There has never been a sport that has become so successful in such a short period of time. UFC 1 took place all the way back in November 1993, and since then we have seen mixed martial arts become the fastest rising sport our generation has ever witnessed. If there is one person to thank it is Royce Gracie, because without him, who knows if the sport of mixed martial arts would have ever achieved the popularity it needed. The Gracie family taught the world the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and it has evolved into an art that many fighters are trying to perfect. Now, if you want to compete at the highest level of mixed martial arts you have to be a well rounded fighter. If you are a one trick pony, then do not even waste your time trying to compete at the highest level (just ask Dan Hardy how that is working out for him). There is so much talent now in mixed martial arts, and the majority of the top fighters compete in the UFC. Although, there are still some fighters who do not compete in the UFC who among the sports best. Also, Dana White and the Fertitta brothers made the smartest decision they ever made with starting the famous series, The Ultimate Fighter, which produced one of the best fights MMA has ever seen in the TUF 1 finale with Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin. This single fight alone was the one that help pave the road for the UFC to become a huge success. Now, it is time to get down to business to find out who the top ten mixed martial artists are in my mind. I think it is pretty obvious who the top two guys are, but after that it was tough because there are so many talented fighters in MMA.
TOP TEN MMA FIGHTERS
1. ANDERSON SILVA (UFC Middleweight Champion)
- (30-4, 17 wins by KO or TKO, 6 wins by submission)
Anderson Silva has reeled off 14 consecutive victories, and has won all 13 of his fights in the UFC since joining the organization on June 28th, 2006. In his UFC debut against Chris Leben, he knocked him out in 49 seconds, but more impressively landed 100% of his strikes, 27 for 27. He ruined Rich Franklin's career at 185, dismantling Franklin both times. Since winning the Middleweight belt on October 14th, 2006, against Franklin, Silva has successfully defended his Middleweight belt nine times, which is a UFC record. Also, Anderson Silva has moved up to the Light Heavyweight division two times, and his opponents never made it out of the first round. Since, Anderson Silva's UFC debut he has knocked out the likes of: Vitor Belfort, Forrest Griffin, James Irvin, Rich Franklin (twice), Nate Marquardt, and Chris Leben. Silva has submitted the likes of: Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, and Travis Lutter in his UFC days. Anderson Silva has dominated all of his opponents since joining the UFC except for one, Chael Sonnen. Silva showed you can never count him out of a fight because Sonnen dominated the first four rounds, and in the fifth round Silva caught Sonnen in a triangle arm-bar. In Anderson Silva's last fight, he showed Vitor Belfort he was no match for Silva, when he caught him with a front kick to the jaw in the first round in route of his TKO victory. Anderson Silva is easily the best counter-striker in the MMA, and might be the best striker in MMA. Anderson Silva is very easily the most technical striker in MMA, and has an outstanding ground game receiving his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black-belt from the Nogueira brothers. Anderson Silva gets an opportunity to revenge his last loss (even though it was not a legitimate defeat losing via DQ because of an illegal kick) against Yushin Okami on August 27th at UFC 134 in Brazil.
2. GEORGE ST. PIERRE (UFC Welterweight Champion)
- (22-2, 8 wins by TKO, 5 wins by submission)
Ever since George St. Pierre got caught by Matt Serra at UFC 69, we have seen a new St. Pierre that can not be stopped. St. Pierre has won nine straight fights since that loss, and none of those fights have even been close. It has been total domination for the Canadian, and he has made it look easy. Just to show how dominate he has been, in his last nine fights he has won 30 of the total 33 rounds on the judge's scorecards. St. Pierre is by far the best wrestler in the 170 pound division, and is considered one of the best in all of MMA. Since losing his belt against Serra at UFC 69, St. Pierre had to go through Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes to get back to title contention. He did it with ease. He dominated Matt Serra the second time around, winning back his Welterweight belt via TKO (knees to the body) in the second round. St. Pierre avenged both of his MMA losses by beating both Matt Serra and Matt Hughes (twice) in dominating fashion. St. Pierre has defended his Welterweight belt successfully six times in a row and will look for lucky number seven against a very scrappy opponent in Strikeforce Welterweight champion, Nick Diaz. George St. Pierre has beaten the likes of Jake Shields, Josh Koscheck (twice), Dan Hardy, Thiago Alves, B.J. Penn (twice), Jon Fitch, Matt Serra, Matt Hughes (twice), Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Jay Hieron, Karo Parisyan, and Pete Spratt during his MMA career. If he can successfully defend his belt against Nick Diaz in October, as MMA fans we can only hope Silva does the same against Okami and we finally get a super-fight with Anderson Silva and George St. Pierre, to really find out who is the top guy in MMA.
