Topic: Does GSP's victory over BJ Penn give him the title "Best pound for pound fighter in MMA"?
Answer: No.
Ah. The good old, the best of the best topic. Jordan’s Bulls, Bird’s Celtics, Magic’s Lakers, 90’s Cowboys, 80’s 49ers, 70’s Steelers, and so on. The presiding dominance over a sport by an athlete or team has been argued for years, and will continue to be argued. No matter the lengths the facts or evidence go to provide support, there will be always be someone with dissent. Getting the mass acceptance of an athlete as the reigning king of the sport is damn near impossible. Getting a team? OMFG, even more so. Luckily, I just have to tell you why Fedor Emilenko is the king of MMA right now.
The contenders to the throne for ’King of MMA’:
1) Georges St-Pierre: 18-2
Key wins: BJ Penn(x2), Matt Hughes(x2), Sean Sherk, Matt Serra
2) Fedor Emelianenko: 29-1-1
Key wins: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira(x2), Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Coleman(x2),
and Andrei Arlovsky
3) Anderson Silva: 23-4
Key wins: Rich Franklin(x2), Dan Henderson, Hayato Sakurai, Jeremy Horn
Most of the fighters mentioned have a held title in the UFC or Pride FC at some point. Except Sakurai, and Horn. However, Sakurai and Horn are acclaimed fighters in MMA, and fought for a title on multiple occasions. Sakurai fought for a UFC and Pride title once, respectively. Horn fought for an UFC title, twice.
Now. As far as beating superior opponents, GSP and Fedor are ahead of Silva. One of the biggest detractors against Silva, is the belief that his opponents have not been up to par on the quality scale. He’s defeated some very good fighters, but just not enough.
This really comes down to GSP vs. Fedor. That said, I truly believe that Fedor Emelianenko is the best pound for pound fighter in MMA.
Fedor has defeated one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, Antonio Nogueira twice. He defeated one of the most prolific strikers in MMA history, Mirko Cro Cop. He defeated a former UFC champion in Mark Coleman twice. He then defeated two more former UFC champs in Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovsky. The amount of wins that Fedor has earned against former champions should be considered as a distinct advantage for him in contention for best pound for pound fighter title. It is not just the matter of winning the fight, Fedor has laid out some dominating performances against these former champions. Fedor was able to defeat Sylvia and Arlovsky, two of the most successful Heavyweights in the past few years, in a combined three minutes, fifty seconds. When two guys such as Sylvia, and Arlovsky, who between them held the UFC titles from February 2005 to March 2007, are dominated in such a fashion it sends a clear message on the prowess of Fedor Emelianeko. Fedor also has been finished in a fight. In his only defeat, a bad cut ended the fight. If that fight isn’t stopped, there is no guarantee that Fedor loses. However, GSP has been finished twice in his career. That’s two more times than Fedor.
While GSP definitely has the credentials of an elite fighter, I just cannot justify him being ahead of Fedor. It’s not a matter of GSP does not have the resume, it’s just that he has not accomplished as much as Fedor. GSP has still only defended his title 3 times. And lost one of those 3 fights. Compared to Fedor, who has defended his title successfully 7 times. Four of those times coming through a heavyweight tournament. Which should be considered a title defense, as if Fedor lost one of the early fights in the tournament, he would have lost his title. Everytime Fedor fought in the tournament before the final, he put his title on the line. Even though the opponent could not win the title, technically. But Fedor could definitely lose it.
Even though GSP can lay legitimate claims to the throne of MMA…Fedor is already sitting there. His wins over former champions in convincing manners, successful title defenses, and the uncanny ability to withstand punishment without being defeated, has earned Fedor the accolades he deserves.