Heavyweights:
UFC: Cain Velasquez
Cain Velasquez recently defeated former WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar to become the UFC heavyweight king, defeating this fledgling MMA wannabe inside of the first round. Such a win holds no glory, as it was more of a father-son disciplinary spanking than it was an MMA fight. Before this, Velasquez’s victories were a KO win over the once proud Nogueira, who has long since been a shell of himself, a premature stoppage against mid-west brawler Ben Rothwell, and a controversial decision eeked out over black Frenchman Cheick Kongo. This is not what creates Champions, this is what creates belt holders.Verdict: Belt Holder
Strickforce: Alistair Overeem
Nightmarish strikers like this are a rare breed in MMA. Also rare is a dominant two sport fighter. In a time where the likes of KJ Noons are being labeled as the “most successful two sport fighter” by media dopes, despite his enormously underwhelming achievements in both MMA and boxing, it is refreshing to see someone as real as Alistair Overeem succeeding at the high levels of both MMA and K-1. With Overeem the night may end in punches, kicks, knees, or submissions, you just cannot know for sure. Exciting, dynamic, dominant, this man is a Champion.Verdict: Champion
Light Heavyweight:
UFC: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
Shogun initially defeated Lyoto Machida by decision to win the UFC light heavyweight strap, but due to incompetent judging it never became official. Such a thing is of no concern to a Champion such as Shogun, who rebounded in their immediate rematch to violently knock out the point karate stylist Machida to become officially recognized as the UFC’s light heavyweight Champion.Verdict: Champion
Strickforce: Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante
It was not long ago, June of 2009 to be exact, that Cavalcante embarrassed himself by showing up in abysmal shape to fight Mike Kyle. Feijao got what he earned in that fight when bad boy Kyle knocked him out with strikes in the second round. Three fights later over relatively tame competition and Cavalcante is wearing Strikeforce light heavyweight gold. A solid fighter? For sure. A Champion? Not quite.Verdict: Belt Holder
Middleweight:
UFC: Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva has shown flashes of both sides of this coin. The Silva who made a mockery out of the fight game in his contests with Thales Leites, Patrick Cote, and Demian Maia is no Champion. However, the Silva who dismantled the likes of Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, and Nate Marquardt shows that somewhere inside his body lies the strength of more than a mere belt holder. There can be no doubt that he is arrogant, seems delusional in regards to his actual level of fighting ability, and enjoys mocking both his opponents and the sport in general, but he has done enough to earn the title of Champion. Lets just hope he remembers all of his arrogant mockery when Vitor Belfort strips him of that title.Verdict: Champion
Strickforce: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
Recently crowned Strikeforce middleweight king after winning a mundane decision over Tim Kennedy, Jacare is one of the elite BJJ players in the MMA game today. He is one of those fighters who will excel against certain types of fighters, namely other grapplers and jack-of-all-trades master of none types, but fail spectacularly against others, namely guys who can strike. It is for this reason he cannot be labeled a Champion. A Champion stares down any opponent, in any form, and devours him. The fact that he has proven himself so vulnerable on the feet is a major kink in the armor of Jacare. He is a high level fighter, but he has not yet shown Championship MMA skill.Verdict: Belt Holder
Welterweight:
UFC: Georges St Pierre
St Pierre has quite the luxury fighting in a division filled with GSP-prototypes, all of which are clones of himself minus a few skill points in each combative attribute. Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, and now we can add Jake Shields to that mix. All of these guys are to an extent, some more than others, just lesser version of Georges St Pierre. Oh sure, you can throw in the occasional one dimensional striker like a Dan Hardy or a Thiago Alves, but even then St Pierre can’t finish the fight. Georges St Pierre must be pretty grateful that there are no fully dynamic killers in the UFC‘s welterweight stable, otherwise he wouldn’t be holding on to that belt for as long as he has.Verdict: Belt Holder
Strickforce: Nick Diaz
One of the most interesting fighters in the game today, both inside and outside of the cage, Nick Diaz claimed Strikeforce’s 170 lbs. belt after knocking out Marius Zaromskis, the head kicking monster who went into the Diaz fight with three vicious head kick KO wins in a row. This didn’t bother Diaz in the least, and that’s no surprise as he has never shown an inkling towards fear. The Zaromskis fight is exactly the kind of fight which forges a Champion. When Diaz walked into the cage that night in January of 2010, he was in there with a beast, a proven killer of fighters, and Diaz prevailed in spectacular fashion. Nick Diaz is a Champion.Verdict: Champion
Lightweight:
UFC: Frankie Edgar
Edgar is the archetypal American wrestler in MMA. Yes, he’ll keep a high pace, the fight will probably be filled with some scramble action, but with guys like Edgar, its never the sort of scrambling which has you on the edge of your seat in anticipation of an immanent submission or knockout. In this regard he’s not like an Eddie Alvarez, a Diego Sanchez, or even a Hideo Tokoro. All of Edgar’s fights have the air of high paced excitement, but lack the substance. Champions own their opponents, not necessarily through every moment of the fight, but by the end of the fight a challenger will look up to the Champion, even if the challenger is the physically taller man. Edgar does not leave his opponents like this, Edgar leaves his opponents wondering if they’ve even been in a full contact fight.Verdict: Belt Holder
Strickforce: Gilbert Melendez
Melendez is somewhat of a jack of all trades, but not in the typical sense in which that would usually be followed by the phrase “but master of none.” He’s a stand out in wrestling with high level grappling and solid striking. There aren’t really any glaring deficiencies in his game, and he’s taken the two losses of his career and bounced back to avenge both of them. Its hard to see anyone in the lightweight division, regardless of promotion, that can defeat him right now. Gilbert Melendez is the lightweight Champion of MMA.
Verdict: Champion
Featherweight:UFC: Jose Aldo
A true killer. Dominates his opposition, destroys, demolishes, decimates, dismantles, devastates, dispatches, and decapitates. You can get as hyperbolistic as you wish with Jose Aldo, it all applies. The man is a killer, the man is a Champion.
Verdict: Champion
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