UFC 168 Recap

Legs are NOT supposed to do that.

When the greatest fighter of all time finally loses for the first time, the rematch will obviously be one of the biggest fights to schedule.  Little did the UFC know that it was the less anticipated rematch between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate that would steal the show.  These two women stole the show on one of the most stacked and anticipated UFC cards of all time.  Also, if you had told me the second Anderson Silva vs Chris Weidman fight would be more shocking than the first I would call you an idiot.  However, it was.  Anderson Silva lost the rematch in one of the strangest, most disgusting, and tragic endings to a fight (and maybe a career) that I have ever seen.  Here is my quick recap of the night and what I think is on deck for some of this card's fighters:

Facebook prelims:

• Robbie Peralta was controlled for 2 rounds by Estevan Payan's wrestling, but pulled off a 3rd round comeback by finishing Payan via KO.
• William Macario looked outstanding winning a decision against Bobby Voelker with precision and power in his standup.  Voelker is going nowhere despite his 0-3 UFC record since Dana White loves his fighting spirit.

FS1 prelims:

• John Howard won a decision over Siyar Bahadurzada largely due to Siyar having nothing in his gas tank.
• Dennis Siver bounced back from a loss to Cub Swanson with a hard-fought victory over Manny Gamburyan.  Siver upset me by throwing no spinning kicks, but he still looked great.
• Michael Johnson looks better and better ever fight.  The only way to follow up a decision win over Joe Lauzon is to knock out a very durable Gleison Tibau.  Right when Tibau is looking like a contender he gets knocked back to earth.  Johnson has nothing but big fights on the horizon after 2 very impressive wins in a row.  Maybe Gray Maynard is on deck for him, since he has fallen from title contention to gatekeeping.  I think it would be a great test for both Maynard and Johnson.
• Uriah Hall may have retired Chris "the Crippler" Leben on Saturday.  He stunned him late in the first round and did not get the finish only because Chris was "saved by the bell."  (or so we thought)  In between rounds Chris said he was done and he was clearly out of it.  Leben has got to call it retirement because he doesn't have anything left in his fight game.  Thanks for the KO of Wanderlei and the Fight of the Night against Akiyama.  That is how I will remember your great career.

Pay-per view:

• Dustin Poirier beat Diego Brandao quickly with his fast pace, aggressive style, and perfect technique.  This dude is a real stud at 145 despite losing to the Korean Zombie and Cub Swanson.  Give him a rematch with the Zombie and I guarantee it will be Poirier who gets the win.  As for Brandao, get your life together and then we will talk about your next fight.
• Jim Miller submitted a blackbelt in the first round, no big deal.  Fabricio Camoes was a nobody before this fight and stays that way after.  I do think Miller was snubbed of Submission of the Night honors though.  Next for Jim should be a rematch with Nate Diaz or Gray Maynard.  If not a rematch, then give him TJ Grant or Edson Barboza.  There are a lot of options for Jim Millers who is a borderline top 10 fighter right now.
• Travis Browne is for real.  I have always loved this kid at heavyweight to be a contender.  Stop doubting me, stop doubting him.  Beating Josh Barnett is no small feat.  Neither is beating Overeem or Gonzaga.  He has beat all three of them in a row and will likely be facing Fabricio Werdum for a shot at Cain Velasquez.  His takedown defense and devastating striking is enough to strike fear in everyone in the division.  Not to mention he is the perfect style of fighter to beat the seemingly unbeatable Cain Velasquez.  Mark my words, Travis Browne will be a UFC champion in 2014 so long as Cain comes back from injury.  Browne is legit.  As for Barnett, he has nothing but huge fights for himself despite the setback.  Maybe Barnett vs Bigfoot or Barnett vs Hunt?  He beat Hunt in 2006 before Hunt knew what a submission was.  The rematch could generate some interest and test if Hunt is truly ready to be a contender.
• As I mentioned in my introduction, Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey stole the show winning Fight of the Night on a stacked card.  Oh and Ronda took home Submission of the Night too.  These two girls hate each other and sportsmanship still did not exist after their war.   Tate looked outstanding on the feet compared to previous fights and her submission defense was on point.  Her flaw was that she kept shooting for takedowns and Rousey would simply use that judo experience to flip her over and take a dominant position.  Surviving her way to round 3 is a victory in itself for Tate, but Rousey still reigns supreme over the women's bantamweight division.  She is already scheduled to fight Sara McMann is February which should be an outstanding fight.  Rousey will actually have a wrestling disadvantage against McMann but I am sure she has some tricks up her sleeve.  Both women are Olympic medalists so it should be a fantastic fight.  I love McMann and think she has the potential to beat Rousey, but I would prefer to see her have another fight for more experience prior to fighting for the belt.  I do think Alexis Davis was snubbed of a title shot since Davis has 2 UFC wins and has beat more stern competition in Liz Carmouche. Look for Davis vs Jessica Eye in a top contender fight in the near future.  As for Miesha Tate, anyone is a potential opponent for her next fight.  Having lost 2 in a row I think they give her a break and have her fight an easier opponent such as Bethe Correia or Amanda Nunes.  As a consolation, Tate has won 2 Fight of the Night bonuses despite her 2 losses.
• In the most anticipated rematch in MMA, Anderson Silva broke his leg over Chris Weidman's knee.  There really isn't anything more to say.  He lost twice to Weidman and yet everyone thinks both fights are flukes.  I have to say that even if both endings were flukes, Weidman has been dominant in every minute of both fights and easily has won every round he has completed with Silva.  Were the endings strange?  Sure.  But I think the Weidman era of the middleweight division has begun.  With Vitor, Jacare, Lyoto, and other monsters waiting for their shot at the title, the UFC has plenty of awesome options for title fights in Weidman's future.  Don't be sad that Silva is done as champion and maybe done forever, be happy that the next wave of contenders has a new guy to gun for.  The middleweight division is more talented than ever before, even without Anderson on top.