3. JON JONES (UFC Light Heavyweight Champion)
- (13-1, 8 wins by KO or TKO, 3 wins by submission)
Jon Jones answered the question if he was for real or not, when he dominated one of the best light heavyweight fighters in the world in Mauricio "Shogun" Rua to win the light heavyweight belt. Jones should be 14-0 because his only loss came via DQ due to illegal elbows against Matt Hamill (a fight he was dominating until the DQ.) Jones has made everyone of his opponents look like an amateur due to his athleticism and his unorthodoxed striking. The guy is so good he can even stop crime hours before his biggest fight. The morning of his fight against Shogun Rua for the light heavyweight championship, he chased down a burglar after he stole an elderly woman's purse, and hours later knocked out the 205 pound champ. This guy is the real deal and we could see him dominate the Light Heavyweight division like we are seeing Anderson Silva dominate the Middleweight division and George St. Pierre dominate the Welterweight division. Jon Jones trains in one of the best camps in the world with Greg Jackson's camp. Greg Jackson's fighters have a ridiculous 81% winning percentage in pro MMA fights. The list goes on and on with the fighters Jackson has produced: George St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, Shane Carwin, Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard, Donald Cerrone, Carlos Condit, Nate Marquardt, Diego Sanchez, Brendan Schaub, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Brian Stann just to name a few. This camp has been one of the main reasons why Jones has been able to mature so quickly and continue to improve tremendously from fight to fight. Jon "Bones" Jones has fought in eight UFC fights since joining the promotion back in August 2008 and he has beaten the likes of : Mauricio Rua, Ryan Bader, Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera, Jake O'Brien, Stephan Bonnar, and Andre Gusmao. His first two fights in the UFC were both unanimous decision victories in which Jones absolutely dominated. All of his other five victories in the octagon have ended in either a TKO or submission. He will get a chance to defend his belt for the first time against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on September 24th in Denver, and if he dominates Rampage the rest of the 205 pound division knows this guy might be rocking the 205 pound belt for awhile.
4. FRANKIE EDGAR (UFC Lightweight Champion)
- (13-1-1, 2 wins by TKO, 3 wins by submission)
This number four spot was a toss up between Edgar and Jose Aldo but because Edgar has beaten better talent I had to give this spot to Edgar. Frankie Edgar pulled off one of the biggest upsets inside the octagon to win the 155 pound belt when he beat B.J. Penn at UFC 112 via unanimous decision. Frankie Edgar is one of the most well-rounded fighters in MMA because he is a very good boxer and has outstanding wrestling. Also, we saw the heart and determination in Edgar when Maynard hit him with everything in the first round in Edgar's last fight and Edgar came back and looked really good in rounds two through five, and in a lot of people's eyes thought he should of won that fight. (I thought the judges got it right with the draw.) The one knock on Frankie Edgar has always been that he does not finish fights and a lot of his fights end up going to a decision, but I hate it when people say that because a win is a win, especially when fighting in the UFC. Since Edgar's only loss to Gray Maynard the first time they fought at UFC Fight Night 13 in April 2008, he has not lost in his last six fights. (Five victories and a draw.) He has beaten the top guys in the155 pound division: B.J. Penn (twice), Sean Sherk, Matt Veach, Hermes Franca, Spencer Fisher, Mark Bocek, Tyson Griffin, and Jim Miller. We all knew this kid was the real deal when he picked apart B.J. Penn in the rematch and he forced Penn to move back up to 170 pounds. Frankie Edgar will get another chance to beat the only man to ever beat him when he fights Gray Maynard for the third time, and if Edgar can beat Maynard this time around he will definitely solidify himself as the best 155 pounder and hopefully we will see him fight Gilbert Melendez next.
