Pound for Pound, the Best of the UFC

Unlike the SteelSkins Power Rankings, which is more of a measurement for gauging who deserves the next title shot than it is for determining who the best UFC fighters are, the Pound for Pound guide is SteelSkins’ opinion of who, pound for pound, are the best fighters in the UFC.

You might notice that some of the fighters in the SteelSkins Top 15 have lost recently to fighters listed below though, or even in Honorable Mention (we’re looking at you, Diego). This is not a mistake. Mirko Cro Cop can get his head kicked into the sixth row by Gabriel Gonzaga, but that doesn’t mean we’d take Gonzaga in a street fight. All it means is that Gonzaga had a better fight that night (albeit, a much better fight). He’s still going to have to prove himself a few more times before we consider him Top 5 material.

And Diego? Let’s not forget what Diego did to Karo Parisyan, who we think would beat Josh Koscheck 7 out of 10 times. You might also notice that we put Big Nog in the Top 5, despite having never actually fought in the Octagon. This would normally go against SteelSkins’ own rationale for the regular Power Rankings. Again, this is not the Power Rankings. This is the Pound for Pound. It’s based on history of dominance. It’s based on ability to control their opponents in their respective divisions. And we like it this way.

Honorable Mention