My final note is that I predicted the entire pay-per view results correct!

Picks entering event: 184/315

Picks during event: 8/11

Pick totals for 2013: 192/326=59%

For my first year I am content with this percentage but I am looking to be between 65-75% in 2014.

Brutal Sports Awards:

Beatdown of the Night: William Macario

Sketchies Decision of the Night: None (GOOD JOB VEGAS!)

Upset of the Night: Travis Browne (not in my opinion but in Vegas's opinion)

Three Stars:

1. Travis Browne
2. William Macario
3. Dustin Poirier

UFC 168

Anderson Silva as the challenger actually
engaged in the stare-down properly.

The wait is finally over.  Debatably the biggest fight and biggest event the UFC has ever put on is finally here.  UFC 168 will put on the rematch between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva as well as the second meeting between rivals Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate.  There is also a hugely important heavyweight fight between Travis Browne and Josh Barnett as well.  Grab a seat at the bar early or pony up the money to buy this pay-per view, it is going to be a dandy.

Facebook Prelims: 6:30 pm

• Robbie Peralta does enough to squeak by Estevan Payan and win a decision
• Bobby Voelker gets his first UFC win over William Macario

Fox Sports 1 Prelims: 8 pm

• Siyar Bahadurzada seems to be talented enough to get it done over John Howard
• Dennis Siver via spinning back-kick knockout over Manvel Gamburyan
• Gleison Tibau over Michael Johnson via decision
• Uriah Hall has all the potential in the world, he just needs to find that killer inside him.  I think Chris Leben the kind of guy that forces the issue which will awake the beast that Uriah Hall is.  Leben retires after suffering a devastating KO loss to Hall

Pay-per view: 10 pm

• Dustin Poirier is one of the most talented and most exciting fighters in the UFC and at age 24 could be a serious contender at featherweight.  Diego Brandao is also young and talented but has issues with his gas tank in some fights.  He missed weight by a ton and seems unprepared for a very tough fight.  I already was very confident in Poirier, but after the weigh in chalked Brandao up as 7 pounds overweight I KNOW Poirier will win the fight.  He is a beast and he is angry.  Poirier via 1st round TKO from hell.
• Jim Miller has dropped considerably in the lightweight rankings after dropping 3 of his last 5 fights, so the UFC gave him a free win by putting him against Fabricio Camoes.  Interesting enough, Camoes and Anderson Silva made their MMA debuts the same night and it took Anderson 25 minutes to beat Camoes in their 2nd fights of the night back in 1997.
• Travis Browne has his work cut out for him when he faces Josh Barnett in a very important heavyweight fight.  Josh Barnett has only been 11-1 since 2006 with his only loss coming to Daniel Cormier, but his only impressive win in my book was over a "washed up" Frank Mir.  Travis has recently defeated Alistair Overeem and Gabriel Gonzaga in impressive fashion but still gets no respect.  I think Travis Browne pulls off yet another stunning victory as the underdog and not only beats, but finishes a very durable Josh Barnett on Saturday night.  The winner of this fight should fight Fabricio Werdum with a title shot at stake regardless to who wins.
• Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate have a very well-documented rivalry dating back to their Strikeforce days.  Many people are on the Tate bandwagon because they hated Ronda as a coach on TUF.  It really doesn't matter what people think of either girl because Ronda is going to win by armbar in the first round yet again.  As much as I would like Miesha to win, I know a mismatch when I see one.  It will be entertaining as hell despite the predictability of the result.  And hey, if it is not an armbar or if Miesha somehow wins it could be the new upset of the year instead of Weidman defeating Silva.
• Chris Weidman vs Anderson Silva 2, what else needs to be said?  The first time these two fought I came so close to picking Weidman but I just couldn't do it.  I knew he was a good wrestler but his striking is actually sneakily strong.  I have to say I see this fight going similarly to the first fight between Anderson and Chael Sonnen.  I think Weidman ignores Silva's antics and takes the fight to the ground early and often.  The only difference between Sonnen and Weidman is the submission savvy possessed by Weidman as well as power in his punches.  Because of this, there will be no submission comeback for Anderson.  Also, Weidman will stun him and eventually finish him with punches and elbows to retain his fight.  Weidman via 4th round TKO.

