That is how long Anderson Silva’s reign atop the Sherdog.com pound-for-pound rankings lasted. In October 2007, “The Spider” assumed the throne from Fedor Emelianenko, on the back of the Russian’s sagging competition and Silva’s crushing middleweight dominance, punctuated by his second violent stoppage win over former UFC champion Rich Franklin.
Now, Georges St. Pierre takes the mantle in a similar situation.
It’s been a curious 2010 campaign for Silva, who turned in a polarizing performance against Demian Maia in April that made many question his dedication to the sport. In August, with a rib injury, he pulled out a miraculous, thrilling victory over rival Chael Sonnen in the fifth round of their middleweight classic, but even in victory, the dominance he’d exhibited over the last four years was called into question.
The year has been kinder to St. Pierre. Though he, like Silva, is not immune to criticism -- St. Pierre's cautious, tactical approach and four decision wins in his last five outings have caused considerable rancour -- Canada's MMA hero continues to thrash elite foes in one of MMA's deepest weight classes with startling efficiency. St. Pierre hasn't approached losing a round in over three years, since his first fight with Josh Koscheck in August 2007. When they rematched at UFC 124 on Dec. 11, St. Pierre destroyed Koscheck, almost with his jab alone, and perhaps cemented his status as the greatest welterweight ever.
Heading into 2011, the major question isn't whether it's St. Pierre or Silva that's No. 1, but simply whether or not we'll ever get them in the Octagon against one another in a once-in-a-lifetime match-up.
St. Pierre's welterweight title reign has earned him some flak for
being conservative and safety-first, not showing the shocking
dynamism that marked, for instance, his second encounter with Matt
Hughes. However, in the last three-and-a-half years since his major
misstep against Matt Serra,
St. Pierre has positively crushed every opponent in his way,
whether or not the judges were needed. He has beaten three fighters
-- Jon
Fitch, B.J. Penn and
Thiago
Alves -- who have appeared on this very list in that timespan.
Better still, he has done it while pitching a complete shutout
against those fighters. St. Pierre's level of consummate domination
of fighters in a division as great as welterweight is shocking, if
not thrilling. Wilder still, he has the chance to expand on that
resume heading into 2011, as his next welterweight defense will
come against another pound-for-pound entrant on this list, Jake
Shields.
Undeniably the UFC’s greatest middleweight and arguably its most
dominant champion of all-time, Silva has notched an unprecedented
seven consecutive defenses of his 185-pound crown. In his latest,
at UFC
117, “The Spider” pulled out an almost inconceivable
come-from-behind win, submitting Chael Sonnen
with a triangle armbar after four and a half rounds of being
dominated by the wrestler. On the mend from a rib injury, which he
carried into that bout, the Brazilian already has a pair of
challengers queued up for his return. On Feb. 5, Silva will meet
countryman Vitor
Belfort at UFC
126. Should that defense prove successful, he would next face
Yushin
Okami in a rematch of their infamous 2006 bout, which the
Japanese fighter won by disqualification.
Aldo has quickly cemented himself as the sport's premiere
featherweight. He would've had the chance to consolidate that rep
further on Jan. 1 at UFC
125, where he was scheduled to take on fast-rising prospect
Josh
Grispi. However, an ongoing back injury forced Aldo out of the
fight, and into rehab. When Aldo returns in the second quarter of
2011, he may return to a richer, more opportunistic 145-pound class
in which to build his resume, as the division's young prospects
continue to emerge and more established 155-pounders now eye the
lighter division after its import into the UFC.
On Aug. 28 in Boston, Edgar proved that no matter the controversy
surrounding his April UFC title win against B.J. Penn, he is
definitely the sport’s top lightweight. For five rounds, Edgar was
the superior fighter, ahead of “The Prodigy” every step of the way,
standing and on the ground. However, in spite of two massive wins,
fans are unlikely to be too taken with Edgar’s accomplishments
until he gets through his next challenger -- Gray
Maynard. The only man to beat Edgar, Maynard outpointed “The
Answer” in April 2008.
While not one to cause a stir with outrageous interviews or in-cage
performance, Fitch has proven a polarizing figure due to his
wrestling-based, results-oriented style of fighting. The former
Purdue Boilermaker’s resume speaks for itself, however, with 13
wins and only one defeat inside the UFC’s incredibly deep,
super-competitive 170-pound division. The
American Kickboxing Academy standout’s path will not get any
easier in February, as he faces former two-division UFC champion
B.J. Penn at UFC
127 in Sydney, Australia.
Rua is long removed from his extraordinary banner year in 2005,
where he stampeded over four top-10 fighters in a matter of months.
Yet, with a crushing knockout of Lyoto
Machida in May, "Shogun" is on the road to rebuilding his
resume. Now having overcome yet another injury -- his ongoing
nemesis -- Rua is scheduled to make his first UFC light heavyweight
title defense on March 19 at UFC
128. Better still, it's against former champion Rashad
Evans -- another entrant on this list -- a bout that of high
relevance and merit that would be another major addition to his hit
list.
Over the last five years, Shields has taken out elite opposition in
two weight classes, emerging as a top-five fighter at both 170 and
185 pounds. In spite of an often straightforward, nuts-and-bolts
style of top-position grappling, Shields has emerged as one of the
sport's most accomplished competitors in recent memory. However, he
has the chance to improve his already outstanding résumé in an even
more dramatic way: with Georges St. Pierre's Dec. 11 triumph over
Josh Koscheck, Shields is now set for a showdown with "Rush" in
2011, offering him a chance at potential welterweight
immortality.
A star standout in one of the historically richest divisions in
MMA, Evans is a great light heavyweight, but not the greatest.
He'll finally have the chance to rectify that situation and regain
the UFC 205-pound title on March 19 at UFC 128 in Newark, N.J.,
when he finally gets to take on "Shogun" for 205-pound supremacy.
Quite simply, with or without a title on the line, any time there's
a chance to beat another pound-for-pound entrant; it's a high
stakes affair with major legacial upside.
Melendez was holding out hope of a New Year's Eve rematch with
Shinya
Aoki, Japan's preeminent lightweight who Melendez dominated
from bell-to-bell in the Strikeforce cage this past April. With an
Aoki bout for Dec. 31 failing to materialize, Melendez is in no
clear direction heading into 2011, though Strikeforce still has a
respectable contingent of lightweight opponents. However, Melendez,
not unlike his teammate Nick Diaz, has
already started eyeing scale-shifting superfights, recently calling
out welterweight thriller Paul Daley and
angling for a potential 165-pound catch-weight bout against the
standout welterweight next year.
Cruz's Dec. 16 performance against a tough, rock solid challenger
like Scott
Jorgensen was simply masterful. Cruz knocked off his third
consensus top-five bantamweight of 2010, showing a more evolved
version of his hyperactive combination punching and fantastic
takedowns. However, Cruz's biggest test -- and his biggest chance
to gain ground in the pound-for-pound world -- will come in 2011 if
a bout with former featherweight ruler Urijah Faber
materializes. The bout represents not only Cruz's biggest test to
date, but given the division's relocation to the UFC and Faber's
star power, the biggest 135-pound bout MMA has seen thus far.