this Russian nightmare and the American legend Randy Couture.
Name: Anderson Silva
Nickname: The Spider
Height: 6 ‘2″
Weight: 185 lbs
Country: Brazil
Promotion: UFC
Many fight fans will argue that Silva should be at the top of this list. Over the last four years, Silva has dominated the middleweight division, with his only loss since 2005 coming from a disqualification. Silva has also proven his versatility by defeating light-heavyweight James Irvin by KO in the first minute of their fight in July, 2008.
Name: Urijah Faber
Nickname: The California Kid
Height: 5′ 6″
Weight: 140 lbs
Country: USA
Promotion: WEC
The lightest and smallest fighter in this list is also the most dominant in his class. In his twenty-three fights, he has twenty-one wins, recently losing the WEC Featherweight title. He has not suffered a loss in almost three years. His vicious strikes have earned him almost as many submission victories as knockouts. The California Kid brings his Golden State energy and enthusiasm to every fight.
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33 Responses to “Get In The Cage: The Ten Best Pound-for-Pound MMA Fighters”
Posted by: JeffG - January 29th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
IMO, Forrest Griffen and Rashad Evans
have worked hard but shouldnt
be on this list. The ufc has a way
of hyping people up.
Well at least Fedor is finally getting some
credit now.
Posted by: Ctrain - January 29th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
I would agree Rashad and Forest are subpar. Also, good to see some recognition to fedor after embarrassing Tim Sylvia so bad. Also, I think an honorable mention at least should be Rampage, Rua, and maybe Dan Henderson.
Posted by: Alan - January 29th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I agree, Forrest Griffin may be good but does not deserve to be on this list mainly because the title says THE 10 BEST.
Posted by: Jeff - January 29th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I’m sorry, but I’m not sure if it’s that you don’t know much about MMA or what it actually means to be pound-for-pound best. Way off….
Posted by: tj - January 29th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Forrest and Rashad are very deserving to be on this list. Forrest beat Rampage and Rashad demolished Chuck Liddell and Forrest.
The only complaint that I have, and this is a HUGE one, is the omission of MIGUEL TORRES. If you guys haven’t seem him fight, you haven’t seen nothing yet.
Posted by: tj - January 29th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Oh and Paulo Filho – is a bitch.
Posted by: steve - January 29th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I agree with tj re: Torres not being on the list and re: Paulo Filho being a bitch!!!
Diego Sanchez shouldn’t be on this list since he hasn’t beat anyone notable since 2006…
Forrest and Rashad are great but also shouldn’t be on this list.
Notable omissions: Lyoto Machida (UFC) and Gegard Mousasi (DREAM/Affliction)
Posted by: kevin rose - January 29th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
This list should be called Top 10 fighters that I know of and I only know those that have fought in the US.
Like most UFC/reality TV nuthuggers, you think MMA stops at your border.
Douche.
Posted by: kindlyaware - January 29th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
WTF! Where the hell is Broc Lesnar? That guy is an animal and will definitely leave a significant mark not only in the MMA circuit but also on every opponent he faces.
Posted by: Caligula - January 29th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
@kindlyaware: Pound-for-pound. When you weigh a million pounds it’s way, way harder to make it onto that list.
Posted by: Seminolewill - January 29th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Diego? What has he done lately except get his butt kick?
Posted by: Tyler - January 29th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Diego Sanchez? WTF? Also, where is Aoki, Torres, Misousi…? I guess if you don’t fight for the UFC, you don’t really exist.
Posted by: Walker - January 29th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
What are you smoking? Sanchez? Diego is lucky if he is still top five in HIS weight class nevermind overall pound-for-pound.
Posted by: Jamaal - January 29th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Is this a Joke? How could you forget about Rampage Jackson?
Posted by: Marcos - January 29th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Lyoto Machida for the win.
Watch him Saturday!!
Posted by: Bonkerz - January 29th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
How is Rashad not supposed to make this list? Hasn’t lost yet, and definitely crushed Griffin for the title! Come on. Give credit where it is due people.
Posted by: thatguy - January 29th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Worst Pound 4 Pound list ever: Nogueira, Griffin, Sanchez and Filho all lost their last fights and none of them were ever the best or considered the best by ANYONE.
And no RAMPAGE Jackson????
a top 10 list in MMA is not that hard but you managed to screw it up BIG time, more than I thought possible
FAIL.
