Greatest P4P: DECISION

And the Winner Is...

DECISION
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So far it's been Fedor for ROUND 1, a tie for ROUND 2, and if Anderson Silva can't get ROUND 3, it's going to be the Russian, Emelianenko by decision.

For the last round, I think there's a very good reason why Anderson Silva is considered as the P4P best. It's simply because he more convincingly dominates everyone in the middleweight division. Like what was mentioned in the last part, he seems invincible right now. Yeah, Fedor dominates, but sometimes he has to struggle to it.

Of course there are good arguments against judging a fighter as best P4P simply because no one can hurt him. Some will say, and I'll agree with them, that greatness is not necessarily invulnerability. Rather it is the ability to prevail against challenges. Being called best without facing adversity somehow feels wrong.

Still, Anderson Silva at least deserves to be given the last round for just being a goddamn invincible fighter. So maybe--maybe--he is, in practice, the P4P best. So fine. It's his.

Anderson Silva takes round 3.

FINAL FINAL DECISION

What!?! After all that, it's still a freakin' tie! It's been a long hard fight, though. I guess it was the right thing to happen. Here it is officially,

IT'S A TIE!

How did that happen, again? BACK TO PAGE 1>>>

Now that that's settled, it's time for me to troll and just share my partiality. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Anderson Silva? Winner? It has to be Fedor.

Greatest P4P: ROUND 3

Claim to Fame
ROUND THREE: P4P, in practice
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I think the title Pound-for-Pound Best is decided in the real world on how a fighter fares against his own weight-class, period. The question then is of how much better [a fighter] is in his own division compared to [another fighter] in his. Therefore it is the difference in each top fighter's skill level against their immediate competition that is compared. It's actually a respectable criterion.

To gauge how far apart Fedor and Anderson are from their competition, we are going to have to collect and view all their fights for analysis. But I don't nearly have that much time to review everything. If only there was a graphic summary of their history as MMA fighters. Something that serves as a visual representation of their achievements--a proof of their dominance. But how can we acquire such academic data?

Oh, Fan Highlight Vids.

Fedor Emelianenko

Highlight Vid#1 (7:34)


Highlight Vid#2 (3:25)


Anderson Silva

Highlight Vid#1 (7:51)


Highlight Vid#2 (5:11)

There are several observations we can make from watching only these four videos; mostly concerning how each fighter fights, style-wise. But what we're more concerned about is the aforementioned over-all dominance of either fighter. For me, the following statements apply:

Fedor overcomes
Anderson overwhelms

Fedor overcomes - as a Pride heavyweight, Fedor has battled against the toughest and the freakiest opponents available. Although he has amazing stand-up with his punches I personally think the most impressive aspect of his game is his devastating ground-and-pound. Because this is very well supplemented by excellent takedown and ground control techniques, he usually gets a stoppage victory once he takes top position on the ground.

Unfortunately, "The Last Emperor" is not as invincible as fans declaring him as "cyborg" or "not-human" or "God" would suggest. Fedor has been into really tight spots and opponents have threatened to defeat him. It's just that it has never really happened. Somehow, someway, he creates a scramble or a reversal or some other situation and suddenly he's the one dominating. And really, it's DOMINATING. A few seconds later he has his fist punching the air and the referee is declaring him the winner.

In the face of defeat, Fedor overcomes.

Anderson overwhelms - I knew a time when I didn't care for "The Spider." Years, ago watching Pride, it was all about the heavyweights--Nogueira leading the pack and then eventually Fedor. The only Silva people knew at the time was Wanderlei because Anderson wasn't much of a top fighter. It was only in the UFC that Silva started receiving attention.

Every fight he has come into for the last two years have him completely destroying the competition. After a few fights, you realize quickly that, yes, his aligity and precision are amazing to witness, yes, his clinch is terrifying. Now unlike Fedor, Silva, at least recently, appears to be invincible. I don't think I've even seen him draw blood or tire yet. I don't think he's been put into a bad spot. So it's all about the efficiency of the attack for the Spider. With superior offense and intensity, Anderson Silva overwhelms whoever is in front of him.

We go to the score cards: LAST PAGE>>>

Greatest P4P: ROUND 2.3

Fighting Chance
ROUND TWO: P4P, in theory
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The results are in. Using the TOTALS equation stated in 2.1 where, for each phase, we add up all the offensive phase-action scores of one fighter and subtract the defensive phase-action scores of the other, we get the PHASE TOTAL.

After getting all the PHASE TOTALS we add them all up and we then arrive at the OVER-ALL TOTAL SCORE. Whoever gets the higher Total score here receives the title, Greatest Pound-For-Pound (in theory).

And the winner is...

...It's a tie?

I swear to you I was just as surprised (and disappointed) as you when I first got the results. Nevertheless, I was as unbiased as was possible so these are more or less pretty accurate for me. But that's just me so don't get so upset about it. Besides there's one more round to go.

Third and final round: NEXT PAGE>>>

Greatest P4P: ROUND 2.2

Fighting Chance
ROUND TWO: P4P, in theory
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I've filled out everything here.

