Jordan Griffitt
Student Sports Media
There has been quite a bit of talk lately in the MMA community about who the greatest fighter of all time is. The easy part of the debate is that the options are pretty narrowed down. There are basically four options that are universally accepted: Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre (GSP) or Fedor Emelianenko.
Many believe that Anderson Silva is the best because of his sheer dominance of his opponents. He could make world class fighters look like gym teachers in the cage. We all still remember when he made Forrest Griffin quit while laying on his back flat on the mat. He also currently has the longest title defense streak with 10 defenses. I cannot deny the beautiful knockouts and submissions that he had in the octagon. The issue is that he has been caught using PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs). For me, that immediately takes him out of the running. If he got caught in the last part of his career, how are we supposed to know that he didn’t use them his entire career. There is absolutely no way I can consider a computer whose competitive integrity is in question.
This is the same reason that I also take Jon Jones out of the running as well. He has been busted three times for illegal substances; two are speculated to help his fighting performance. The other one was a cocaine bust that stripped him of his title the first time. Just recently, Jones was stripped of his UFC Light Heavyweight Title once again for the use of steroids. I think he could’ve been the best, but he made his bed. Now we might not ever even see him fight again.
That leaves Pierre and Emelianenko. Thought Fedor has the better record with the number of fights he had, I think GSP faced the better competition.
Georges St Pierre is the greatest MMA fighter of all time. His career record is 25-2. The two losses to historically great fighters. Matt Serra was the lesser of the two, but he was still widely known for his toughness. The second loss was to Matt Hughes (UFC Hall of Famer). He then defeated both of them the next time he faced them, and he has also defeated UFC Hall of Famer B.J Penn twice in his career. He has never been the biggest guy with the longest reach, but he was the most skilled fighter ever. He lacked power and size, but he made up for it with impeccable wrestling and technical striking. Add in the fact that he was never been busted for PEDs and has faced hall of fame competition, Pierre is the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
