The question has been asked many times by many different people. Who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. The consensus in the MMA world is that it's either Anderson Silva or Georges St.Pierre. So in order to answer the first question lets ask another, who would win in a fight, Silva or St.Pierre?,
Anderson Silva is probably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. It's almost a toss-up between Silva and Georges St.Pierre, but I give a slight edge to Silva.
Both of their next fights will give us a better understanding about where these fighters are at, and how they would match up against each other. St.Pierre is going to be fighting Thiago Alves, while Silva is scheduled to fight Forrest Griffin.
St. Pierre is an outstanding fighter, but has yet to show me how good he is against a true striker. When St.Pierre lost to and then beat Matt Hughes the first time, Hughes was the champion, but MMA still wasn't where it is even today. Hughes was a great champion for his time, but I think that Hughes stopped developing as a fighter right around the time St.Pierre beat him for the first time. The second time St.Pierre beat Hughes St.Pierre showed then that he was in another league above Hughes.
St.Pierre then lost to Matt Serra, who just got plain lucky in the upset win of the year. St.Pierre avenged the loss in a dominant performance later, to regain the Welterweight title. I think most people would agree that St.Pierre is several steps above Serra in the fight game, despite an unfortunate loss.
St.Pierre has beaten two guys that are very impressive young fighters in Josh Koscheck and John Fitch. Both of these fighters are ex-collegiate wrestling champs, yet St.Pierre out-wrestled both of them. However, one of the strikes that I hold against St.Pierre is that he couldn't finish either one of them. I don't think St.Pierre has very good knock-out power in his hands. One of the very, very few arguable weaknesses of St.Pierre.
Thiago Alves poses a tough fight for St.Pierre because he is stronger than St.Pierre, and a better all around athlete than any of the other fighters St.Pierre has faced. However, I still think that St.Pierre will win, but it will be interesting to see how. My guess is by decision, but if St.Pierre can knock out Alves St.Pierre could jump to the top of my board as best pound-for-poundfighter in the UFC.
Anderson Silva also has a tough fight coming up as well. Forrest Griffin is no joke, and shouldn't be taken lightly. Griffin will bring it to Silva, but I look for Silva to knock out Griffin in the first or early second round. If Silva doesn't knock out or submit Griffin in convincing fashion, I think Silva will drop out of the pound-for-pound best fighter spot.
Silva has fought some tough opponents, and finished them all convincingly with the exception of his last two fights. Patrick Cote blew out his knee during his fight with Silva, so Silva won by default, despite not looking impressive during the fight. Silvas last fight was probably the most boring fight I have ever seen in my life. Silva just did not bring it, he had opportunities to finish the fight yet never did. Silva needs to finish Griffin in order to be considered the pound-for-pound best.
When looking at who St.Pierre and Silva have beaten it's pretty hard to decide which fighter has fought tougher opponents. St.Pierre is a better wrestler than Silva, and has beaten very good wrestlers with relative ease (Fitch, Koscheck, Hughes). Silva might not have fared so well against these fighters because it is arguable that Silvas weakness is his wrestling. Dan Henderson showed us that despite ultimately losing to Silva.
On the other hand, Silva has beaten some very good strikers that would probably have given St.Pierre some trouble (ie.Franklin, Cote, Marquardt). St.Pierre was knocked out by Serra, who has power but not anything like the fighters mentioned.
I think St.Pierre is the better fighter when fighting an opponent who specializes in takedowns, and ground and pound. But, Silva is better fighting opponents who are good strikers and pretty good on the ground. I mean lets face it, Hughes, Serra, and to a degree Koscheck and Fitch aren't known for their striking first.
Alright, back to the original question who is the better fighter? Or who would win in a fight between Silva and St.Pierre? As I already said...Silva.
Silva would win because I think he has proven to have a better all around game. He has knocked people out in both the Middleweight division and the Light-heavyweight division, and I don't think St.Pierre could do that (in his division and the one above respectfully). St.Pierre would have beaten all the people that Silva has beaten and vice versa, but I don't think St.Pierre could have done it as convincingly.
Also, as I said earlier, St.Pierre is a better wrestler than Silva. But, Silva showed that he can scramble and hold his own even with one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters in the world in Thales Leites. Plus, I can't see St.Pierre trying to submit Silva, I see St.Pierre ground and pounding on him.
Ultimately that's why I see Silva winning this fight. He may not be able to stop all of St.Pierres takedowns, but I think he could at least minimize the damage he would take on the ground, and I don't think St.Pierre would be able to submit him. When Silva gets the fight back to his feet, I see him with an advantage in striking. Silva is just fast enough, and too accurate of a striker for St.Pierre. I would expect Silva to knock St.Pierre out.
