Rank the 7 UFC Champions

I did this on the ESPN boards and got some decent debates out of it. Now, needless to say, all seven UFC champs are top fighters. Which one is the best?

Its interesting because you can look at this from several angles. The depth of the division, number of title defenses, who they beat, ect... For example, most of us will rank Bones ahead of Edgar, which is fine, though Edgar has two title defenses while Bones has zero, same with Cain. And where do Cruz and Aldo fit in? They have defended their WEC titles, but not their UFC titles. Lot of ways to look at it, I'm curious as to what you all think. I will go ahead and attempt to make my list.

7) Dominick Cruz - Though I do see him eventually moving up this list, I think he has the ability to keep his title for quite some time.

6) Frankie Edgar - Sorry Frank, I never give you enough credit, even though you destroyed Penn in the second fight. I still need to see you beat Gray.

5) Cain Velasquez - One of my favorite fighters, I hope he returns soon from injury and is able to add a couple title defenses to his resume.

4) Jose Aldo - All he has to do is keep doing what he did in WEC.

3) Jon "Bones" Jones - You may think he's too high on my list, you may think I'm a Jones homer. I assure you I'm not. I am just very impressed with the say he has destroyed every person he has faced. Hasn't even been challenged yet.

2) GSP - Very hard to have GSP at number 2. The guy is always improving. He's only 29, and may not have even reached his prime.

1) Anderson Silva - Not much to say here. A UFC record 8 straight title defense. He's never lost in the Octagon. And I don't think Yuski Okami will be the guy to take his title from him, sorry Yuki.

So please, tear apart my list. Pick it apart, tell me how or why is sucks, and make your own.

1. Anderson Silva
2. GSP
3. Jose Aldo
4. Cain Velasquez
5. Jon Jones
6. Frankie Edgar
7. Dominick Cruz.

7. Edgar, something about me means I can't like the guy, I can't give him respect, I don't know, he's gotta beat Gray, then we'll talk

6. Jon Jones, 0 defences, Its the UFC Lightheavyweight championship, it's been tough to retain... Rampage defended it once, Machida defended it once in the middle of him winning it there was 5 changing of hands in something like 7 fights, untill he gets leg kicked, I'm picking his opponent.

5. Cain Velaquez, same reason as Jones, 0 defences, until he fights an elite striker like Carwin or JDS, in my head he's jaw is semi-questionable because of the Kongo fight but higher up my list as he is injured so has the potential too hang onto it longer than Jones

4. Dominick Cruz, has impressed the hell outta me, but untill he fights Faber, he can't break the power 3 and make it 4.

3. Jose Aldo, the reason for the merger. A mini Anderson Silva, in a division whereby it changes as quickly as the tides, he has looked so dominant and whether the number 2 ranked challenger was only ranked number 2 for a month, he's still beaten the hell outta them

2. GSP, in his last 8 fights the most danger he has been in was for 2 minutes against Thiago Alves whereby he was on his back and for the opening 40 seconds with Koscheck until he jabbed him in the face only issue I have is he hasn't been dominant, he's won the fights and made opponents appear like they never should have entered the cage with them, but all of his opponents have walked out the cage feeling like they got beaten up but a lot of them feel they deserved another chance, and that i they improved _____ aspect of there game they could have won, whereas: my number 1. Only left 2 men coming back for more. One man never said a word after getting mounted and embarrased by Jake Shields for 21 odd minutes.

1. Anderson Silva. Other than Chael Sonnen who he still finished... Who has walked out of that cage thinking I wouldn't mind a rematch? Forrest Griffin, oh yeah he never really walked out the cage. Rich Franklin, oh wait he did get a rematch, ended up exactly the same. So many names 13 too be precise, all embarrased by one man.

1. Anderson Silva
2. GSP
3. Jose Aldo
4. Jon Jones
5. Cain Velasquez
6. Dominick Cruz
7. Frankie Edgar

Good topic

Top to bottom

Silva
Gsp
Jones
Aldo
Velasquez
Edgar
Cruz

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Posted by prozacnation1978

Good topic

Top to bottom

Silva
Gsp
Jones
Aldo
Velasquez
Edgar
Cruz

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yup

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Posted by jjeans

7. Edgar, something about me means I can't like the guy, I can't give him respect, I don't know, he's gotta beat Gray, then we'll talk .

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He already beat gray in my eyes!!!!