5. JOSE ALDO (UFC Featherweight Champion)
- (19-1, 12 wins by KO or TKO, 2 wins by submission)
Jose Aldo has won his last 12 fights since his only loss back in November 2006 to Luciano Azevedo. Aldo put himself on the map when he knocked out Cub Swanson in the WEC with a flying knee eight seconds into the fight. In his next fight he dismantled the WEC champ Mike Brown and since then he has dominated all of his opponents defending his featherweight belt three times. He dominated Urijah Faber in his first title defense with his brilliant striking and mostly with his leg kicks. (If you have not seen the pictures of Faber's legs after this fight you have to check it out.) Aldo dominated the very tough Mark Hominick in his first fight in the UFC winning via unanimous decision. Jose Aldo trains with Team Black House, which is one of the best camps in the world. Ed Soares, the founder of Black House, trains the likes of Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, the Nogueira brothers, Junior Dos Santos, Ronald Souza, and Rafael Cavalcante. This is by far the best camp in Brazil. Jose Aldo is going to be a tough guy to beat in the Featherweight division and if he can knock off Kenny Florian in his next fight he might be holding the Featherweight belt for a long time to come. Jose Aldo has beaten the likes of Mark Hominick, Manvel Gamburyan, Urijah Faber, Mike Brown, Cub Swanson, Chris Mickle, Rolando Perez, Jonathon Brookins, Alexandre Nogueira, Shoji Maruyama, Fabio Mello, and Thiago Meller. Aldo keeps getting better as he is maturing as a fighter and the rest of the Featherweight division is going to have their hands full as they try and get his belt.
6. CAIN VELASQUEZ (UFC Heavyweight Champion)
- (9-0, 8 wins by KO or TKO)
Cain Velasquez is an absolute monster that is an outstanding wrestler with powerful striking. He went through Brock Lesnar easily, knocking him out in the first round to capture the Heavyweight belt. Velasquez has his toughest fight in his first title defense against Junior Dos Santos in November, but if he can knock off Dos Santos he might be holding onto the Heavyweight belt for quite some time. In six of Velasquez's nine fights he has knocked out his opponent in the first round. Only one time in Velasquez's MMA career has he not finished a fight, and that was against Cheick Kongo. Velasquez has knocked out the likes of Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Ben Rothwell, Denis Stojnic, Jake O'Brien, and Brad Morris. The former two time All-American wrestler while at Arizona State trains with one of the best camps in America. American Kickboxing Academy has some of the best coaches and fighters in the world. Javier Mendez, the founder of AKA, also has two of the best trainers in the world in Bob Cook and Dave Camarillo. Some of the fighters that AKA trains are Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Daniel Cormier, Cung Le, Josh Thomson, and King Mo Lawal. Velasquez has the biggest fight of his life coming up in a few months and luckily for him he has one of the best camps in the world to help him prepare for a very dangerous and hungry Junior Dos Santos.
7. DOMINICK CRUZ (UFC Bantamweight Champion)
- (17-1, 6 wins by KO or TKO, 1 win by submission)
Dominick Cruz is one of the best technical strikers in MMA. Yet, a lot of people are unaware of how good Cruz really is. He still has not stepped into the UFC octagon because of a hand injury, and a lot of the casual fans are not as familiar with Cruz because he has spent most of his career fighting in the WEC. He will get a chance to revenge his only loss in his career this Saturday night against Urijah Faber in the main event of UFC 132. He has successfully defended his Bantamweight belt two times in a row after beating Brian Bowles to capture the 135 pound belt. Just to show how Dominick Cruz has not gotten any respect dates back to when Faber and Cruz first locked horns back in 2007. They were fighting for the belt and on the WEC poster promoting the fight it was just a picture of Urijah Faber that had both their names stated as fighting for the belt. When Dominick Cruz signed the poster, he signed right on Faber's face. Ever since this, the two have hated each other with a passion. Dominick Cruz has been waiting for this fight for over four years and now he gets his chance to knock off the California Kid. Cruz has a very good resume and has beaten the likes of Scott Jorgensen, Joseph Benavidez (twice), Brian Bowles, Ivan Lopez, Ian McCall, Charlie Valencia, Kenny Aimes, Juan Miranda, and Michael Barney. When Cruz won an easy unanimous decision against a very game Scott Jorgensen in his last fight he landed 243 total strikes, which is a WEC record, and would be a UFC record. Also, Cruz landed 54 of 180 strikes in the fifth and final round, showing his tremendous endurance and stamina. The dude does not get tired and could fight six of seven rounds if he wanted. Jorgensen only landed 69 total strikes the entire fight. Cruz is one of the best tactical fighters in the world and throws punches at many different angle and is a very tough guy to connect with. Urijah Faber is going to have his hands full and better hope he can get some takedowns on Cruz, but Cruz is outstanding at takedown defense. Faber is going to have to be ten times better than he was when he submitted Cruz in 2007, because Cruz has improved significantly in every aspect of his game since his only defeat. If he can add Urijah Faber to this list it will only move him higher up on the pound for pound best in MMA. Cruz trains with one of the most underrated camps in MMA. Alliance MMA was started by Brandon Vera back in 2007 in Chula Vista, California. Alliance MMA trains the likes of Phil Davis, Ed Ratcliff, Travis Browne, Joey Beltran, and Alexander Gustafsson. He is going to depend heavily on his camp to get him ready and prepared for Faber as he tries to defend his Bantamweight title for the third straight time, and capture his first win in the UFC.
