Anderson Silva Has Lost the Pound for Pound Crown

I think you make a good point. I’ve been surprised that so many seem to view this fight as having somehow increased Silva’s stature. True, it showed that he’s tough and can weather and overcome adversity. But that came at the high cost of losing his aura of invincibility. Before this fight, he was known as the fighter who makes excellent fighters look like amateurs. Now we’ve seen him–for the first time–thoroughly outclassed himself (for a full 23 minutes). I’m not quite sure yet whether I agree with you, but it’s definitely worth considering.

I appreciate the input. It’s tough for me to come down so hard on Silva, he’s honestly my favorite UFC fighter. I’ll go one step further and say that Silva’s early UFC fights were a big reason I got into MMA heavily, back when I was a pro wrestling fan and only watched MMA on the side.

But I think the argument must be made that GSP has finally surpassed Silva. 2010 has been one of the craziest years ever in MMA, and it’s possible that GSP will also find himself humbled and made to look human, it’s even happened before. But until it happens again, I’ve got him as the best fighter in the world right now.

The point you are trying to make in this article contradicts your opinion on Fedor. If Silva did not “win” the fight, then neither did Werdum because Fedor precisely hit him with some heavy shots and off balance or not, Werdum was dropped. Fedor’s loss was a fluke, thank you very much Oliver Saenz for admitting it(unless of course that’s not what you meant which is what I’m sure you are thinking or trying to convince yourself if you are reading my post) I agree with you, Silva lost, Werdum lost, Brock lost.

My point is that Fedor’s loss mirrors Silva’s win in that both men were made to look human despite their impressive history of utter domination. Don’t know how that contradicts anything.

Werdum’s loss wasn’t a fluke, neither was Silva’s win or Sonnen’s domination leading up to that win. There is no such thing as luck in MMA, only a good gameplan and the ability to implement it.

I think Fedor deserved to lose a few spots when he lost, although I don’t think he deserved to be stricken from the P4P list entirely. However, my argument is that Sonnen’s domination should AT THE VERY LEAST be enough to pry Silva out of the #1 spot. It doesn’t matter what number on the list Silva has now, that’s up for debate. But the #1 spot should belong to GSP, simply because he continues to dominate while almost everyone else has been humbled.

i disagree. i do like GSP, but i have never jumped up in excitement screamed YESSS!!!! and threw my hands in the air like if my ceiling was made of gold to any GSP fights. (i’ve done so in a few of andersons fights. silva vs franklin 1 & 2, silva vs. griffin, silva vs irvin, silva vs sonnen, silva vs, dan handerson!) list goes on… (and yes i am aware irvin and forest and 1 frankilin fights were not at middle weight). but GSP had hardy on a perfect armbar and didnt finish? i dont know if that exposes how good hardy is or how GSP just couldn’t finish. (the arm bar was perfect! i say) so i think anderson is still P4P king.

” GSP has been undefeated since 2007″ well thats 1 year less then anderson. he has been undefeated since april 2006. “GSP has a 7 wining streak” anderson has a 13 winning streak. even the way anderson loses is impressive.

some of his fights were lack luster i know. but nobody, and i mean NOBODY! stands 3 feet away from his opponent with his hands down and magically dodges them like in the movies. Silva is just unbelievable.

As a Huge Anderson silva fan, my heart dropped every time i saw sonnen hit anderson all thru out those 23 mins, but people all over are really overlooking something that really proves Anderson is pound for pound the best fighter, he got hit by sonnen 289 times mostly in the face, but still managed to not even break and pull off a submission win, shows that he is in fact p4p best fighter, p4p doesn’t necessarily mean that he goes in and dominates every time he fights but to actually win and that last win was absolutely spectacular. sonnen did something no one has done to the spider before and everyone knew he was human, hes not an alien, or some sort of magician, he has good days and bad too, but after all that and still pulling off a win should clearly show you what type of a champion he is.

When many sites attempt to justify their P4P rankings, the top of their criteria involves winning consecutively and decisively. The more dominant you are in your weight division, the higher you move up in P4P. At least, that’s how it usually works.

Fedor’s reign of dominance ended, so he’s dropped down and even vanished from some P4P lists. BJ Penn’s reign of dominance has ended, so he dropped down the P4P list.

Even though he won, Silva’s reign of utterly dominating opponents ended at UFC 117.