2013 has been an amazing year for the UFC and MMA in general.  My pick totals heading into the final event of the year stand at 184/315.  Hopefully I will add to that before I reset for 2014.  Thanks for reading an enjoy the fights!

Facebook!

UFC on Fox 9 Recap

Joe Benavidez waking up from a KO
loss for the first time in his career.

An injury heavy card did not provide a ton of finishes, but it was incredibly entertaining anyway.  Also, the one knockout that happened was the one we least expected.  Here are the quick results and some opinions from yours truly:

Prelims:

• Alptekin Ozkilic shows he is a legit threat at flyweight after beating Darren Uyenoyama via decision.
• Abel Trujillo beats Roger Bowling (debatably again) with a dominant performance start to finish.  He has some serious power for a lightweight.
• Sam Stout got the better of Cody McKenzie in a goofy fight that ended with Stout winning all 3 rounds.
• Also winning 30-27 on all three judges scorecards was Zach Makovsky.  By beating veteran Scott Jorgensen, Makovsky made a huge statement.  Him and Ozkilic are new flyweight threats.
• Bobby Green had a speed advantage that gave him the edge in a close decision against Pat Healy.  Green is fighting Trujillo next while should really test Green's all around game.  I must say I was very irritated by his arrogance and disrespect for Healy.  Pat has dropped 2 in a row but he always puts on a battle and should not be dropped by the UFC anytime soon.  He's one of the most relentless fighters I have ever seen.
• Edson Barboza was tagged early by Danny Castillo and beaten up for the entire first round only to come back and win the next 2 and the fight.  Barboza got the majority decision but I agree with Dana White and 1 of the 3 judges that the fight should have been scored a draw.  The first round was so dominant Castillo should have won 10-8.
• Ryan LaFlare pulled of another impressive win by winning a decision over Court McGee.  He is a rising star at welterweight.  Maybe him vs Thatch would make sense for his next fight.  Both are newcomers who have made emphatically impressive UFC debuts.

Fox main card:

• Joe Lauzon won a decision for the first time in his UFC career over Mac Danzig.  Not the typical exciting Lauzon fight but an important win.  Danzig is likely gone with 3 consecutive losses and only 3 wins in his last 11 fights.
• Chad Mendes looked amazing early, tagging Nik Lentz and nearly getting the finish.  However, he was battling an illness and ran out of gas after the first round.  He used takedowns and lay n' pray to finish off the decision with a win.  I could tell from the start of the second that Mendes looked off because he usually has endless cardio and is not the kind of guy to use wrestling to lay on top of guys and win a decision.  I do not believe he should be penalized because of this.  He should get the winner of Aldo vs Lamas for his next fight.  However, Mendes is usually very active and will likely not wait for that title shot.  Look for him to win much more impressively in early 2014.
• Urijah Faber has been a legend of the sport seemingly forever.  His win over Michael McDonald may have been his most impressive performance yet.  Faber tagged him a couple of times, beating McDonald at his own game.  Once rocked, Faber hit McDonald over and over again before eventually grabbing his signature guillotine choke.  He took home Submission of the Night, a hugely impressive win, and likely cemented himself as the next guy to fight for the bantamweight title.  Faber and Mendes both will likely fight the UFC 169 winners for the belt next.
• Demetrious Johnson has only lost to 2 men, Brad Pickett and Dominick Cruz.  Joe Benavidez has only lost to 2 men, Demetrious Johnson and Dominick Cruz.  Benavidez now has 4 losses split between those 2 men after Saturday night.  I have never picked DJ to win a single title fight yet, and he keeps proving me and everyone else wrong.  Ever fight he adds a new trick that we have never seen him use before.  Against Benavidez, that trick was power.  Joe looked comfortable and was dominating the striking and wrestling exchanges for the fight minute and a half.  I was thinking to myself, "wow Benavidez looks great!"  Then, BOOM.  DJ timed a right hand perfectly and Benavidez's night was over.  Joe had never been knocked down before in the UFC or WEC.  DJ knocked him not just down, but out cold.  It was by far the most impressive win of DJ's career and I will never doubt him again.  Next for DJ will likely be the winner of Ali Bagautinov and John Lineker.  Benavidez should fight Darrel Montague, Brad Pickett, Scott Jorgensen, or John Dodson next just because those would all be awesome.  By the way, I just said I would never doubt DJ again but I lied.  If he fights Brad Pickett again I have to take "One Punch" to beat DJ.  Pickett is and always will be my boy whether he is fighting at bantamweight or flyweight.

