My opinion on who are the best pound for pound fighters in the world!

There has been a lot of talk recently on who is the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

Dana white has recently come out and said that he believes Conor McGregor to be the best, however the official UFC rankings have Demetrious Johnson at number 1. In my opinion the reason why Dana has Conor on top is for a number of reasons. He is trying to make the McGregor vs Mayweather fight. Dana White is trying to sell McGregor as being the number one, in an attempt to make McGregor even more marketable for the fight, in the hope of potentially getting a better deal. The second reason is because Dana is annoyed at Johnson turning down a fight recently against TJ Dillashaw.

The official UFC pound for pound rankings are below:

1	Demetrious Johnson
2	Conor McGregor
3	Daniel Cormier
4	Stipe Miocic
5	Max Holloway
6	Cody Garbrandt
7	Joanna Jedrzejczyk
8	Dominick Cruz
9	Tyron Woodley
10	Jose Aldo
11	Michael Bisping
12	Amanda Nunes
13	TJ Dillashaw
14	Khabib Nurmagomedov
15	Frankie Edgar

It will be interesting to see where Jon Jones would go in the rankings when he returns. Surely a win over Daniel Cormier would put him in contention for the number one spot. If you consider the length of time he has been out of the sport, a win over such a high caliber opponent would truly help with help with his already outstanding legacy. 

Same goes for GSP who is in my opinion the greatest fighter ever. However I still have doubts if he will actually return or not. 

If McGregor stays inactive, does he even deserve a space in the rankings? He has made the lightweight division stagnant and if he boxes Mayweather, this will hold up the division for even longer.

Bisping hasn't fought in a while either and there is a risk of the middleweight division also going in a similar direction.

It is hard to justify Aldo being so high in the rankings, considering he has just lost his last fight. I think Aldo is probably on the downturn in his career. 

MMA fans don't really care who the pound for pound best is. The only reason the list exists is to help companies such as the UFC sell fights. 

What do you think of the currently pound for pound list? There are several names on there in my opinion who are lucky to be on there and I feel the list will look different once this years fights have taken place.


Peter Ashdown
https://twitter.com/PeterAshdown

My opinion on who will still be a UFC champion by the end of 2016.

Current UFC champions: 

Men:

Heavyweight = Fabrício Werdum

Light Heavyweight = Daniel Cormier

Middleweight = Luke Rockhold

Welterweight = Robbie Lawler

Lightweight = Rafael dos Anjos

Featherweight = Conor McGregor

Bantamweight = T.J. Dillashaw

Flyweight = Demetrious Johnson

Women:

Bantamweight = Holly Holm

Strawweight = Joanna Jędrzejczyk

Fighters who I think will become new champions in 2016:

Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez.

I feel Cain will defeat Fabrício Werdum in their rematch and I can't see any other heavyweight defeating him in 2016.

Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones.

I think Jones will return from his suspension and challenge Daniel Cormier for his title in his first fight back. I think he will win the fight and perhaps defend it once before moving up to heavyweight.

Weltweight: Georges St-Pierre.

This one is a gamble for definite. I'm hopeful GSP will make a return in 2016. If he does I think he would beat Robbie Lawler. However chances are he will stay retired. If this is the case then I think Lawler will remain champion. 

Lightweight: Conor McGregor. 

McGregor will defend his title at featherweight once and then move up to lightweight to challenge Rafael dos Anjos for that title. He will win the fight and defend the lightweight title in 2016.

Featherweight: José Aldo.

Jose Aldo will challenge Frankie Edgar for the title vacated by Connor McGregor and I think Aldo will win.

Bantamweight: Dominick Cruz.

I think Cruz will defeat T.J. Dillashaw in their title fight and will also win in a rematch fight.

I feel all other champions will stay as they are at the end of 2016.

Who do you think will remain champion by the end of 2016?

Peter Ashdown

https://twitter.com/PeterAshdown