Brad Penner — USA TODAY Sports
There is no “pound-for-pound best fighter in the world”. Get over it. It’s a myth.
The latest athlete to fall from the false pedestal is Benson Henderson, who lost to Anthony Pettis by submission at UFC 164. The fact is when it comes to fighting, any fighter can beat any other fighter on any give Saturday night (or Wednesday night on Fox Sports 1).
The great Anderson Silva got KO’d for no good reason other than that he was goofing off in the cage against Chris Weidman. A couple years ago, Cain Velasquez decided to stand with Junior Dos Santos and showed shades of the incredible chin of Alistair Overeem. Georges St-Pierre hasn’t lost a fight since 2006, but back then Matt Serra proved that GSP was not invincible.
Who’s left? Jose Aldo? He’s 23-1, but he was submitted back in 2005. Jon Jones? His day has yet to come, although Vitor Belfort will always enjoy a good laugh at Jones’ expense after nearly tapping him out with a surprise armbar. Ronda Rousey? Yeah, right. (Google “Liz Carmouche neck crank”).
Back in the 1990, everyone thought Mike Tyson was unstoppable. A trip to Japan, some partying with a bunch of Asian women the days and nights before, and a master game plan by James “Buster” Douglas took care of that.
The great thing about fighting is that styles make fights. That’s why bad fighters like Roy Nelson can look like Jones when he fights Matt Mitrione, but then look like Bob Sapp against Stipe Miocic.
There is no fighter who is unstoppable, unbeatable or indestructible. Anyone can win at any time, which is what makes the sport so awesome. So for all the fanboys out there who live vicariously through Jones or whomever the current MMA flavor-of-the-month is, get over it.
Your hero is one punch or one armbar away from being human, and the next big thing is just around the corner.
Joshua Molina is a MMA and pro wrestling writer for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECMolina and add him to your network on Google.
