Ranking the crossover & holdout Pride FC stars

Due to the lack of a Light Heavyweight division and no real restrictions on who can fight who, Pride FC allows for pound-for-pound fighting; the best take on the best and see who comes out on top. In this eccentricity, Pride holds a distinct advantage over the UFC. Who wouldn't like to see Matt Hughes take on Chuck Liddell? Or BJ Penn against Tim Sylvia? If nothing else, and for lack of more appropriate terminology, it would just be cool. Since most of Pride's current and recently-departed stars have fought one another, it becomes much easier to rank them. Pound-for pound rankings based on the UFC are always interesting to read, but who really knows if Georges St. Pierre is a better fighter than Randy Couture? In Pride, with a high recurrence of popular matches, similar "dream fights" have been settled in the...five-roped square ring...thing (thank God for the "octagon"). Let's get down to ranking the top 5 current or recently-departed Pride FC stars:

Honorable mentions: Rampage Jackson and Takanori Gomi. Rampage beat Liddell in 2003 before Liddell demolished the entire UFC and their mothers and anyone they've ever spoken to. Unfortunately for him, he lost to Wanderlei Silva twice and did nothing else of consequence. I put Gomi here because people always get upset when I don't give Japanese fighters their due. Gomi is the Pride Lightweight champion but it doesn't really matter because he hasn't beat anyone good. He did, however, get fucked up by BJ Penn and was submitted by Nick Diaz (which was later changed to a no contest because Diaz had smoked up before the fight). He makes the list because he did beat Jens Pulver, considered by many to be the best Lightweight of all time.

5. Wanderlei Silva. I know people are all about Wandy and when he was scheduled to fight Liddell, it was going to be the biggest thing to ever hit MMA. Looking past the hype, however, his resume just isn't that strong. Despite two wins against Rampage and one win against a young Dan Henderson (ranked 3), Silva lost to Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort early in his career and then lost to Cro Cop and Henderson later on. He's good, but not the best, and probably isn't everything he's built up to be.

4. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. Yeah, yeah, I know he just got his ass handed to him by an unknown, but he's still "Cro Cop!" Even though he has losses against Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira (who doesn't?), he holds a draw and a win over Wanderlei Silva (ranked 5) as well as a win against Fedor's less impressive but still competent brother, Aleksander.

3. Dan Henderson. He's one the only man to hold victories over both Wanderlei Silva and "Minotauro" (ranked 5 and 2, respectively). Even though he lost to Minotauro after beating him, Henderson, who is trained by Randy Couture, has an extremely impressive resume. His wins, other than those stated above, include former UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Newton, Renzo Gracie (of Gracie family fame), and Vitor Belfort. Some chalked up his Wandy victory to luck, but his impressive wins and training suggest otherwise.

2. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. Even though I had heard little about "Minotauro" upon his quiet UFC transfer, a quick wikipedia check assured me that this was a good pick-up. "Minotauro" has beaten all of the best...almost. Other than two decision losses to Fedor (any loss to Fedor after which you are still breathing is a win in my book), Nogueira has beaten Dan Henderson and "Cro Cop" each once (ranked 3 and 4, respectively). His four losses have all come by decision, meaning that "Minotauro" has never submitted or been knocked out. Other than Henderson and "Cro Cop" gracing the list of fighters Nogueira has beat, Jeremy Horn, Bob Sapp, and Ricco Rodriguez have joined the club as well.

1. Fedor Emelianenko. The only man to ever beat "Minotauro" and "Cro Cop" (ranked 2 and 4, respectively), Fedor has made his mark on MMA by destroying opponents by wide margins and is widely considered to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Fedor suffered his only loss (Tsuyoshi Kohsaka) due to a doctor's stoppage from a cut that was reopened by an accidental elbow. Kohsaka was declared the winner by default since they were in a tournament and a winner was needed. Fedor then avenged this loss five years later with a TKO victory over Kohsaka at Pride Bushido 6. What else can you say about a man who has never really lost, is nicknamed "The Russian Experiment," and was born in a hard-working mining town called Stary Oskal? On a lighter note, Fedor has stated he likes art and some of his paintings can be viewed on his official website.