The MMA pound-for-pound debate is one that brings out the best (and worst) in many of us.
The MMA pound-for-pound debate is one that brings out the best (and worst) in many of us, while forcing everyone to actually point out why they believe their list is right... and yours is not. I enjoy the discussion and thought why not take it to the next level, and ask people to forecast a fantasy pound-for-pound tournament.
The vast majority of people I spoke to brought up the names of Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn, Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres. For the hardcore fan, names like Joachim Hansen, Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki made the list, but for arguments sake, we'll go with the more mainstream names.
Starting with the smaller fighters and working our way up, I concur with the overall consensus that Faber would defeat Torres but would not get past B.J. Penn. For Penn, there was great debate as to whether or not he would beat GSP, but in my books, the welterweight champ would come out on top.
Now here comes the kicker: I believe that if there is anyone that can push Anderson Silva to the brink, GSP can do it. He has the ability to force his pace onto anyone, and it is a fighting rhythm most fighters cannot handle. I can seriously see him taking Silva the distance and winning a judges’ decision. Most had this fight going either way, with any one of the two winning.
Remember the kicker I just mentioned? Well, nobody seems to believe that GSP could defeat Fedor. The Russian is just too big, too powerful and would be too much of a daunting task for the Canadian to defeat. But not for Silva.
It appears that most fans firmly believe that of all the pound-for-pound fighters on the list, the UFC middleweight champ has the best shot against the heavyweight legend. Actually, not just a "chance" -- an overwhelming agreement was that he would actually win.
Silva walks around at 230 pounds, fairly close to where "The Russian Cyborg" weighs in for his fights. With both of these world-class athletes being similar in size, I would give the striking advantage to Silva, and everything else to Fedor. While many actually picked Silva to defeat Fedor in this fantasy bout, I see it more on the lines of the Fedor-Nogueira battles, where the Cyborg simply crushes him on the ground.
The fantasy pound-for-pound match-ups are filled with "what ifs" and varying opinions, so now I leave it up to you, the fans, to give me your thoughts. In your fantasy tourney, who are your key fighters and who wins the title of "Pound for Pound King"?
