Mixed-Martial Arts' Best Fighters, Pound-for-Pound, as of June 2008

The end of another month in mixed-martial arts saw its fair share of high-level fights. June saw the first true featherweight superfight as well as the emergence of a superstar bantamweight, the stability in the UFC, and some other organizations signing top-ten talent.

#1: Anderson Silva
He's been at the top for awhile now, and nothing changes now. He did't fight this month, but it is hard to put this guy below #1. He's built and impressive record, holds the title at 185-lbs in the largest organization, and is moving up to fight James Irvin on July 19th. He will truly be putting pound-for-pound to the test by changing divisions to fight in his third professional division and possible the third division that he could reign supreme. After that fight another superfight for the "Spider" should be in the makings against Yushin Okami.

#2: Fedor Emelianenko
He has reigned over the heavyweight division for awhile now, but gets possible his toughest test on the July 19 Affliction card against Tim Sylvia. With the talent in Affliction's heavyweight pool, assuming the promotion gets past its first show, Fedor would have the cream of the crop to pick from for fights. If he keeps winning against fighters of that stature, he could make the case for P4P #1. Could we possibly even see a Fedor-Randy Couture matchup? It's what we all want.

#3: Georges St. Pierre
He holds a UFC title. Just having one of those makes you elite, but what sets him apart and at the top of this list is the competition he has had to fight. He has taken care of Matt Serra and BJ Penn, another top P4P fighter, and Matt Hughes twice. Although his two losses come to Serra and Hughes, he has stepped up and avenged those losses. Among others he has taken out is Sean Sherk, who contended for the lightweight title in May. He has faced the best and beaten the best. With a title fight against Jon Fitch on August 9th, and after that a possible matchup with Thiago Alves. His competition puts him here at #3.

#4: Urijah Faber
I know many of you wonder how Urijah is ahead of BJ Penn, who has no doubt fought better competition. But Urijah has 21 wins and only 1 loss compared to the 13 wins and 4 losses of BJ Penn. Urijah wouldn't fit this high up, but after June 1st when he fought Jens Pulver, his first true test, he showed he is a complete package. Many questioned his striking and conditioning, which he made his case in this fight. He fought mainly stand-up with Jens, known for his power holding wins in professional boxing, and dominated. He still looked fresh after all 25 minutes of action and looked great. We now know he can beat the best standing and the best on the ground after wins over Pulver and Jeff Curran, a world class jiu-jitsu artist.

#5: BJ Penn
BJ Penn is now undisputably the top lightweight in the world after his destruction of Sean Sherk. Before that fight, I would have placed him near the bottom of this list, but in what was truly his first major title fight, he came knocking...hard. He still has some great matchups in his future, including the winner of August 9th bout between Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian. We all have to wonder if he will ever avenge his loss to St. Pierre though.

#6: Miguel Torres
He is the first superstar of the bantamweight division. His record is hard to argue with at 33-1. It took him time to get his title, but after grabbing it from Chase Beebe with great ground game, he was able to show off his striking against Yoshira Maeda in his first title defense on June 1st. He showed emotion in this fight and while he is known for his submissions, he displayed wonderful striking causing a doctor's stoppage after Maeda's eye was swollen shut. Being in the WEC will only help him as it is the promotion to fight for for bantamweights in North America and abroad.

#7: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Let's face it. We all know Big Nog is one of the world's greatest fighters, but how can we put him higher when he isn't the best in his division. He will be behind Fedor until the two fight as Fedor has great competition to fight in Affliction, while Nogueira has no real superfights at heavyweight in the UFC as all the fighters left for Affliction. He has time to train and wait for a new UFC heavyweight to emerge for competition, though, as he will be hosting the next season of The Ultimate Fighter against Frank Mir.

#8: Quinton Jackson
The reason for Rampage to be ranked low is simple: he hasn't fought in awhile. He took time off to coach his team on The Ultimate Fighter against Forrest Griffin, his next foe. While Rampage could make a drastic move up after his title defense against Griffin, he has taken too much time off to be rated higher. His record and UFC title does warrant his spot on the P4P top ten however.

#9: Norifumi Yamamoto
Kid gets his rank for the same reason Rampage gets his: inactivity. We know he is one of the greatest featherweights in history. He has ruled Japanese MMA. Now we get to see what he truely has left in him when he meets Joseph Benavidez, who trains under Urijah Faber. This will be a good fight to see where Kid stands, and hopefully set up a world superfight between Yamamoto and Urijah Faber.

#10: Paulo Filho
Paulo Filho has never lost and holds a title in a major promotion with the WEC. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master won a controversial bout against Chael Sonnen in December, but will look to prove that fight as legit when he faces Sonnen again for the title on September 10. If Filho manages to beat Sonnen, the only thing left was a possible cross-promotion fight between Filho and P4P #1 Anderson Silva, which would surely pull big numbers.

Sources:

http://www.sherdog.com/
http://www.ufc.com/
http://www.wec.tv/