*"others" in STAND-UP = unorthodox techniques/movement fighters use for increased unpredictability and control
* subs are given 0.5 weight because you need substantial control to properly submit an opponent

As you can see there are no zeroes on the RATINGS column, because I think neither fighter can be considered poor in anything. However, there some are 1s. Let me explain my basis.
0 = poor
1 = good/average/untested/questionable
2 = very good/proficient
3 = excellent/superb

I'm sure some of you will still argue about the ratings so let me explain further. I give 1s for phase-actions that they barely use or they've used only against not-so-tough opponents. 3s are for those phase-actions which get the job done nearly all the time; that means, for example, a KO or sub for a phase-action that is weighted 1. The rest fall in between and are 2s. Also, be reminded that I'm comparing them to everybody so Fedor's STAND-UP kicks are rated 1 to Anderson's 2 to Cro Cop's 3. Good enough?

Finally, I'd like to point out the numbers in dark blue under the SCORE column. They appear in this format off. x (def. x) and refer to the phase's offensive total (defensive total).

Looking at the totals for each phase, we can see that Anderson Silva has a better stand-up and clinch game compared to Fedor. On the other hand, on the ground Fedor has significantly better defense and reversals. All others stats are virtually equal.

Analyzing the actions for each phase, we see each fighter's specific strengths (and weaknesses). Fedor's path to victory is through a takedown which leads to Ground-and-Pound or submission. In contrast, Anderson's requires him to get to the clinch to inflict close-range elbow or most probably knee strikes. Of course, before either of these finishes happen, Fedor will have to deal with Anderson's striking efficiency while Anderson will, in turn, have to take care that Fedor doesn't burst into his explosive throws and takedowns.

Ok, so using our equations to get the over-all TOTALS, who's the better fighter p4p, in theory? You'd be surprised.

Over-all TOTALS: NEXT PAGE>>>

Greatest P4P: ROUND 2.1

Fighting Chance

ROUND TWO: P4P, in theory
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Each fighter has his unique fighting style. Some prefer to stand-up. Some go for the clinch. Others want to take to the ground and grapple. Although this doesn't automatically say how good a fighter is at the different phases of the game, it does provide a clue to his tendencies and his preferences; the things that inevitably translate to his personal fighting style. This part seeks to figure out what particular brand of fighting Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko bring to their fights with the aim of judging, as best we can, who the better fighter is. For this we need to keep in mind two things:

One, we're dealing with p4p best, in theory meaning, "Had the fighters been naturally of the same weight-class, who would the best be?" This implies a full-on comparison of all fighters in all divisions. As much as we're comparing Fedor and Anderson to their own weight-class, we are also going to cross-analyze the two against other competition outside of it. I know it's getting complicated, but let's move on. I'll clarify on the way.

The second thing to keep in mind is that we're going to attempt to breakdown the fighter's game per phase (stand-up, clinch, ground). We're going to do this by standardizing a rating system. Here it is:

• For each phase, there will be listed under it the available options/actions to a fighter.
• Each action would then be weighted with either a full point (1) or a half point (0.5) decided by the nature of the action--a full point if it tends to create (or prevent) direct win conditions, half if it does not.
• After this is the players rating, which ranges from 0 to 3. A zero (0) means that fighter is no good at all in that aspect of the phase, a three (3) means he's one of the best.
• Multiplying the weight and the rating, we get the fighter's score for that action.
• We add them all up and see what happens.
• A peculiarity is the defense aspect of each phase (grey horizontal). This is subtracted to the other fighter's offensive score.
• In an equation, phase-action weight x fighter rating = phase-action score
• (Sum of phase-action scores) - (sum of def. phase-action scores) = Phase Total

Still confused? Why don't we just look at the stupid table? It's simpler that way.

Explanation & Analysis: NEXT PAGE >>>

Greatest P4P: ROUND 1

"Real Fedor" vs "Real Anderson"

ROUND ONE: ABSOLUTE
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Suppose the "real Fedor Emelianenko" and the "real Anderson Silva" fought in an MMA match, who would win? Well, how can we fairly speculate in the first place? By comparison.

Please refer to the following table for the basic statistics of each fighter.

The biggest difference we can see between Fedor and Anderson--based on the above information--is their weight, with the latter giving up 50 lbs to the former. (Silva is walking around at 205 lbs these days but he hasn't really proven anything yet in the UFC's light heavyweight division so let's stick to 185 for the meantime.) And in spite of what your jiu-jitsu friends tell you, size matters. That's why Royce Gracie was badly beaten by Matt Hughes a few years back. Yes he'd been older. But the real point is, Matt had been stronger. Without the "surprise factor" of BJJ submissions (as there had been in the early UFCs), Royce had to contend with proper defense. And a lot of power to back it up.

If you're still finding "size matters" hard to accept imagine what would happen if fighters of equal skill, but not of equal strength fought. The fact of the matter is, size and strength play into many aspects of a fight simply because it is a physical person-against-person direct contact sport. The person who can control the other with less effort has a natural advantage.

