Mixed Martial Arts is a sport that demonstrates to the whole world the limitless possibilities of untapped human potential. With that said, here are the pound for pound top ten fighters of this invigorating combat sport:

10. Mauricio Rua (18-4): "Shogun" probably should have gotten a win in his fight with Machida, but that's already ancient history. With that said, he's an accomplished and versatile fighter that's looking forward for some redemption from his supposed conqueror. He has seemingly solved the Machida puzzle, and by all accounts, he'll do so more convincingly in the rematch.



9. Jose Aldo (16-1):The current featherweight champion of the world, he is one of the most exciting prospects in the entire sport as of now. Isn't much of a prospect anymore because he is the champion of WEC's featherweight division. For a fighter who has a black belt he sure knows how to knock people out. With 6 straight stoppage against some of the best featherweights in Cub Swanson, Alexander Nogueira, Mike Brown. He has some amazing stand up that remind many of the former chute boxe fighters who use to dominate Pride. He has all to become one of the sports great, he will probably move higher if he defeats another great featherweight, Urijah Faber.




8. Gegard Mousasi (27-2-1): The former Dream Middleweight Champion and current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion has more to his fight resume than just belts and titles. "The Dreamcatcher" is the real deal because he was able to get a veteran's record at a young age of twenty-four; now that's impressive!




7. Shinya Aoki (22-4): This ridiculously flexible lightweight proves to the world that an effective marriage of Jiu-Jitsu and Judo in one fighter can produce one of the most dangerous submission experts around. His dominance in his division just underscores that point even further. "The Flying Submission Expert" looks forward to more submission clinics in the years to come.



6. Miguel Torres (37-2): Even with his recent loss to Bryan Bowles, this submission machine remains one of the best fighters in the sport because of his impressive win streaks and how far apart his losses were. Also, he has good striking, wrestling but prefers his ground game.


5. BJ Penn (15-5-1): Compared to many other MMA fighters in this list, Penn's record doesn't look all that impressive. Regardless, the manner in which he wins his fights still proves his mettle as a pound-for-pound contender. Case in point, he absolutely destroyed Diego Sanchez in a performance that should be considered as one of the best in UFC history.



4. Lyoto Machida (16-0): "The Dragon" may have recently won a controversial decision over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, but a win is still a win, and it was a very close war anyway. This karate expert has shown that there's more to MMA than just aggression; he has proven that elusiveness and unerring precision will go a long way in winning any given match.



3. Georges St. Pierre (19-2): Known as GSP or "Rush" by his fans, the UFC's premiere welterweight champion has earned his keep with his bread-and-butter takedown game. Koscheck and Fitch aren't even in league with him, especially considering his background as a karate and BJJ black belt holder as well as his Muay Thai and wrestling experience.


2. Anderson Silva (25-4): Nicknamed "The Spider", Silva's striking game is among the best in the sport, and he's a force to be reckoned with in the UFC's middleweight division. By amassing seven KOs and eight TKOs over his illustrious career, he has garnered an intimidating 60% total KO percentage.




1. Fedor Emelianenko (31-1-1): Fedor is the embodiment of everything fans love about the MMA sport. He hasn't lost an MMA-style match-up since 2000, and his one loss was due to cuts. What's more, he has dominated the majority of his competition time and time again.

What is pound for pound?

MMA pound for pound is a term used to describe the sport of mixed martial arts that uses weight as basis for the fight match-ups. Unlike entertainment wrestling where there are handicap matches in the world of mixed martial arts weight is the basis, not popularity.

In pound for pound fighting fighters are weighted evenly prior to a fight. Uneven weight during weigh-ins will mean rescheduling of the fight or total cancellation of the match-up. This is since the MMA wants to play it fair and square to create a fight that has less controversy unlike other sports. Aside from the fact that fighters are weighed prior to a fight, fighters are also categorized according to their weight division.

Pound for pound fighting is the best way to fight at any combat sport especially on fields like mixed martial arts where fighters use a variety of fighting styles like BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, Sambo, and others like free style fighters. With these so much fighting styles clashing in the sport weight is the only way to keep this sport fair and has equal chances of winning any bout.

For all those combat sport enthusiast I urge you to support and watch only pound for pound fighting and say no to handicap match-ups. Get your daily dose of MMA new on MMA world right here on: www.itoon.org

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Last Updated On - 6th March 2010