Why doesn't Chuck get any love in P4P balloting? I would have thought he would be closer to the #11 spot than where he is. If he beats Rashad, then he gets title shot and knocks out Griffin and gets the title, does he belong in the top 10? I should hope so. He just does not seem to get the votes any more.

Head of the MMAfia's Canadian Family - Canada Eh!

Good question Cincy. In this case, Yahoo's poll asks us to rank 1-10. So, unless you have Chuck somewhere in the top 10 he doesn't get any votes in your ballot.

Top 15, I'd probably include him.

Also, there's a one year inactivity clause in the poll, so Couture won't be appearing in the rankings next month...

i bet with one more fight fedor gets voted #1 p4p

Underboss MMAfia

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Here's what's interesting about that Phoenix. Silva faces Cote in October. Cote is a number one contender but I won't be impressed with this win unless Silva does something absolutely nuts like TKO via staring deep into his eyes.

On the other hand, Fedor is going to fight a freak at a Japanese New Year's Eve show (according to SI).

So, with all that, Fedor's opportunity to take over the first spot probably won't come until he fights the winner of Barnett-Arlovski next year.

Also, if Penn-GSP takes place as predicted that will be for third place in the rankings. If GSP wins that, he wouldn't merit second place consideration immediately but it would certainly help.

Right now, Silva and Fedor are just a step above everyone else. It'll take a loss to remove them from top two...

that would be awesome right now if anderson is practicing his death stare...

Underboss MMAfia

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Yeah, it would be hard to put him in top ten but I did say originally that I thought he would be closer to the #11 spot then where they have him right now. As of this date in time I thought he would be closer to the top ten then where he is.

Head of the MMAfia's Canadian Family - Canada Eh!

I think there needs to be a clear definition of what exactly P4P means.

Does it mean:

* most dominate champion? As in so far above thier relative weight competition in dominance.

*hypothetical of if a smaller fighter were to be able to bulk up to the higher weight class who would win based strictly on all-around skills?

*Most dominate at thier natural weight - as if there was no weight cutting?

*If there were no weight classes and it was a an 'open weight class' al-la old school UFC?

Obviously weight plays a huge advantage... otherwise why would fighters cut weight? So should a fighter like Fedor who is clearly small for his weight class and doesnt cut weight, or someone like Faber who doesn't cut weight at all have a higher consideration than a fighter like GSP that cuts 30lbs+ or Torres who cuts 15lbs-20lbs?

Or is it the question of which fighter could hypothetically dominate multiple weight classes... then fighters who have proven success in multiple weight classes such as BJ Penn should get a much higher consideration.

What standard do you use Pramit?

What would you say if Penn beats St.Pierre? Does he take the #1 spot? I mean he would be the champ in his class and bulked up and beat the champ (and the 3rd ranked p4p fighter in the world) in a heavier weight class. how could he not move to #1. That would be like Forrest bulking up and beating Fedor...or Anderson bulking up and beating Forrest (actually I could see that happening).

Personally if Penn beats St. Pierre I think he has to be #1 P4P. He proves he has the abillity to leave his weight class and beat a bigger fighter, and hold 2 belts. That is the only reason Dan Henderson was ever on most of these lists because he had both belts.

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this has little to do with the P4P rankings but i'm unhappy how the UFC is marketing GSP as a "top athlete" now...instead of focusing on how sick his technical skills are. i know they've already put all their eggs in their basket by saying silva is the best in the world, but GSP is more than just a great athlete. in fact, he's probably more well rounded than silva considering silva has absolutely no takedowns or takedown defense (doesn't really matter for him though...)

GSP's athleticism is crazy, probably better than any other fighter. That is why he is always called "athletic" despite having great skills (I still am not a fan). Silva or Fedor in the top spot right now is legit, Penn 3 I would say. The only reason is that BJ moves up and down in weight so there is a way to gage it. GSP vs. Penn or Silva should be his next fight, but will he move up for Silva? I don't think so and he probably will not fight for a while after Cote (which means "let me sit home watch Van Damme movies before the crazy Hawaiin beats me senseless!"). And BJ will have to probably fight Florian.
Wardog

In my opinion I think BJ is the most "gifted" fighter in the world. Does that make him the best not necessarily. Up until recently he hasn't taken advantage of all his God given abilities. He has finally dedicated himself and put himself in position to be the great fighter everyone knows he can be. GSP is one of the smartest fighters I have ever seen, he finds a weakness and attacks it. The fact that he is outwrestling championship caliber wrestlers and dominating them in that aspect is insane. Those two are about as close as it gets, they will beat the living crap out of each other and the fight will more than likely be extremely close causing some sort of controversy.

