2011: Who are your top 5 favourite fighters?

[Cory]

Haven't done an opinion question since I stopped writing MMA articles, and I must have asked this question to the EFK community in 08 or something, but my question to you guys is who are your top 5 FAVOURITE fighters IN 2011, and maybe say why?

Notice the IN 2011, like who fights currently that you enjoy to watch.

If we get lots of replies, I could do a ranking/list of the top EFK favourite fighters, if we only get a few, no worries.

[Ty]

Mine are:

1) Andrei Arlovski
2) Sean Sherk
3) Karo Parisyan
4) Dan Henderson
5) GSP



Those are my faves

[Cory]

Honorable Mentions




Cyborg Santos: Every time she fights, it's like watching a killer predator. She's always looking for the finish, and makes every female that she fights look completely out of her league, ala Gina Carano. She has enough power to have excellent takedown defence (ala Overeem) and her striking is unmatched. I honestly dont see any female beating her for the Strikeforce belt.



Uriah Faber: Listen, I usually rag on these lighter weight fighters because they cant finish fights, but over his career Faber has maintained his status as being a small fighter who can finish fights. Sure he looks like a fucking douche-bag with his haircut and ass-chin, but everytime this guy fights you get your moneys worth. When he broke both of his hands v/s Mike Brown at WEC 41, and continued to throw elbows efficiently, he earned my respect. The heart he showed v/s Aldo at WEC 48 taking leg shot after leg shot, barely being able to stand but continue fighting, I dont think theres another fighter with a will quite like Fabers.



Rory MacDonald: This one might be a little big bias as he is Canadian, but since GSP is soooooo boring too watch, this guy is our next top fighter. At only 21 years old and having 3 fights in the UFC, nearly 3-0 before Condit KO'd him at the end, which if gone to decision Rory would have won, the kids a prodigy. His fight v/s Nate Diaz with the suplex's had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, and his second fight v/s Condit was a fucking brawl. He can only go up from where he is, and he is the most exciting Canadian fighter in the UFC.


Now onto my top five:

#5



Alistar Overeem: Overeem is the most powerful heavyweight in the division. He's a K1 champion and has the best striking in the heavyweight divison, and ALMOST everytime he fights (minus Werdum) you know its going to be exciting. Overeem is always looking for the quick finish. I also LOVE his takedown defense. He'll sprawl and then toss you back five feet. I think he'd have trouble v/s a dominate wrestler such as Velasquez but with how much strenght he has, I'd put money on Overeem against anyone.

#4



Wanderlei Silva: Now dont get me wrong, Wandy is past his prime. Can he make another title shot run? Probably, but the odds arent in his favour. If I was making this list of favourite fighters of all time, I could reference his legendary streak in PRIDE, but if I was also doing that Fedor would be on my list. As this is of 2011, I still place Silva in my top 5, why? He's one of the few legit fighters in the UFC that is ALWAYS looking for the finish. He'll risk getting KO'd to try and finish an opponent, which is why he remains one of the most exciting fighters currently. I hope Silva can string a few wins together against top competition and make a run for the belt.


#3



Jose Aldo: Similar with my #2 pick, and Faber I usually dont like to watch the smaller weight classes, not because their boring (the pace is unbelievable) but these fighters never finish a fight. The 145'ers had this reputation minus Faber for the longest time, until Aldo came out of the woodwork and has been arguable the most devastating fighter in the world p4p for the last two years or so. Aldo has the nastiest leg kicks in the business and everyone of his fights looks like an assault. He batters opponents in an exciting way, and often times finishes them. I love to watch this guy fight.


#2



Gilbert Melendez: The best 155'er IMO, and would be #1 in my rankings if he didn't just fight in Strikeforce, Melendez finishes fights. Simple as that. For years BJ Penn and maybe Kenny Florian were the only two guys who could finish at 155, and now that Florians down to 145 and Penn doesn't know what the fuck he wants to do, Melendez is the lone survivor. He has excellent hands (training with Nick Diaz is showing). Since he won the Strikeforce Lightweight belt he's has 5 fights. 3 Ko's and 2 fights where we pummeled the shit out of his opponents/FOTN's. Ill watch anytime this guy fights and when he comes to UFC i hope he takes the belt off either boring wrestler A (Edgar) or boring wrestler B(Maynard).