8. JON FITCH (UFC Welterweight Contender)
- (23-3-1, 5 wins by KO or TKO, 5 wins by submission)
A lot of people might disagree with Fitch being in the number eight spot, but after looking at his resume compared with a lot of the other fighters who are left, it was an easy selection to go with Fitch. I understand he does not have all the knockouts and finishes in his fights, but he knows how to win. He has only lost one time since since December 2002, and that was to some guy named George St. Pierre. Fitch has 20 wins in his last 22 fights. (Lost to GSP for the 170 pound belt, and got robbed when the fight with B.J. Penn was ruled a majority draw.) As mentioned earlier, Fitch trains with one of the best camps in the country with Bob Cook and Dave Camirillo with AKA. Jon Fitch has beaten the likes of Thiago Alves (twice), Ben Saunders, Diego Sanchez, Mike Pierce, Paulo Thiago, Akihiro Gono, Chris Wilson, Roan Carneiro, Luigi Fioravanti, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Josh Burkman, Brock Larson, Shonie Carter, and Kyle Jensen. Jon Fitch knows he won't move much higher up in the pound for pound best until he beats the best Welterweight fighter in MMA history, George St. Pierre. Jon Fitch's shoulder injury seems to be close to 100 %, and expect him to get a rematch with B.J. Penn at UFC 138 in San Jose in mid-November. If he can knock off Penn he will most likely be in line to get his second chance at St. Pierre.
9. RASHAD EVANS (UFC Light Heavyweight Contender)
- (15-1-1) 5 wins by KO or TKO, 2 wins by submission)
Rashad Evans might be the only hope to knock off Jon Jones if Rampage Jackson fails in September. One reason why I think Evans has a better chance than anyone else in the 205 pound division is because Evans knows Jon Jones better than any other 205 pounder. He trained with Jones for the last two years and knows his game just as good as Jones. He knows his strengths, but more importantly his weaknesses. First, Evans has to get through a very talented young fighter in Phil Davis, who brings the same type of athleticism that Jon Jones brings to the octagon. If Evans can come out victorious, he will definitely be next in line to get the winner of Rampage and Jones. (If he is healthy of course.) Rashad Evans was a guy that no one thought had a chance to win The Ultimate Fighter during season 2, but he proved everybody wrong and won TUF 2 knocking off the likes of Keith Jardine, Mike Whitehead, and Brad Imes in the finals. (This season was all heavyweights and Evans was fighting guys way bigger than him and he out-wrestled everyone put in front of him.) His UFC career has been a lot like his path on TUF because not a lot of people ever thought he would ever hold the belt at 205. Rashad Evans put his name on the map with one of the best knockouts in UFC history when he knocked off Chuck Liddell's head into the 10th row. Everyone says Liddell was washed up, but people tend to forget the fight Liddell put on with Wanderlei Silva in his previous fight (one of the best fights in UFC history), and was a win away from fighting for the 205 pound belt.Other than Liddell, here are some of the other guys Rashad Evans has beaten: Rampage Jackson, Thiago Silva, Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping, Sean Salmon, Jason Lambert, Stephan Bonnar, Sam Hoger, and Hector Ramirez. Evans knocked off Griffin for the 205 pound belt, but was knocked out by Machida in his next fight. However, Evans changed his gameplan from standing and banging to utilizing his wrestling now. We have seen how his new gameplan has worked tremendously when he dominated Thaigo Silva and Rampage Jackson in his two fights after the Machida fight. Evans and Jones used to be good friends but a lot has changed since Jones won the belt and called out his Greg Jackson teammate and now they hate each other. Evans left the Jackson camp recently and what else would be better than a Jones and Evans fight for the 205 pound belt.