Picks entering event: 184/315

Picks for event: 6/11

Pick totals: 190/326=58.3%

FACEBOOK

UFC on Fox 9

These 3 Team Alpha Male stars are in
the top 3 of their respective divisions.

The UFC is heading to Sacramento, the backyard of Team Alpha Male, to put on one of the better fight cards of the year. This card has been a train-wreck for injuries but it is still stacked.  It will be a huge day for Team Alpha Male who has 4 fighters on the card and the flyweight division which will host 3 fights, including the main event.  Here are my predictions:

Prelims:

• Darren Uyenoyama submission win over Alptekin Ozkilic. (rear-naked choke)
• Abel Trujillo vicious KO win over Roger Bowling
• Sam Stout decision win over Cody McKenzie
• Scott Jorgensen via guillotine choke over Zach Makovsky
• Pat Healy pours 3 rounds of ass-kicking on Bobby Green to win a decision, unless Green gets another win by groin kicks....
• Edson Barboza TKO win over Danny Castillo, who does not get Team Alpha Male on the board early.
• Court McGee decision over Ryan LaFlare

Main card on Fox:

• Joe Lauzon armbar win over Mac Danzig
• Chad Mendes has personal issues with Nik Lentz.  It will not end well for Nik.  Mendes via KO in under a minute.
• Urijah Faber in a non title fight will always be my pick.  Even though Michael McDonald impresses me immensely every time he is in the cage, I cannot pick against the California Kid in his own backyard.
• Joe Benavidez will take the belt in the rematch with DJ.  He has improved leaps and bounds since the first fight.  I know I am now 0-3 picking against "Mighty Mouse" but I am taking my chances and picking him to lose yet again.

Invicta FC 7, WSOF 7, and Hunt vs Bigfoot

Barb Honchak is a rising star in WMMA.

This weekend held many MMA events worth noting.  From Australia, the UFC lead things off and did so with a bang.  Mark Hunt and Antonia "Bigfoot" Silva put on a heavyweight fight for the ages.  While I agree that this was one of the best heavyweight fights of all time, I do not think it belongs in the Fight of the Year conversation.  MMA is more of a "What have you done for me lately?" sport than any other major sport.  People have short memories at times.  I think this fight was boring up until the mid point of the 3rd round.  However, the fight was incredible down the stretch.  I do not think it was nearly as exciting as Melendez/Sanchez, Alvarez/Chandler 2, Wanderlei Silva/Stann, Gustafsson/Jones, or Grice/Bermudez though.  Greatest heavyweight fight?  Maybe.  But not even close to Fight of the Year in my books.  I actually think start to finish that Hunt vs JDS was more entertaining.

Also on that card, Shogun Rua put himself back on the map with a sick KO of the Night against James Te-Huna.  Te-Huna is fun to watch but is now 0-2 in his home country of Australia and will likely never live up to his potential.  Shogun now has options at 205 and 185, but personally I like him fighting at light heavyweight.  I say a rematch with Dan Henderson is in order.  If not that, maybe he would be the perfect guy to take on Rich Franklin in what will be the last fight of Ace's career.  Shogun has never been in a snoozer of a fight so he can continue to be on the big stage so long as he wants to keep fighting.

Ryan Bader had one of the more vicious beatdowns of recent memory with his 1-sided whooping of Anthony Perosh (who needs to retire).  Soa Palelei also made a statement, finishing Pat Barry in the first round.  Barry plans to drop to 205 in the future.  Clint Hester and Dylan Andrews had a fun fight until the shoulder of Andrews popped for the 2nd time in as many fights.  This time he had to stop because of it and took the loss.  Lastly, Bethe Correia won a split decision over Julie Kedzie.  Kedzie is a women's MMA pioneer but she came up short in 2 controversial split decisions in her UFC career.  She retired from fighting saying she has more to offer as a coach than a fighter.  Takeya Mizugaki also had a notable win over Nam Phan on the prelims.

