By Hank Winnicki
Nothing like a good pound-for-pound debate. Anderson Silva's victory Saturday night has most MMA fans talking about who the best p-f-p fighter is. Here are my rankings (feel free to disagree):
1. Anderson Silva: He answered a lot of questions when he beat Henderson, who many felt would present matchup problems. He handled the world-class wrestler and it could be a while before he loses. Yushin Okami makes sense for his next fight. He lost to Okami because of an illegal kick to the head in January of '06. I just don't see Okami presenting a lot of problems for Silva.
2. Fedor Emelianenko: Some will argue he's the best, but we just haven't seen him up against the top competition. He's definitely No. 2, though.
3. Georges St. Pierre: He took apart Matt Hughes not once, but twice. Maybe that was just an off night against Matt Serra. We'll find out for sure when he fights Serra again in April. He has such a solid all-around game, but maybe his weakness is the chin.
4. B.J. Penn: Great ground game and heavy hands always makes him a solid pound-for-pound choice. In UFC 58, he knuckled up GSP in the first round, but then inexplicably went easy on him for the rest of the fight and lost a decision. Also lost to Hughes, which keeps him at No. 4.
5. Rampage Jackson: He had a tougher time with Dan Henderson than Silva did. Still, he has been very good for a long time.