Based upon Objective Criteria -
1. Anderson Silva - Undefeated in the UFC, longest winning streak.
2. Georges St. Pierre - Dominated his division, equal quality opponents as anderson but that one loss counts against him by the smallest of amounts
3. Jon Jones - Beat the #1 LHW of all time. His domination of shogun means more than anything anyone below him has ever done.
4. Cain Velasquez - Dominant in fights, but hasnt faced elite competition before.
5. Frankie Edgar - Beating BJ Penn 50-45 means more than anything someone at 145 or 135 can even accomplish. He ranks below velasquez because 2 of his title fights were close.
6. Jose Aldo - Faced better competition than cruz, and has been more dominant in doing so, however the division is still to shallow to merit a higher place
7. Dominick Cruz - Least dominant, least impressive, least quality opposition.


Based upon subjective interpretation
1. Anderson Silva - p4p his skills are unmatched.
2. Jon Jones - The way he dominated Shogun is the most impressive thing ive seen in MMA, ever.
3. Georges St Pierre - The guy fights flawlessly, i think bigger guys will give him fits at 185, but he's practically untouched at 170
4. Frankie Edgar - This 145 guy made Penn at 155 look like he should retire, next fight Penn fight the #2 170 guy to a draw. Frankie Edgar is one of the very best. His reach, wrestling and boxing are all top knotch.
5. Jose Aldo - Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. This kid. He's been more impressive than Cain, but has never faced an elite fighter. Urijah is not Elite.
6. Cain Velasquez - Brock isn't Elite either. Niether is Nogueria, nor Kongo. But his skillset has been impressive as all hell.
7. Dominick Cruz - Eh, he's like Machida if he had Jardine's fundamental flaws.

Top to Bottom

Silva Dominance

Cain cause he beat an absolute monster who out weighed him like crazy..thats the sign of a champ...but likely loses a rematch

Edgar agree that BJ would be number one on some peoples polls..biggest heart in MMA IMO..WOuld like him to move down and whip Aldo...I think only he can..

GSP weak division of fighters and nobody is well rounded and really only one guy with standup...but cant finish was one of my favorites but Im hoping he loses to shut up the Silva GSP talk...

Jones for his utter dominance

Aldo another extremely weak division

Cruz will lose to Faber more than likely

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Posted by prozacnation1978

Good topic

Top to bottom

Silva
Gsp
Jones
Aldo
Velasquez
Edgar
Cruz

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no sense in posting mine since prozac already said it for me

silva (longest title defense and streak, nuff said)
gsp (5 defenses and beat the 2 people that handed his losses)
aldo (on a tear @ 145)
cain (has the potential to be the next fedor)
edgar (beat penn twice, but almost lost to maynard)
jones (just like aldo, on a tear @ 205)
cruz (will probably lose to faber)

This is only for what they have done to this point. Not what they could do or will do in the future.

7. Cain Velasquez. He's undefeated during his short career and hasn't really been put into too much danger (besides a few big shots from Kongo). The reason I have him last right now is because beating an over the hill Big Nog and a green champ in Lesnar isn't going to put you high on this list. Yet. Like I said, if this list had anything to do with potential Velasquez would be no where near number 7.

6. Frankie Edgar. I love Frankie Edgar, he's one of my favourite fighters and he's a champion any organization should be proud of. He dethroned the lightweight king and then dominated him in the rematch. And then he went to a draw with a guy that a lot of people thought would win the fight. The problem with all that though is that he's still so new to being a champ. When he beats Maynard (yes, I said WHEN) then he would move up on this list but to this point the other champs have one up' d him.

5. Jon Jones. He may not have defended his title yet (he hasn't had the chance to) but he just dominated arguably the best LHW in the history of the sport, and not only beat him but dominated him in every aspect of the fight and is the first person to make him him tap to strikes (Yes, we all saw it as much as it pains me to say it) or even come close to making him think about tapping to strikes. That alone puts him ahead of both Velasquez and Edgar. If this was about potential Jones could very well be number 1 on this list. Ask me again in a year and we'll see how high he jumps.

4. Dominick Cruz. To this point he's beaten every bantamweight put in front of him, and that includes the top fighters in the division (Benavidez, Bowles and Scotty Jorgensen). It'll be interesting to see how he fairs against the only man to ever defeat him in Urijah Faber. If he can avenge that loss it will definitely boost his career and popularity in the ufc but I still wouldn't see him any higher on this list with the likes of the top 3...