Predictions for UFC FN 33: 4/7

If you are in to the Women's MMA scene, Invicta FC is the organization for you.  They have put on a bunch of great cards and have a plethora of stars on the rise.  In case you missed it, the entire event is available to watch for free online HERE.  I highly recommend you at least check it out.  Carla Esparza's first title defense was cancelled but the 2 other title fights were entertaining and a hugely important fight between Tecia Torres and the always sexy and entertaining Felice Herrig stole the show.  Barb looked great in defending her belt in the main event and Murphy won the vacant 135 pound crown.  Worth noting, Zoila Gurgel was upset by Vanessa Porto in an entertaining scrap as well.  Tecia Torres got called out by Carla Esparza following her win.  It is unknown whether Torres will get a title shot next or if the originally scheduled title fight between Esparza and Claudia Gadelha is still on for a different event.

Predictions for Invicta FC 7: 2/4

WSOF 7 was also a decent card.  I put these events in order of how entertaining they were, so WSOF was last.  However, partial amputee Nick Newell yet again won with a first round submission.  I said he should fight Justin Gaethje for the WSOF Lightweight title next, which he will likely do.  I believe Gaethje has a title fight scheduled with somebody else, but I assume he will win again and him vs Newell should generate a lot of interest.  Jesse Taylor won a snoozer to advance to the vacant WSOF middleweight title fight.  Whoever wins between him and Branch will likely get completely destroyed by Yushin Okami.  Lastly, Georgi Karakhanyan won the vacant featherweight title against Lance Palmer.  While this is a good achievement, he is not on the same level as the top 2 featherweights in Bellator, let alone any of the top 10 UFC featherweights.  This division needs more competition.  WSOF really only has a good lightweight and welterweight division currently.

Predictions for WSOF 7: 3/3

Weekend totals: 9/14
2013 totals: 184/315=58.4%

UFC Fight Night 33: Hunt vs Bigfoot

Rumor has it there have been Bigfoot sightings in Australia.

Although the event takes place on December 7th in Australia, it airs on December 6th in the States.  Weird right?  Here are my quick picks of the fights I feel are worthy of making a pick:

• Nick Ring decision over Caio Magalhaes
• Takeya Mizugaki wins a decision over Nam Phan
• Julie Kedzie decision over Bethe Correia
• Dylan Andrews KO win over Clint Hester
• Soa Palelei TKO win against Pat Barry
• Ryan Bader KO's Anthony Perosh
• Shogun Rua wins a split decision over James Te Huna in the Fight of the Night
• Mark Hunt KO of the Night against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva

A few side notes: Both Mark Hunt and Shogun Rua are underdogs.  Seems like an opportunity to make some cash.  I'm thinking at least 1 of them is good for a W.  There are other fights on this card but no reason to guess who is going to win between people making UFC debuts.  It is also unfortunate the Whittaker vs Melancon fight fell off this card, that had barnburner written all over it.

Also some outsider organization picks:
Invicta FC 7:
I am new into the women's mixed martial arts scene but I love what I have seen so far.  Carla Esparza is one of the cooler people in the sport and she is one of 3 women putting her belt on the line Saturday.  I am looking forward to watching some women scrap on Saturday night as much as I am looking forward to the UFC throw down for some Aussies.  Invicta FC 7 quick picks:

• Zoila Gurgel defeats Vanessa Porto via decision
• Felice Herrig defeats Tecia Torres via decision
• Lauren Murphy decision win over Miriam Nakamoto to become the vacant Invicta FC 135 lb champ.
• Carla Esparza defeats Claudia Gadelha via TKO in what should be a sick fight. For Invicta FC Strawweight (115 lbs) Championship
• Barb Honchak decision win over Leslie Smith to retain the Invicta FC Flyweight Championship

WSOF also is putting their 7th fight on this Saturday:

• Nick Newell stays undefeated with a rear-naked choke win against Sabah Fadai (he should fight Justin Gaethje for the WSOF Lightweight Title if he wins)
• Jesse Taylor submits Elvis Mutapcic to move on to the WSOF vacant middleweight title fight
• Georgi Karakhanyan takes home the vacant WSOF Featherweight Championship belt with a decision win over Lance Palmer

Again these are just a few picks, not the entire card obviously.  Should be some entertaining scraps to follow up Friday's (in the US) UFC card.

Jose Aldo: Pound for Pound King

Jose Aldo celebrating a win in the crowd of Brazilian fans.