As I’ve said before, where the win leaves Silva in the P4P ranking is irrelevant to the focus of this article. Getting dominated for 23 minutes by someone many thought Anderson would easily defeat SHOULD BE ENOUGH to pry him out of the #1 spot, when you consider that GSP’s long list of dominating wins over top-tier opponents continues to this day, and especially when you consider that losing to an opponent many thought would be easy pickings has caused Fedor and Penn to lose some serious ground on the P4P list, even disappearing altogether on some lists. It’s the same situation, only Anderson won, so while he shouldn’t go tumbling off of the list, GSP should be given the top spot.

i disagree with u oliver. because chael sonnen is a wrestler, thus making his fights Ground-and-Grind, making fights longer. so getting beat for 23 minutes 32 seconds only shows andersons chin. he got hit with full contact punches, got rocked by 1 and then dropped his hands and just ate 4 more like they were cookies. chael did absolutly everything in his power to win and didnt. now look at jon fitch, 8 winning streak, to me the most boring fighter in the world. but it puts money in his pocket. GSP is also a wrestler but he makes it work for him. he is one of the few wrestlers i actually enjoy watching. he constantly improves his position, constantly G&Ps constantly takes u down. but he doesnt have any jaw dropping wins. i do understand what you mean when u say nobody has dominated GSP. but compare both guy’s career’s, not just the recent fights. and u’ll see what both guys have done. and im my opinion Silva has done A LOT more.

in* my opinion

I’m not comparing both guy’s careers, though. This isn’t about who is the better fighter overall. P4P lists are all about the top fighters right now. Right now, Sonnen’s domination really hurt Silva’s status as unbreakable and unstoppable. The same thing happened when GSP lost to Matt Serra. Everyone who’s gotten dominated always takes a hit in the P4P rankings after the fight, Silva shouldn’t be immune to this just because he won. St. Pierre was very close to Silva before the Sonnen fight, now that Sonnen dominated him, I think GSP has done just enough to edge out Silva and take the crown from him.

And in my opinion, Jon Fitch is one of the best Welterweights in the UFC and one of my favorite fighters. Embrace the grind.

it bk fired big time for the ufc,all the ufc does is hype fighters then looks after them by putting them against fighters who are nothing special with plenty of losses.
anderson silva is one of the most over hyped fighters,how can anybody say he is good with what the ufc has put up against him.
when saw who silva was facing ,straight away looked at his record n guess what,the guy is a nobody and is all set up for a easy win for silva and once again to make him look the best,that has now been shattered.should known when anderson silva came up against ok fighter in the past he would lose to a sub in a second.

ufc needs good fighters not good spin n set ups to make fighters look gd.

I totally disagree! When GSP becomes a “fighting” champion, then you can put him in the discussion. He does not fight more than 2 times a year. Anderson does not turn a challenge down. If you look at both fighters at their worst, Anderson was able to make his opponent tap where as GSP was knocked out cold vs. Matt Serra. To me, GSP does not want to challenge himself and jump up to middleweight. He has to always have the advantage. He would fight BJ because he knew he would have a dominant size advantage on him. The difference between the 2 champs is Anderson will fight any one at any time and I can’t say the same for GSP.

heheh i just hate grinding :/ i think its too boring but thats totally an opinion so its irrelevant and MMAFAN who in the middle weight division should fight anderson in ur opinion? he has fought anyone worth mentioning except vitor belford, and that should happen soon. the middle weight division is suffering right now. there are very few fighters who are good, and the ones who are good cant touch anderson…. i know what u mean but there’s just no one else. are u familiar with the movie Troy? watch the first 5 minutes when aquiles kills the giant guy and screams ” IS THERE NO ONE ELSE!!” thats prety much the middle weight division. lots of guys not many talented.

I regard Fedor the pound for pound best fighter, followed by GSP. Silva has had some very impressive wins, in amazingly dominant style, however his last fight showed major flaws in his game reminiscent of his pre-UFC losses. While Fedor lost his last fight, in my view he was caught and did not reveal a broad set of holes in his game the way that Silva did. Perhaps it was Silva’s injury, but regardless my P4P ranking would be formulated on a longer-term record and on that count Fedor is top.

@bo3amra
WILLIAM you say the truth because what did gsp do that made you jump out of your seat and that anderson vs sonnen fight it shows how great a chap anderson silva is to do something legendary and sonnen dominated for nothing just to lose and they need a remacth for what it was no fluke he got caught he got to blinded n dominated silva on the ground that he for got he’s a black belt so to me he belongs as the P4P and he always said there are fighters out there better then me and i dont see my self as the P4P AND GOTTI and OLIVER yall just wagon riders.

Anderson will challenge anyone, anytime? Ok, when will he challenge Brock? Your statement wreaks of stupidity.