10. GILBERT MELENDEZ (Strikeforce Lightweight Champion)
- (19-2, 11 wins by KO or TKO, 1 win by submission)
Gilbert Melendez would be higher up on this list if he was not fighting in Strikeforce. The talent of fighters in the UFC and Strikeforce is not even close to comparable. However, there are four fighters that currently fight in Strikeforce that I could see competing for the UFC belt. (Gilbert Melendez, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, and Daniel Cormier). (Tyron Woodley is a guy also that might be able to, but we will find out how good he is when he fights Paul Daley in late July). Melendez is one guy who looks way better every time he steps foot into the octagon. In his last title defense against Tatsuya Kawajiri he dominated Kawajiri and grounded and pounded him for the TKO victory in the first round. Melendez has won his last five fights since his last defeat to Josh Thomson, and has looked impressive during this streak. He beat Thomson during this streak, along with Mitsuhiro Ishida, who was the only other guy to beat Melendez. Melendez has revenged both of his losses and did so in dominating fashion. Some of the guys Melendez has beat in his MMA career include: Tatsuya Kawajiri (twice), Josh Thomson, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Shinya Aoki, Rodrigo Damm, Clay Guida, Gabe Lemley, Nobuhiro Obiya, Tetsuji Kato, and Harris Sarmiento. Gilbert Melendez trains with one of the better camps in the United States in Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, also known as the "Brat Pack," because of guys like the Diaz brothers. Gracie's camp has some of the toughest, scrappiest fighters in the game, with Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, David Terrell, Daniel Roberts, and Gil Castillo representing Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Melendez is likely to have his toughest fight in his MMA career with Jorge Masvidal, who dismantled a game K.J. Noons with his stand up. If Melendez can get by Masvidal to defend his Strikeforce Lightweight belt for the sixth straight time, expect Dana White to line up a title shot with Melendez and whoever possesses the UFC Lightweight belt. And, whoever that may be will have their hands full against a very tough Gilbert Melendez.
HONORABLE MENTIONS (IN ORDER 11-20)
-JUNIOR DOS SANTOS (UFC Heavyweight Contender)
(13-1, 8 wins by KO or TKO, 2 wins by submission)
-NICK DIAZ (Strikeforce Welterweight Champion and newly UFC Welterweight Contender)
(25-7, 13 wins by KO or TKO, 8 wins by submission)
-ALISTAIR OVEREEM (Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, DREAM Heavyweight Champion, & K-1 World Grand Prix Champion)
(35-11, 14 wins by KO or TKO, 19 wins by submission)
-GRAY MAYNARD (UFC Lightweight Contender)
(10-0-1, 2 wins by KO or TKO)
-MAURICIO "SHOGUN" RUA (UFC Light Heavyweight Contender)
(19-5, 16 wins by KO or TKO, 1 win by submission)
-EDDIE ALVAREZ (Bellator Lightweight Champion)
(22-2, 12 wins by KO or TKO, 7 wins by submission)
-QUINTON "RAMPAGE" JACKSON (UFC Light Heavyweight Contender)
(32-8, 14 wins by KO or TKO, 7 wins by submission)
-LYOTO MACHIDA (UFC Light Heavyweight Contender)
(17-2, 6 wins by KO or TKO, 2 wins by submission)
-DAN HENDERSON (Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion)
(27-8, 12 wins by KO or TKO, 2 wins by submission)
-JAKE SHIELDS (UFC Welterweight Contender)
(26-5-1, 3 wins by TKO, 10 wins by submission)
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