I have thought for a long time that Jose Aldo was the best fighter on the planet.  It was tough for me to debate him being better than Anderson Silva on the pound for pound rankings prior to Silva's loss to Weidman, but I still thought he was better.  Anderson may be the most deadly, but he has holes in his wrestling and his big head.  Aldo is legitimately the perfect fighter.  Sure Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko had their stints as the best on the planet.  But it is truly the time we acknowledge Jose Aldo for what he has done and what he is now, the #1 pound for pound mixed martial artist on the planet today.

Let me first tell you about what Aldo does right, everything.  The most important aspect of mixed martial arts would have to be wrestling.  Aldo not only has one of the best takedown defenses in UFC history (92%), but he often takes down top guys as well.  So how about his striking?  Also according to the UFC website, he has only been hit by 26% of the strikes his opponents throw at him. And when he does get him, he has the chin to eat it.  He has never been knocked down or in any danger in any of his fights in the UFC or WEC.  How is his submission game?  Well when he entered the WEC he was supposed to take guys down and submit them, being a top level black belt in BJJ. However he would rather just knock people out with flying knees.  And whenever the fight is standing, your legs are being battered by his nasty leg kicks.  I would rather let Miguel Cabrera take a baseball bat and hit me in the thigh than have Jose Aldo kick my leg.  Only 7 of his 23 wins have gone to a decision, so he is as good of a finisher as it gets at 145 pounds.  Aldo really is the complete package when it comes to mastering every aspect of MMA.  The lone criticism of Jose Aldo is his cardio problems, but he has addressed that.  He used to have a tough time making weight and would be too drawn out, but he lost some body mass and has made his weight cut much easier.  He no longer has a cardio problem, and can go 5 rounds easily.

Ok so obviously he has the full MMA game down, but who has he beat?  Cub Swanson, Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Mark Hominick, Kenny Florian, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar and the Korean Zombie is quite the list of tough dudes, all of which Aldo has defeated.  Faber is one of the best of all time, Edgar is a former champ, and many other people on that list are top end fighters.  If Aldo is able to defeat Ricardo Lamas at UFC 169 in impressive fashion, it will be hard to argue he isn't the best pound for pound guy on the planet.

So let's take a look at the other guys on the pound for pound list:

• Jon Jones-While many people say he became the top fighter on the planet when Anderson Silva lost, I disagree.  The light heavyweight division is not what it once was.  Vitor Belfort may be a pound for pound top 10 guy, but Jones barely survived an armbar attempt in that fight which saw his belt nearly vanquished.  Oh and this Alexander Gustafsson guy really put the beating on Jones in his last fight.  It was Gustafsson's fight for the taking until a 4th round spinning back elbow rocked Alex and saved Jones from losing a 3rd round in that close 5 round title fight.  When you are barely squeaking through the competition it shows courage, it shows heart, but it does not show the dominance required to be the top of the pound for pound list.  you are #2 in my eyes my good sir.
• Anderson Silva- Prior to UFC 162, Anderson was the #1 guy, but he lost.  The best fighter on the planet does not lose.  Anderson has always been the best, but he got knocked out.  He can overtake Jones again if he redeems himself against Weidman, but until Aldo loses he is not the best in the world.
• GSP- I had GSP at #2 prior to me thinking GSP should have lost his belt at UFC 167.  Again, a sign of weakness.  Even if GSP did deserve to win that fight with Hendricks, he got his ass kicked.  Aldo has never taken a beating like GSP did at 167 or gotten rocked like GSP did against Carlos Condit at UFC 154.  GSP's days on this list may be numbered, so be happy he is still #4 Canadian fans.
• Chris Weidman-Right now he is a relatively unknown.  Many people know he beat Silva, but don't know much else about him.  There is basically a guy few have seen fight on top of the most talent rich division in the UFC.  If Weidman beats Anderson again, he probably jumps to #2 pound for pound.  If he beats Vitor, Machida, Jacare, Mousasi, and other title contenders at middleweight and defends his belt a bunch of times then he will jump to #1.  However, he is currently lucky to be ranked 5th and only time will tell if this kid is the real deal or just a guy who landed the luckiest punch in UFC history.
• Renan Barao- Jose Aldo's training partner is the current bantamweight interim champ also fighting at UFC 169.  If he unifies the belt and defeats Dominic Cruz it will be hard to argue he isn't a top 5 guy himself.  He is also arguably the closest thing to Aldo when it comes to a long unbeaten streak, but his list of victims is not the deadliest.  Yes I know McDonald, Faber, Pickett, Jorgensen, and Wineland are good, but they aren't unbeatable.  Barao is young and should continue climbing the ladder towards pound for pound glory.
• Cain Velasquez-Cain has made 1 mistake his entire career.  He was caught with 1 punch by Junior dos Santos that saw him lose his title only to come back better than ever.  He is looking unbeatable at heavyweight following the trilogy win with JDS.  Jones says he is coming to heavyweight to take Cain's belt soon, and Werdum, Barnett, Browne, and Hunt are in the mix too.  He is good.  But the heavyweight division relies too much on luck since 1 punch can end a fight.  This has never been the most talented division and I don't think it ever will.  While I would never put money against Cain, I assume he will get caught sometime soon.  He has been beaten and has been in danger many times.  Those are two things Aldo just doesn't do.
• Anthony Pettis- I saved Showtime for last to make a point.  He is the current lightweight champion who is on the shelf due to injury.  He pulled out of a fight with Jose Aldo because of an injury.  He is still talking about making the cut to featherweight to win a 2nd title.  Aldo has made hints that he plans on going to lightweight eventually as well.  I believe these two will cross paths and I think it will be that fight that proves once and for all that Aldo is the king of the Octagon.  I think Aldo would destroy Pettis with leg kicks and knock him out within the first 3 rounds.  I think other top lightweights like Benson Henderson, Gilbert Melendez, Josh Thompson, and TJ Grant would all be demolished by Aldo.  I think 90% of the welterweight division would lose to Aldo to be honest. Pettis is good, but he will be humbled by Aldo in the next year or two.