3. Jose Aldo. At this point in the list we're talking about the elite of the elite. They can very well be switched around at will but I'll leave that for others to debate. Aldo came into the WEC and instantly made his mark. He's a ko machine and it doesn't matter how good you are, Aldo is going to make you look like an amatuer (just ask Faber). With wins over Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Manny Gamburyan and Cub Swanson there is just no stopping this guy. He has his hands full with Hominick but I mean the question of this fight isn't if Hominick can pull the upset, it's how long can Hominick last...

2. Georges St.Pierre. The list of fighters on this guy's resume is probably the most impressive I've ever seen. The only reason I have him as number 2 is because he has had those stumbles in championship fights before (even though he's avenged them both very impressively.) Let's think about this for a second. Matt Hughes (2x) Matt Serra, BJ Penn, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy and most recently, Josh Koscheck. I mean who else is there?

1. Anderson Silva. And here we go, number 1. It's hard to argue against a guy that has never been defeated in the octagon and has fought some of the best there is while setting ufc records. He's had some questionable title defenses and performances but he still came through every single time. He's beaten Hendo, Sonnen, Franklin (2x), Maia, Marquardt, Belfort and others. Like GSP he's beaten almost everyone there is to beat.

And there we go. Thanks SpicyMeatball, that was fun.

1/2. Anderson Silva & GSP - Honestly, I think a good argument can be made for either guy. I think GSP has fought the better opponents. I think he has great gameplans. He is probably the most well rounded fighter in MMA. He is the prototype. The mold from which all MMA fighters should be made. But Silva is off the charts. He is probably the most amazing MMA fighter ever. Almost seems inconsistent at times by destroying great fighters, while lesser fighters last longer, or go the distance. We finally saw a kink in his armor thanks to Sonnen. But the fact that he seems to do things half assed at times and still dominates like he does may be enough in and of itself to get him the #1 spot.

3. Aldo - He is dominating in a subpar division. But I think he would dominate just the same if the division were super stacked. I may be jumping the gun, but to me, he's almost like the second coming of Anderson Silva, sans the theatrics.

4. Cain Velasquez - I believe he is one of the most well rounded fighters in MMA. He's like Fedor on steroids and speed. He is dangerous, and honestly, better than most of the fighters in the division no matter where the fight takes place. His durability is still a question mark for me. I'm sure he is very durable, but will it be enough against JDS or Carwin?

5. Jon Jones - He is in a similar spot to Cain Velasquez. I think he has a better shot at holding on to the title long term, and has been just as dominant in winning. But I give Cain more points for his win over Lesnar than I do Jones for beating Shogun. Even though some aruge that Lesnar had already been "exposed", he is still a beast, and probably still one of, if not the most intimidating fighter in MMA. Despite his shortcomings in the striking department, his ground game is just as dangerous as anyone in MMA. Meanwhile, Shogun, as good as he can be, and despite where he ranks all-time, is still inconsistent and notorious for not being 100%. I'm not trying to downplay Jones amazing win, or make excuses for Shogun. But there is a reason that everytime he fights, we ask, "which Shogun will show up?"

6. Frankie Edgar - The fact that he beat BJ back to back, then went to a draw with Maynard is impressive. I'd consider putting him above both Jones and Cain. But I still think the division is wide open. I believe we will be experiencing a period of parity in the LW division. That is, unless Gray Maynard is able to secure a Jon Fitch-esque hold over the division. I could be wrong. Edgar could end up running the table. i just don't think he will.

7. Dominick Cruz - Not only does he lose points for being in a subpar division, but unlike Aldo, I don't think he will dominate. If he gets through Faber and Torres, my opinion of him will be increased, but I need to see that actually happen first. I mean no disrespect to him. I just don't think he is the top fighter in that division unless he proves me wrong.

1 and 2. Anderson Silva and GSP - Tied up until 1 beats the other.

3. Jon Jones - Big fan, a bit biased, but I like him more than Aldo and he will hold that belt for a while.

4. Jose Aldo - Great fighter, and I want to see him hold that belt for a solid 2 years or so.

5. Cain Velasquez - UNDEFEATED, and will lose to Dos Santos

6. Frankie Edgar - This guy has the heart of a lion, and if Cruz or Aldo moved up to fight him, he would give them a run for the money and probably beat Cruz. Aldo, I am not so sure. I think Maynard might take the win the third time around. He is above Cruz because he beat BJ Penn twice decisively and Cruz hasnt made his UFC Debut yet.

7. Dominick Cruz - Until the second Faber fight, if he wins, I will put him above Frankie. Nuff Said.

Silva is No. 1