Looking around the internet, there are a lot of lists being made about the Top 10 ‘Pound for Pound’, and quite frankly, they almost all appear to be dog crap. Ever since legendary fighters Fedor Emilianenko and Anderson Silva lost their grip on the top spot the lists have grown more into a list of UFC champions and favorites than anything else. Let’s take a look.
What is the intention of the list? It should be statement on a fighter’s overall skill set for MMA, and the list presumes how fighters would be ranked according to the skill set, if weight was not a factor, or all weights were equal.
The number one and two spots on the lists are usually reserved for UFC Lightheavyweight Champion Jon Jones and UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. It is hard to argue with either man as #1. Jones deserves the spot as he has shown a diversity to his game that we have never seen before at his weight. He strikes and submits to finish, and has practiced it at a high level now for years. Aldo, for all his incredible talent and Jiu Jitsu pedigree from Nova Uniao, has not submitted opponents with anywhere near the frequency of Jon Jones.
Here is where the list goes awry. The next few names on the list used as an example are Cain Velasquez, Chris Weidman and Demetrious Johnson. All three are UFC Champions in their respective weight classes, but having a title alone should not justify being on this list. It can be said that Velasquez and Weidman both lack the sheer number of fights at 14 and 11 total respectively to make the list. Velasquez is a horse who has dominated the heavyweight division, but he has never submitted anybody and rarely even attempts to finish the fight, using his gas tank as his greatest weapon. It can be argued that he lacks the diversity in his game. Weidman at four is really ridiculous. He stunned the world by beating Anderson Silva twice, but other than that, in his 9 fights his best opponents are Mark Mnoz and welterweight Demian Maia. A strong case could be made for Weidman’s next opponent on this list, and that is Lyoto Machida. If Machida beats Weidman, look for him to shoot to 4th and for Weidman to fall off the list completely. Johnson is a top 3 name for this list at this point, with multiple title defenses under his belt, he seems to be improving.