If you think I am wrong about Jose Aldo being better than every single fighter on the planet, leave a comment.  Good luck proving me wrong though, Aldo is the pound for pound king and will be for a long time.  When Lamas, Swanson, Mendes, Pettis, and other top guys are next on his list, my argument will only strengthen.

Like me on Facebook.

Oh and if you want some footage of Aldo's brilliance, click some links below:

Aldo vs Cub Swanson

Aldo winning the belt from Brown

Aldo whooping on Gamburyan

Awesome highlight reel of his WEC days

Faber's leg after the Aldo fight

Mark Hominick's face during Aldo fight

Updated Fighter Rankings (12/1/13)

Woodley, Koscheck, and the entire welterweight
division had a big shakeup after UFC 167.

I am currently working on an article to tell you all just why I have Jose Aldo #1 on the pound for pound rankings.  As for now, just enjoy the number in which I have all of your favorite MMA fighters ranked.  There actually is a method to my madness, even though sometimes it just seems like I chaotically change rankings.  November update:

Men's Pound for Pound:

1. Jose Aldo (1)
2. Jon Jones (3)
3. Anderson Silva (4)
4. Georges St. Pierre (2)
5. Chris Weidman (5)
6. Renan Barao (6)
7. Cain Velasquez (7)
8. Demetrious Johnson (8)
9. Johny Hendricks (14)
10. Vitor Belfort (13)
11. Dominick Cruz (9)
12. Anthony Pettis (10)
13. Joe Benavidez (11)
14. Urijah Faber (12)
15. Chad Mendes (15)
16. Junior Dos Santos (16)
17. Michael McDonald (17)
18. Benson Henderson (18)
19. Frankie Edgar (19)
20. Gilbert Melendez (20)

Heavyweight:

1. Cain Velasquez (1)
2. Travis Browne (2)
3. Daniel Cormier (3)
4. Fabricio Werdum (4)
5. Junior Dos Santos (5)
6. Mark Hunt (6)
7. Stipe Miocic (7)
8. Josh Barnett (8)
9. Antonio Silva (9)
10. Gabriel Gonzaga (10)
11. Stefan Struve (11)
12. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (12)
13. Frank Mir (13)
14. Alistair Overeem (14)
15.  Roy Nelson (15)
16. Ben Rothwell (16)
17. Brendan Schaub (17)
18. Cheick Kongo (18)
19. Shawn Jordan (20)
20. Vitaly Minakov (NR)

Dropping out: Alexander Volkov (19)

Light Heavywight:

1. Jon Jones (1)
2. Glover Teixeira (2)
3. Alexander Gustafsson (3)
4. Rashad Evans (5)
5. Phil Davis (4)
6. Gegard Mousasi (7)
7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (9)
8. Emanuel Newton (12)
9. Ryan Bader (10)
10. Rampage Jackson (15)
11. Dan Henderson (6)
12. Chael Sonnen (8)
13. Shogun Rua (11)
14. Attila Vegh (14)
15. James Te-Huna (16)
16. Jimi Manuwa (17)
17. Rafael Cavalcante (19)
18. Thiago Silva (18)
19. Muhammed Lawal (13)
20. Ryan Jimmo (20)

Middleweight:

