The Finest Fighter For Pound For Pound
Georges St. Pierre – You could argue that I’m disrespecting Matt Serra by not ranking him ahead of the man he beat to win the UFC Welterweight championship. I’m okay with it, though, on the logic that I don’t think Serra could beat St. Pierre again. The Canadian fighter was very impressive in beating Matt Hughes to win the title, and wins prior to that against B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk make for a pretty impressive streak.
It’ll take a while for St. Pierre to get another title shot, but chances are more than good that he’ll have another reign before it’s all over for him. He’s the class of a very tough welterweight division.
Paulo Filho – It’s hard to argue against a guy that is undefeated in 14 career matches. He’s yet another Brazilian.
Filho is coming back from a knee injury, but he should be back in action at any time. In fact, we should have been watching him in the middle of June, but Rich Franklin refused to fight him at UFC 72. Franklin’s fear is testament to the ability and the potential of Filho. UFC needs to work harder to find a spot for this guy, because he could make some serious noise if given a chance.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira – This heavyweight is nasty, and you certainly don’t want to get in an argument at his family reunion – his twin brother is a light heavyweight. Minotauro is excellent at drawing submissions, but he is a solid striker as well. He trains every year with the Cuban National Boxing team to sharpen his striking skills. His 29 wins have been over many of the biggest names in MMA. He has four losses, but the three most recent are more than respectable. Most recently he lost to Josh Barnett in a split decision, but he came back three months later and avenged that loss with a unanimous win. The other two losses are against Fedor Emelianenko. Both were by decision, so Minotauro handled himself better against the champ than pretty much anyone else has. Nogueira has signed with UFC and will make his debut at UFC 73.
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