Filed under: UFC, WEC, Rankings, Overall
Heading into Jose Aldo‘s Thursday night fight with Manny Gamburyan at WEC 51, the most interesting question was not whether Aldo would win — just about everyone who follows MMA agreed that he would — but whether he would put on the kind of performance that had everyone talking about him as the single best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Aldo delivered a great performance, one that certainly has him in the conversation for greatest in the world status, along with Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva. Whether you have Aldo, St. Pierre or Silva at the top of your list is as much about personal preference as anything else.
What I love about Aldo is his killer instinct: After he landed a one-two combination that appeared to stun Gamburyan, he knew exactly what he had to do to finish the fight: From there Aldo threw a hard uppercut that connected to Gamburyan’s chin and knocked him down (a great punch to throw against a shorter opponent who’s been dazed), and then finished him with 10 punches in a row on the ground, picking his spots beautifully to avoid Gamburyan’s arms and connect to his head.
See where Aldo fits in with the best of the best in MMA below.