Here we are at the halfway pole of the Gregorian calendar. As such, nature demands of us that we grade the top 25 MMA fighters.
To do so, we’re going to use the top-25 list formulated by Bleacher Report’s own Sean Smith in December of last year. Let me repeat: this is a list as it appeared LAST DECEMBER. So please…no silly comments about why Anderson Silva is still ranked No. 1 and so on.
Moving on, why did we use this particular list. Well, we used it because it gives a good snapshot of the best fighters at the beginning of the year. I think it’s interesting to take a look back as we do the grades. How different is the top-25 list just eight months later?
Also, this list is a full 25 fighters long. No namby-pamby top-15 garbage for me, thanks very much.
If you want to haggle over the rankings, the inherent flaws of pound-for-pound lists, the inherent flaws in the term “pound-for-pound” and other exciting but not wholly relevant topics, feel free to keep that stuff to yourself if possible. On the other hand, if you have issues with the grades, feel free to shout them out. That’s the real point here. The grades, not the shouting.