Posted by: drizzle - January 30th, 2009 at 12:42 am
what aboot brock lesnar?
Posted by: rainmaker6 - January 30th, 2009 at 2:48 am
This is obviously a poorly researched and rushed article by someone who doesn’t anything about MMA and gets their information from UFC.com
If you’re a hardcore mma fan you already know this.
For the casual fans – ignore this article and go to Bloody Elbow and read up about MMA.
Posted by: Person who thinks the editor doesnt know anything about MMA - January 30th, 2009 at 3:36 am
Whoever made this website doesn’t know much about MMA… I’m not sure if the best P4P start at the top or bottom, but Fedor is definitely top ranked world wide followed by Anderson. I mean, the guy is 29-1. Forrest shouldn’t be on the list. Antonio shouldn’t be on the list. Reason? They may both be top fighters in their weight class but Forrest recently lost his title, and Nogueira recently blew a title shot. Not to mention they both have (what I consider) more than enough losses to remove them from this list.
Urijah appears to be #1 from what I can tell.. so you’re telling me the top ranked fighter, P4P, is one who lost his belt recently? Oh and P.S. for the Brock fans… he’s 3-1.. IMO that doesnt mean he should be on the top 10 heavyweight list letalone this list.
Letter to the editor: go to sherdog.com next time you want to do an article MMA related
Posted by: crowdctrl - January 30th, 2009 at 5:39 am
Frank Shamrock should definitely be on here.
Posted by: Rusty - January 30th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Fedor is the best pound for pound fighter….check the math bitches
1 Lb. Fedor “murderball fist” > or = 2.33 pounds of (tim silvia * andre arlovski) – 103 (avg. number of seconds to kill tim and andre)
undeniable. God i hope fedor and brock step in the ring….epic it would be
Posted by: sharked - January 30th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I’d think Kid Yamamoto would give Faber a run for his money.
Posted by: Rev - January 30th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Wow… what a useless article. What did you do, pull names off mmaweekly’s top 10 and go from there? Yawn.
Posted by: Gonna_hit_ya - February 19th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Melvin manhoef????
Posted by: Helen Anderson - February 22nd, 2009 at 8:23 am
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.
Posted by: canman - March 1st, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Lesnar could barely hang with an over the hill Randy Couture. He is no where near ready for this list.
Posted by: canman - March 1st, 2009 at 8:02 pm
I think alot of people don't give the Ultimate Fighter winners the credit they deserve.
Posted by: ricardo - March 15th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
this is a shit, fedor 8 what are you smoking? crazy, you dont know nothing about mma, godbye
Posted by: bad list - July 12th, 2009 at 8:15 am
hands down.. with no contest.. fedor is #1 and everyone who knows anything about mma knows this… just because he doesnt fight in the UFC, it doesnt mean he is any less of a fighter.. GSP, A. Silva and BJ are a virtual 3 way tie for 2nd and they are much to low on your list.. and since they are close in weight classes these battles can happen.. outcome= GSP beats BJ (which just happened), and A. Silva beats them both… size does matter and moving up puts you at a disadvantage usually against the best, but P4P they are equal. Evans # 1 hahaha… he should not be on the list, he just lost to a better fighter, potentially to be the best P4P fighter ever in the future, who I dont imagine losing his belt anytime soon, the most amazing current fighter to watch… WHO IS NOT ON YOUR LIST! Machida!!! good one. Griffin and Sanchez??? this is not a list of good fighters who you know about.. this is pound for pound and they dont belong here.. thats like putting chuck or rampage on a list like this.. great fighters? yes! ambassadors and icons? yes! P4P? not a chance… you must be an idiot or repeating things you have heard and dont understand… overall your list is horrible.
Posted by: marc - September 2nd, 2009 at 6:35 pm
bj penn overrated boring fighter F.Griffin have no talent and faber suck also
Posted by: Free CNA Training - December 2nd, 2009 at 11:21 pm
You forgot alot of good fighters but still a good list.
Posted by: Robin Lucker - February 19th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Need to be able to point out that I thought this one is a totally wonderful posting. I’ve always liked MMA fights and it really is so fine to read your weblog which takes Mma seriously. I’ve recently started out to get in Mma practicing myself and also I am very much intending to end up with at the very least a tad competitive with this. Not even hoping to stride into the ring or a single thing such as that just though! Any hints when it comes to whatever I could be making time for to do very well. In any case, do continue the great work for the website along with your ideal posts.