The only way St. Pierre wins is if he gets Silva down, and can keep him down for every round. Really Ionly see Silva winning the fight about 60 percent of the time. But that's good enough to make him the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC in my book.
Anderson Silva is probably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. It's almost a toss-up between Silva and Georges St.Pierre, but I give a slight edge to Silva.
Both of their next fights will give us a better understanding about where these fighters are at, and how they would match up against each other. St.Pierre is going to be fighting Thiago Alves, while Silva is scheduled to fight Forrest Griffin.
St. Pierre is an outstanding fighter, but has yet to show me how good he is against a true striker. When St.Pierre lost to and then beat Matt Hughes the first time, Hughes was the champion, but MMA still wasn't where it is even today. Hughes was a great champion for his time, but I think that Hughes stopped developing as a fighter right around the time St.Pierre beat him for the first time. The second time St.Pierre beat Hughes St.Pierre showed then that he was in another league above Hughes.
St.Pierre then lost to Matt Serra, who just got plain lucky in the upset win of the year. St.Pierre avenged the loss in a dominant performance later, to regain the Welterweight title. I think most people would agree that St.Pierre is several steps above Serra in the fight game, despite an unfortunate loss.
St.Pierre has beaten two guys that are very impressive young fighters in Josh Koscheck and John Fitch. Both of these fighters are ex-collegiate wrestling champs, yet St.Pierre out-wrestled both of them. However, one of the strikes that I hold against St.Pierre is that he couldn't finish either one of them. I don't think St.Pierre has very good knock-out power in his hands. One of the very, very few arguable weaknesses of St.Pierre.
Thiago Alves poses a tough fight for St.Pierre because he is stronger than St.Pierre, and a better all around athlete than any of the other fighters St.Pierre has faced. However, I still think that St.Pierre will win, but it will be interesting to see how. My guess is by decision, but if St.Pierre can knock out Alves St.Pierre could jump to the top of my board as best pound-for-poundfighter in the UFC.
Anderson Silva also has a tough fight coming up as well. Forrest Griffin is no joke, and shouldn't be taken lightly. Griffin will bring it to Silva, but I look for Silva to knock out Griffin in the first or early second round. If Silva doesn't knock out or submit Griffin in convincing fashion, I think Silva will drop out of the pound-for-pound best fighter spot.
Silva has fought some tough opponents, and finished them all convincingly with the exception of his last two fights. Patrick Cote blew out his knee during his fight with Silva, so Silva won by default, despite not looking impressive during the fight. Silvas last fight was probably the most boring fight I have ever seen in my life. Silva just did not bring it, he had opportunities to finish the fight yet never did. Silva needs to finish Griffin in order to be considered the pound-for-pound best.
When looking at who St.Pierre and Silva have beaten it's pretty hard to decide which fighter has fought tougher opponents. St.Pierre is a better wrestler than Silva, and has beaten very good wrestlers with relative ease (Fitch, Koscheck, Hughes). Silva might not have fared so well against these fighters because it is arguable that Silvas weakness is his wrestling. Dan Henderson showed us that despite ultimately losing to Silva.
On the other hand, Silva has beaten some very good strikers that would probably have given St.Pierre some trouble (ie.Franklin, Cote, Marquardt). St.Pierre was knocked out by Serra, who has power but not anything like the fighters mentioned.
I think St.Pierre is the better fighter when fighting an opponent who specializes in takedowns, and ground and pound. But, Silva is better fighting opponents who are good strikers and pretty good on the ground. I mean lets face it, Hughes, Serra, and to a degree Koscheck and Fitch aren't known for their striking first.
Alright, back to the original question who is the better fighter? Or who would win in a fight between Silva and St.Pierre? As I already said...Silva.
Silva would win because I think he has proven to have a better all around game. He has knocked people out in both the Middleweight division and the Light-heavyweight division, and I don't think St.Pierre could do that (in his division and the one above respectfully). St.Pierre would have beaten all the people that Silva has beaten and vice versa, but I don't think St.Pierre could have done it as convincingly.
Also, as I said earlier, St.Pierre is a better wrestler than Silva. But, Silva showed that he can scramble and hold his own even with one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters in the world in Thales Leites. Plus, I can't see St.Pierre trying to submit Silva, I see St.Pierre ground and pounding on him.
Ultimately that's why I see Silva winning this fight. He may not be able to stop all of St.Pierres takedowns, but I think he could at least minimize the damage he would take on the ground, and I don't think St.Pierre would be able to submit him. When Silva gets the fight back to his feet, I see him with an advantage in striking. Silva is just fast enough, and too accurate of a striker for St.Pierre. I would expect Silva to knock St.Pierre out.
The only way St. Pierre wins is if he gets Silva down, and can keep him down for every round. Really Ionly see Silva winning the fight about 60 percent of the time. But that's good enough to make him the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC in my book.