Silva #1… Not a Chance

Anderson Silva #1? No way, no how! Pinpoint striker, yes. Tops on an equal playing field? Not even close (that is assuming we are talking about MIXED Martial Arts here).

You still have to give Silva the credit for subbing Hendo. A good percentage of submissions are the result from knocking down the other fighter with strikes. Lauzon/Guillard, Bader/Tito, Almeida/Hughes are some just off the top of my head. The list goes on and on.

Mighty Mouse may have given Cruz a tough fight. But he still lost. He didn't even win a single round. (Side note, I list Faber at 132 as his toughest UFC fight, considering Faber knocked him down a couple times, MM never put Cruz in ANY danger)

As far as the JDS/Cain argument. You could also make the argument that JDS and Cain, while evenly matched, still are below Silva's level. For example, Garcia and Phan pushed each other to the limit, but we all know that both would never challenge for the title. Not saying that JDS and Cain are that far below Silva, but having a worthy adversary has nothing to do with a fighter's skill level.

Even if you include Aldo's and Cruz's WEC record (which I do take into play), it still falls short of Silva's. And quality of opponent still comes into play, which is why no one has Michael Chandler ranked very high on the P4P list, even though for all we know, he could wipe the floor with Benson.

As long as Jones continues to make weight and annihilate his opponents, he can fight at 205 all he wants and I'll still put him in the top 2 (even though I don't like him). 

Plus, I think people use his size as an excuse. I hardly believe that height and reach beat one of the best strikers in MMA to a bloody pulp. Shogun himself said Jones' Muay Thai was very good. Additionally, if height and reach were as important as you say, why have Kendall Grove and Razaak Al-Hassan faded into obscurity? They didn't have the same skill that Jones has.

* Edited at 06.01.2013, 3:24 PM ET *

As long as people have Jones in the top 3 I'm cool.

I would definitely recommend this brilliant article to anyone who claims his height and reach are the only reason he does so well.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/9/23/3377078/is-jon-jones-reach-an-unfair-advantage-ufc-152

The one consesnus that everyone agrees on so far on this thread, is that p4p rankings are subjective. IMO, p4p rankings are subjective to accomplishments, overall skill, and domination of the fighters' weight classes.

I agree that in comparison to Jon Jones, GSP, and Ben Henderson, Anderson Silva's overall wrestling ability and pedigree is subpar at best, but Anderson thus far still finds a way to win. The longest winning streak and most title defenses of all time in the UFC tells us that. Fighting consistently and record-wise with the longest win streak and the most consecutive title defenses in the UFC, Anderson Silva could easily be considered the p4p best fighter in the world. In the same respect, Anderson's weaknesses and lackluster performances against Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, and Demian Maia could very well keep Silva from being considered the #1 p4p fighter.

I also could see and agree that if GSP, Jon Jones, and Anderson Silva were the same size, height, and weight, Silva and Jones would be underdogs against GSP. GSP is one of the most well rounded fighters of all time, and is the most dominate champion of all time in one of the most competitive weight classes, not just in the UFC, but in all of MMA, GSP could also very easily be considered the best p4p fighter in the world. However; GSP's loss to Matt Serra, and the long layoff prior to the Carlos Condit fight could keep him out of the running for being considered the #1 p4p fighter.

Jose Aldo since his first fight in the WEC Featherweight division has been absolutely unbeatable and unstoppable, and I think it's very possible, that if Aldo were 6'2" and 185 or 205, he would be beyond dangerous, he would be absolutely fatal. Jose Aldo is also very well-rounded, and has one of the best TDDs in all of MMA. All this could easily put Aldo in the running for #1 p4p fighter, but being prone to injury as often as Aldo has been, this could keep him out of said running.

Jon Jones has completely dominated everyone that he has faced thus far in the UFC, and has made it look easy in the process. He has only one loss on his record, but that was by disqualification in a fight where he was demolishing Matt Hamill with absolute ease. Jon Jones recently tied Tito Ortiz for the most consecutive title defenses as UFC LHW Champion with his destructive TKO victory over Chael Sonnen. Jones is definitely one fo the most complete fighters of modern time, and is en route to becoming one of the, if not, thee greatest and most well-rounded fighters of all time. The only thing that I see that could keep Jones out being considered the #1 fighter in MMA, is that he doesn't have as many wins or title defenses as GSP and Anderson Silva.

With that all said, I don't see anything wrong with anyone having Jones, Silva, GSP, or Aldo as their #1 p4p fighters. It's all too subjective and open for debate.

IMHO this ranking is good as it is. If they weighted the same, I see Jones and GSP being the underdogs against silva. GSP not by much, but I don't see him being able to last 5 rounds with Silva punching him in the face. Jon would be the bigger underdog because his defensive striking isn't exactly great (although he uses his range really well) and his tendency to retreat when hit instead of clinching (where he excels) would result in him being KO'd by Silva. 

I see Aldo losing against those three because as good as they are with gameplans, they would look to outlast Aldo's poor cardio and keep themselves out of harm's way for the first two or three rounds. After being wrestle****** by GSP for three rounds an exhausted Aldo wouldn't be able to do anything.

About Jones vs St. Pierre... That is a hard one to pick, but I think Jones would win. Jones lacks power (he even said so himself) but his superior striking would enable him to pick GSP apart from the outside as long as he avoids the takedowns (and I think he would).

* Edited at 07.04.2013, 12:25 PM ET *

I think Jones would be the favorite against Anderson, because the fight would be at 205.

Possibly the biggest hater on the website. Silva is the #1 p4p fighter in the world! Dumb thread

* Edited at 07.04.2013, 2:21 PM ET *

amp, did you even read what we were discussing? Jones would obviously be the favorite against Anderson, we are talking about an hypothetical scenario where GSP, Anderson and José Aldo are the same size and weight.

But yes, I agree with you. At 205 Jones would be a 3 to 1 favorite in my opinion.

* Edited at 07.04.2013, 2:31 PM ET *

Here is my new rankings after Anderson's loss.

* Updated

Didn't need to update. Although I probably should put Weidman in the top 10 now.

*shrugs*

The order of the bottom 7 could change anytime soon...

I agree with Jones being #1 but DC has yet to prove himself in the UFC.  And you can't put Gil above Smooth after he just got whooped by him.

I love how eeking out a decision is a whoopin... actually no i dont that's just dumb

Do you guys think AS should be back to the #1 spot if he obliterates Weidman in the rematch?

I'd say no, but it's hard for me to explain why. These rankings are so objective I don't get into it, I do like to check in to get the consensus but so
Hard to really decide these things.. Also that downvote want from me... 

Well also it depends what kind of obliteration we are talkin about

* Edited at 07.26.2013, 9:29 PM ET *

I could flip Weidman and JDS, but the Silva thing does it for me, that was like Werdum beating Fedor, but on a much larger scale.

* Edited at 07.26.2013, 9:47 PM ET *

@ed no problem, mate. I don't know why, but it looks like someone is downvoting my posts for no apparent reason :(