But you ask, "light fighters are quicker." True. They're more agile. They move faster. They're quicker on their feet. That's good for them because at long range, strength is more or less cancelled--the other fighter can't grab onto you! So the lighter fighter can just go for the knock out, right?

Not really. Although slower on their feet, bigger, heavier fighters can also hit quite fast. The only difference is that they also hit quite harder. That's why boxers don't have open-weight matches.

Again, size matters.

Nonetheless, this is Fedor vs Anderson. Not some heavyweight vs some middleweight. That said, let me break it down properly.

The Real Match-up

STAND-UP
Striking is Anderson Silva's forte and it looks like a good strategy for him against Fedor because he's long, has fast strikes, and has more agility. The only problem is that Fedor has shown that he in fact excels against strikers (Cro Cop and K-1 champions). More than that, I think we can agree that he is no slouch--he has a very aggressive, explosive style to his game and his hand-speed is one of his best points. True, Anderson may be quicker on his feet, but when it comes to striking efficacy they're not that far apart. In fact, I may even give this to Fedor if only because he'll take harder hits, and likewise hit harder.

(Oh yeah, don't tell me Anderson's going to kick Fedor into oblivion. Fedor has a habit of catching kicks so he can take his opponent down.)

THE CLINCH

Well, The Spider has one hell of a clinch. He lands his knees in convincing fashion. On the other hand, Fedor has never really been properly stuck in the clinch. Fighters have gone zero distance with him but only with the intention of taking him down.

Although Anderson is deadly here, it is only because his opponents are of the same weight. They're easier to control. Trying to tie-up with a natural heavyweight who's stronger and heavier is another matter. Never mind doing that to Fedor. Still, those knees are scary. I have all the respect for them.


GROUND
If there is one phase of the game which may ironically prove to Anderson's advantage--it would be the ground game. If Anderson Silva has vastly superior skills in this aspect then he may possibly nullify Fedor's strength and size. Specifically, this means submission techniques and proficiency.

But that is a huge ass IF. Like BJJ, Sambo is at least partially about submissions and both fighters, incidentally, are top level BJJ/Sambo practitioners. Furthermore, Fedor has great reversals at the bottom and has a sick armbar that comes from out of nowhere. Oh and lest we forget, once on the top, Fedor ground-and-pounds like an angry bear. Honestly.

Verdict: I would have to say that in a real MMA fight, based on the above, I would be putting my money on Fedor. The only real chance I see for Anderson is if he's smarter with his strikes and combinations, landing some quick blows, mixing things up with surprise knees and backfists, etc. or if he turns out to be a vastly superior submissions artist, after all. Otherwise--if Anderson Silva cannot inflict substantial damage with his strikes or if he can't control his opponent on the ground--I think it's going to be a ground-and-pound victory for Fedor.

Round 1 goes to Fedor.

But of course, that's in a real fight, where Fedor has 20-50 lbs more muscle power. But that's not what pound-for-pound means. The term "pound-for-pound best fighter" implies the competitors naturally being on the same weight-class. If so, then would the same conclusions hold?

A deeper look into each fighter's unique style and technique: NEXT PAGE>>>

Greatest Pound-For-Pound MMA Fighter: Fedor Emelianenko vs Anderson Silva

Cry Havoc!

WHO IS THE GREATEST POUND-FOR-POUND MMA FIGHTER IN THE WORLD?
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Let's get right to it.

Who is MMA's best pound-for-pound fighter? It all boils down to these two. Is it the Russian powerhouse, Fedor Emelianenko or the Brazilian dynamo Anderson Silva?

While either fighter surely has his legion of fans behind him--each side eager to prove that their man (or "GOD!") is the best--the dispute is still open to contention. Anderson and Fedor both have shown tremendous skill against competition and not too many weaknesses, making them tough to compare intelligently. Fans are then left to arguments of personal taste whenever the topic of best MMA fighter p4p comes up--the winner being decided by sheer conviction.

Now I'm sure that you, by virtue of the fact that you're reading this, have your own answer regarding this matter. I have mine as well. But let's put that aside for the meantime. This post is entitled Fedor vs Anderson after all; and I'm here to try to do just that in a manner rarely ever done. That is, intellectually and without bias. (Well, I hope.)

Welcome to the Greatest Pound-For-Pound MMA Fighter Ever Match-up. The main event: Fedor Emelianenko vs Anderson Silva, this consisting of three (3) rounds with the following parameters:

Round 1: Absolute (real life)
Round 2: Pound-for-Pound, in theory (if they had been naturally of the same weight)
Round 3: Pound-for-Pound, in practice (what P4P really is)


Let's get it on!

The Tale of the Tape: NEXT PAGE>>>

Anderson Silva Entrance Theme
(DMX - "Ain't No Sunshine")


Fedor Emelianenko Entrance Theme
(Era - "Enae Volare Mezzo" )

The Tale of the Tape: NEXT PAGE>>>