In the sport of mixed martial arts, it takes more than being just a boxer, wrestler, or jiu-jitsu practitioner to succeed. A well-rounded, championship-level mixed martial artist has to be adept in not only those areas, but also in judo, Muay Thai, and conditioning. Other skills can also be used, but they are used to a lesser extent.


Silva also debuted in the UFC with an incredible 49-second knockout of Chris Leben, who was one of the fastest rising stars in the UFC at the time. The knee that Silva used in that fight is still shown on highlight reels, but Silva's next performance, against then-MW champion Rich Franklin is even more impressive. Silva's first-round domination of Franklin opened up some eyes - as if his KO over Leben already hadn't - and the former also-ran instantly became the number one middleweight in the world. And "The Spider" (21-4) hasn't relinquished that title since. Since the beginning of last year, Silva has defeated Travis Lutter (in a non-title fight), former King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin for a second time, and Henderson.

On July 19, Silva will look to take another step in his already-illustrious career, as he will move to the light heavyweight (205-pound) division to face striking specialist James Irvin. There haven't been many successful fighters who have moved up in weight class in the sport and remained dominant, but Dan Henderson is one of them. The UFC has hand-picked Irvin, because he will stand and bang with Silva. This should result in another highlight reel KO for the champ. Silva's future after this fight is up in the air. It remains to be seen whether he will go back down to middleweight or if he will stick at 205 and eventually face former champion Chuck Liddell or the winner of the Rampage Jackson/Forrest Griffin LHW title fight.

The next fighter on the list is Canadian Georges St. Pierre. GSP is a black belt in Kyokushin karate, and that experience is what leads to his unique striking style that has caused a lot of frustration in his opponents. With an impressive record of 16-2, GSP - who is still just 27 years of age - is already in his seventh year as a professional fighter.

Not only is he an experienced karate striker, but St. Pierre is also a skilled jiu-jitsu practitioner. GSP started his UFC career with an upset of Karo Parisyan in 2004, and he has had just two setbacks since. Losses to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra have both deterred his career, but Georges has responded to beat Hughes twice and he took his welterweight title back from Serra in April.

The reason GSP is a champ is because he has never stopped evolving. Georges has always been on of the best in the game at defending the takedown, but his complete domination of Matt Hughes - a former NCAA All-American wrestler and the most dominant welterweight champion in UFC history for the time being - in wrestling led to some fans acknowledging him as the best wrestler in MMA. And this is a guy who never once trained in wrestling until he began his MMA training eight years ago! Beware of this guy, especially if your name is Jon Fitch, who happens to be his next opponent in August.

The previous two fighters are impressive, but B.J. Penn is perhaps the most skilled mixed martial artist in the world. Penn was the first American-born black belt winner at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mundials, and he is also the current UFC lightweight champion as well as the former UFC welterweight champion (Randy Couture is the only other fighter to hold titles in two different UFC weight classes).

Penn, known for his incredible flexibility that translates to his superior Brazilian jiu-jitsu, started out as a hotshot lightweight in the UFC back in 2001, which is when he earned his nickname "The Prodigy." He lost in a title fight to Jens Pulver, and then fought Caol Uno to a draw in the finals of a tournament to crown a lightweight champion after Pulver left the company. Penn then went to his native Hawaii to fight Takanori Gomi, who was considered the best lightweight in the world at the time outside of Penn. Penn defeated Gomi, and then he went back to the UFC and jumped up in weight class to take the welterweight title away from Matt Hughes. Penn then signed with Japanese organization K-1, and the UFC stripped him of the welterweight title. Penn went 2-1 in K-1 (with his only loss coming to Lyoto Machida, a fighter who outweighs him by 50 pounds) and 1-0 in Hawaii before returning to the UFC in 2006. Penn proceeded to lose his first two fights back (to GSP and Hughes) before getting back on track with his retribution over Pulver, where all talk of his lack of desire to compete and love for the sport was stopped.

Then, at UFC 80 in England earlier this year, B.J. Penn defeated Joe Stevenson to become the UFC lightweight champion for the first time in his career. Penn then defeated former champion Sean Sherk (who was stripped of the title in 2007 after failing a drug test) in a much anticipated bout that Penn ended with strikes at the end of the third round. B.J.'s only setbacks in his career have been cardio and desire, but his cardio has improved and he is determined to become the best UFC champion ever. The rest of the lightweights - and just about everyone else - had better watch out. Either that, or get submitted (or knocked out).

The last fighter is Fedor Emelianenko. UFC President Dana White might not want to admit it, but Fedor is the top heavyweight in the world. It doesn't matter that he hasn't had a legitimate fight in a year and a half, because I haven't seen a deterioration of his skills. Fedor is possibly the most complete fighter in the world, and he reigns as a sambo (a variation of wrestling that is popular in Fedor's native Russia) world champion and he is also the last man to hold the PRIDE heavyweight championship. He held that title from 2003 until the death of the company last year, fending off foes like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Coleman, Mirko Cro Cop, and Mark Hunt.

Fedor has dominant ground and pound, which is the devastating ground tactics popularized by former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman. Fedor is also dominant in almost every other aspect of mixed martial arts, and he has little to no flaws. He transitions from each style as well as any other fighter in the world, and he can win a fight in just about any way that he chooses. He is no longer the top pound for pound fighter in the world - that title belongs to Anderson Silva now and Georges St. Pierre in the future - but he is still the top heavyweight in the world, and he has yet to be defeated fair and square (his only loss in 2000 was due to a cut).

Emelianenko is set to face former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia on July 19, and a win over the "Maine-iac" could bring some favor back into Fedor's corner. But don't expect Dana White to be on board.

Now some of you may be asking, "What about UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson? Did he not defeat both Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson in 2007?" And the answer is yes, he did defeat both former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and former PRIDE light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion in 2007. But Rampage still has two losses to Wanderlei Silva and a loss to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua from his days in PRIDE that he has yet to avenge. Both of these guys are still around, and both are still at or near the top of their game. Rampage has to beat at least one of them to be mentioned on this list, in my opinion. Rampage is facing former Ultimate Fighter Forrest Griffin - who holds a win over Shogun - tomorrow at UFC 86, and an impressive win over Forrest could help Rampage earn a spot on this list. But he's not there yet.

Is it a coincidence that the four fighters on my list all hail from different countries (Brazil, Canada, America, and Russia, respectively)? No, it is not. This sport is truly universal, and the original question of finding the most dominant martial art in the world remains unanswered. But if you really want an answer now, then I'd have to say that the most dominant martial art in the world is the sport of mixed martial arts. A perfectly well-rounded fighter with no flaws has yet to be seen, but watch out when he (or she?) comes to the forefront.