Anderson Silva is sick, he makes it look so easy, people say that the UFC's MW division is weak, that's just not the case. The problem here is the champ of that division is so dominating that their is no clear challenger. Rich Frankiln, Dan Henderson, Nate Marquardt are all world class athletes and fighters and he made them look like school boys. He needs to be tested and it needs to be happen soon. I think the biggest test at 185 comes in the form of a rematch between him and Henderson. I think Henderson is a true student of the game and will make the ir next fight a lot closer. Other than that I think he needs to move up to 205 and find his next challenge their.

Fedor, the man who we placed at the top of the L.O.U., he silinced a lot of critics with his 36 second dismantling of Timmm-ay. Even the most ardent Sylvia bashers have to recognize how impressive that was. He beat a guy who was known for his stand-up at his own game and did it in quick and easy fashion. He has beaten pretty much every legitimate HW in the world save for Randy, Arlovski and Barnett. As luck would have it we may get to see at least 2 of those three within the next year. He has beaten the UFC champion 2 times and he beat Cro-Cop when CC was at the top of his game. While I see him as an excellent athlete with unbelievable skills I think the other 3 just bring more to the table skill set wise. I know it sounds crazy but there are fighters out there more talented than Fedor.

On top of their athletic skills I believe BJ, Silva and GSP are more apt to moving to other weight classes and dominating. This argument could go on for hours as all four men have given us reasons to believe they are the best and we the fans are winners because of it. BJ has moved around a lot in his career even fighting at 205 when he lost a decision to Machida, I think that he is the guy who could move to any weight class he wanted and be successful. Their is just something about him that makes me believe that if he wants something he will have it. GSP & Silva currently reign supreme in their respective divisions and possess skills that make everyone who watches them shake their head. Like I said you really can't lose by picking any of these guys, so make your choice and be comfortable in knowing that they all deserve consideration.

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About Fedor....He really doesn't look buff, could he drop to 205? If so and he took out a couple top guys there would that change anything?
EERS_1_Fan
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i would give fedor more credit for dropping to 205 and beating people because it is a perceived deeper weight class

i struggle to give him too much credit in a p4p sense because his achievements, by and large were done in the past (more than a year ago) and in the shallowest weight class. when fedor is active and whooping all comers at HW, i can give him more slack but if he takes garbage fights for entertainment value and a paycheck, i hold it against him in a p4p sense

But what defines 'P4P'? What definition do you use to describe P4P best?

Is that like saying Miami Northwestern is P4P the best football team in the USA because they beat everyone in the country so convincingly? It seems a little ridiculous, but then again, the top p4p fighter shouldnt need to cut to a lower weight class and would fight at his natural weight. Miami Northwestern destroyed all of thier peer competition unlike what the NY Giants did who came through in the clutch but had struggles throughout the season. Smaller weight classes while more entertaining, are smaller for thier protection against the bigger, stronger guys. When you see a guy struggle at one weight, generally he tries to drop to the next lower one... just like champion-calibur fighters such as Pulver, Penn, Sherk, Randleman, Shamrock, Couture and many others have when losing a title fight at the higher weight class. Very rarely do you see guys struggle (is losing only to AS is struggling) at a weight and as a result go up... like Franklin - but we have yet to see be successful.

Different styles work better at different weight. I dont think you could ever see a HW go as long and as hard as a LW because the sheer energy required to fuel a 250lb body compared to a 155lb body is vastly different. Comparitvly HWs just flat out hit much harder. So someone who can survive a 170lb full force shot may not be able to absorb the same clean shot coming from someone like Brock Lesnar.

P4P I would say is dominanating your weight class as well as realistically being able to be top level competition in another weight class as well. I am biased and BJ Penn has to be the top, but arguments for Anderson Silva and GSP are valid as well. Fedor get a nod because of his domination of that weight class and if he could drop to 205 I think he could do really well there as well. I mean Franklin and Hughes are not on this list because both got beat by 2 of the tops, but I would say they have to considered only because they both could fight heavier and be effective, as well as Dan Henderson. Royce Gracie was a prime example of a great P4P fighter, competiting in open weight classes. He may have set a standard to judge against.
Wardog