With Jon Jones’ continued rise to the top, and the news of a possible superfight between UFC champs Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre continuing to dominate the headlines, the age old debate of who is the most dominant champion has arisen once again.
This trio of stars has emerged as the most dominant fighters in MMA right now, making it extremely difficult to determine who takes the number one spot.
My gut reaction is to go with Silva, who’s held his status as the pound-for-pound king for quite some time. Looking at his resume, it’s easy to see why. Silva has not lost since being disqualified for an illegal kick to Yushin Okami back in 2006, so he’s virtually been undefeated since 2004.
He’s also defeated a number of big names in multiple divisions, including Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin, VItor Belfort, Forrest Griffin and Chael Sonnen.
What truly makes Silva the current most dominant champion is the manner in which he dispatches his foes. In his 15 career UFC fights, “the Spider” has only gone to a decision twice.
Who can forget Silva’s front kick to the face of Belfort at UFC 126, his come from behind triangle choke of Sonnen at UFC 117 or his step back jab that knocked out Griffin at UFC 101?
All these spectacular finishes can be attributed to the middleweight champ’s killer instinct and apparent ability to finish opponents at will.
For years, St. Pierre has been number two on the pound-for-pound rankings, slowly trying to equal Silva’s reign.
The Canadian superstar makes a great case for himself through his years of dominating the welterweight division, owning big wins over former champs such as Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, BJ Penn, Sean Sherk and Jake Shields.
However in recent years, St. Pierre has come under fire for his apparent inability to finish fights, especially over top contenders who never held a championship belt. This coupled with his two early losses to Serra and Hughes hinder the welterweight champ’s chance of usurping Silva and his unblemished UFC record’s GOAT status.
Although if they ever do face each other, the tides can quickly turn if St. Pierre comes out victorious.
With Silva the current pound-for-pound king, one can’t help but look to the future when the name Jon Jones comes up.
Jones’ quick assent to the top of the light heavyweight division has brought him into the conversation of who the most dominant champ is, but Jones hasn’t reigned as long as Silva or St. Pierre. However it is almost certain that he will achieve this status in the future.
In just a little over a year, “Bones” defeated four straight former light heavyweight champions to take and keep the title, leaving guys like Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans in his wake. A win over Belfort at UFC 152 might not be as impressive, but it’s still another straight former champ.
Like Silva, Jones also has a history of finishing opponents, having gone to a decision only three times in his entire MMA career.
If Jones can keep taking out fighters at that high of a level, there’s no question he’ll assume the role of the most dominant champ and can even surpass Silva as the GOAT, especially if he can duplicate his success at the heavyweight division.
Be sure to like me on Facebook or follow @MattJuulMMA.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com