1. Chris Weidman (1)
2. Anderson Silva (2)
3. Vitor Belfort (4)
4. Ronaldo Souza (3)
5. Lyoto Machida (5)
6. Tim Kennedy (7)
7. Michael Bisping (6)
8. Alexander Shlemenko (9)
9. Mark Munoz (8)
10. Yushin Okami (10)
11. Yoel Romero (20)
12. Thales Leites (14)
13. Tim Boetsch (11)
14. Luke Rockhold (12)
15. Cung Le (13)
16. Alan Belcher (15)
17. Francis Carmont (16)
18. Costa Philippou (17)
19. Rich Franklin (18)
20. Lorenz Larkin (NR)

Dropping out: Tom Watson (19)

Welterwight:

1. Georges St. Pierre (1)
2. Johny Hendricks (2)
3. Carlos Condit (4)
4. Matt Brown (5)
5. Robbie Lawler (9)
6. Dong Hyun Kim (6)
7. Rory Macdonald (3)
8. Jake Ellenberger (7)
9. Jake Shields (8)
10. Demian Maia (10)
11. Ben Askren (11)
12. Tyrone Woodley (16)
13. Martin Kampmann (13)
14. Nick Diaz (14)
15. Tarec Saffiedine (15)
16. Hector Lombard (17)
17. Steve Carl (18)
18. Josh Burkman (19)
19. Josh Koscheck (12)
20. Brandon Thatch (NR)

Dropping out: Jon Fitch (20)

Lightweight:

1. Anthony Pettis (1)
2. Gilbert Melendez (2)
3. Benson Henderson (4)
4. Josh Thomson (5)
5. TJ Grant (6)
6. Khabib Nurmagomedov (7)
7. Rafael dos Anjos (9)
8. Michael Chandler (3)
9. Eddie Alvarez (11)
10. Nate Diaz (13)
11. Donald Cerrone (14)
12. Pat Healy (10)
13. Jim Miller (12)
14. Gray Maynard (8)
15. Melvin Guillard (15)
16. Edson Barboza (16)
17. Joe Lauzon (18)
18. Tatsuya Kawajiri (19)
19. Norman Parke (20)
20. Rustam Khabilov (NR)

Dropping out: Jorge Masvidal (17)

Featherweight:

1. Jose Aldo (1)
2. Chad Mendes (2)
3. Cub Swanson (3)
4. Ricardo Lamas (4)
5. Frankie Edgar (5)
6. Dustin Poirier (6)
7. Conor McGregor (8)
8. Chan Sung Jung (9)
9. Shinya Aoki (10)
10. Erik Koch (11)
11. Dennis Siver (12)
12. Nik Lentz (13)
13. Paticio Freire (14)
14. Darren Elkins (15)
15. Clay Guida (16)
16. Dennis Bermudez (NR)
17. Daniel Straus (NR)
18. Pat Curran (7)
19. Hatsu Hioki (17)
20. Charles Oliveira (18)

Dropping out: Manvel Gamburyan (19), Jimy Hettes (20)

Bantamweight:

1. Dominick Cruz (1)
2. Renan Barao (2)
3. Urijah Faber (3)
4. Michael McDonald (4)
5. Rafael Assuncao (5)
6. Brad Pickett (6)
7. Eddie Wineland (7)
8. Scott Jorgensen (8)
9. T.J. Dillashaw (9)
10. Bibiano Fernandes (10)
11. Marlon Moraes (11)
12. Yuri Alcantara (13)
13. Mike Easton (14)
14. Takeya Mizugaki (15)
15. Tyson Nam (16)
16. Eduardo Dantas (17)
17. Joe Warren (18)
18. Erik Perez (19)
19. George Roop (12)
20. Bryan Caraway (20)

Flyweight:

1. Demetrious Johnson (1)
2. Joe Benavidez (2)
3. John Dodson (3)
4. John Lineker (4)
5. John Moraga (5)
6. Ian McCall (6)
7. Jussier Formiga (8)
8. Darrel Montague (9)
9. Ali Bagautinov (NR)
10. Tim Elliot (7)

Dropping out: Louis Gaudinot (10)

Women's Pound for Pound:

1. Ronda Rousey (1)
2. Cristiane Santos (2)
3. Sara McMann (3)
4. Jessica Aguilar (4)
5. Alexis Davis (7)
6. Cat Zingano (5)
7. Miesha Tate (6)
8. Marloes Coenen(9)
9. Jessica Eye (10)
10. Sarah Kaufman (11)
11. Michelle Waterson (12)
12. Liz Carmouche (8)
13. Jessica Penne (13)
14. Amanda Nunes (14)
15. Carla Esparza (15)
16. Zoila Gurgel (16)
17. Shayna Baszler (17)
18. Jessica Andrade (18)
19. Rosi Sexton (19)
20. Barb Honchak (20)