#1



Nick Diaz: The 'real' villian of MMA, Diaz is easily my favourite fighter. He has the best striking in MMA from a technical standpoint, is brilliant on the ground (LEGIT) BJJ black belt and he always puts on exciting fights. I and others can question the quality of his opponents at Strikeforce, but the fighters he fought and dominated were nothing less then legit 170/185ers. Aside from his loss to KJ Noons due to cuts, he's 15-0 since leaving the UFC, and  12 of these 15 were finishes (counting Gogoplata over Gomi too). He speaks his mind and doesnt give a fuck who he pisses off, and hes only getting better and better. Thought I like GSP because hes the most dominate fighter arguable of all time, I hope Diaz wins and is the new face of the UFC 170 division.

[Ty]

Oh yes, sorry, forgot the why.

1) Arlovski - His look, his aggression, his attitude. I've been a fan since I first saw him vs Cabbage and will always be a loyal fan.

2) Scrappy, quick, outclassed when he loses, reminds me of me or at least what I want to be like.

3) Karo, - judo throws for the win

4) Hendo - I like wrestlers

5) GsP is Canadian

[Cory]

Oh yes, sorry, forgot the why.

1) Arlovski - His look, his aggression, his attitude. I've been a fan since I first saw him vs Cabbage and will always be a loyal fan.

2) Scrappy, quick, outclassed when he loses, reminds me of me or at least what I want to be like.

3) Karo, - judo throws for the win

4) Hendo - I like wrestlers

5) GsP is Canadian

I'd hate to pick at your list, but thanks for the reply. I said favourite fighters IN 2011, but dont take an ill will towards this, just bored...... so lets see:

1) Arlovski: So you like watching a one dimensional fighter with a glass chin lose to an even more one dimensional fighter (Brett Rogers). Arlovski is a thing of the past.

2) Sherk: A fighter who I used to enjoy, but now forgets that hes a freakish wrestler and tries to stand a bang with his 55" reach and constantly disappoints?

3) Karo: A drug addict who hasn't been relevant since 2006.

4) Hendo: He has really shown his age since leaving the UFC, but a legit top 5 (maybe a little bit of a strech) favorite fighter in 2011. He still have relevancy, one of the top 205/185ers not in the UFC today.

5) GSP: Canadian thing too, are you Canadian? I personally find that the only reason why I like him. Hes the only athlete over here that stands out for something other than shitty ass Hockey, so If you support MMA over here, he's really all we got unless Rory MacDonald wins a title within the next two years.

[Level-One]

I'll post the why, later. All I can say, it's not really about who wins the most fights in all cases. For the most part, I'm a fan of fast pace fighters who look for the finish. Also, I don't even know if this is *REALLY* my top five as I never put one together until now, but here we go;

1. Jonny ''Bones'' Jones
2. Frankie Edgar
3. JDS
4. Nick Diaz
5. Wanderlei Silva

Edit- on number five.

[Duckman]

This is really tough.  My 'all time' list would be vastly different from this one.  As we're talking favourite fighters of this year, these are the guys that have impressed me no end recently:

5.  Brian Stann - finishes fights, tough as fuck, seems like a decent human being for a trained killer.

4.  Gilbert Melendez - great striker, finishes fights, also a very smart guy when it comes to the game as evidence on MMA Live on ESPN.

3.  Nick Diaz - great striker, very under rated when it comes to promos and interviews, probably the most exciting fighter going at the moment.

2.  Frankie Edgar - deserves a fuck ton more respect than he currently gets.  So much more than just a boring wrestler.  A hell of a fighter.

1.  Jon Jones - finishes fights, the future of MMA, another decent dude from all accounts.

Honourable mentions:

JDS, Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz, Diego Sanchez and Cain Velasquez

Peace

Duckman

[GM Franchise]

I'm still learning about all the fighters since I just got back into MMA this year. Kind of lost track when I was taking the majority of my college classes a few years back.

5. Nick Diaz - guy is a bad ass, bottom line
4. Anderson Silva - always liked him for some reason
3. Frankie Edgar - another guy I really like, he's a bad ass
2. Gray Maynard - quickly becoming a big fan of this guy
1. GSP - my personal favorite fighter

[Nick]

OF ALL TIME:

1. Wanderlei Silva
2. Fedor Emelianenko
3. Vitor Belfort
4. Kazushi Sakuraba
5. Mirko Flipovic

CURRENTLY:

1. Nick Diaz
2. Jose Aldo
3. Alistair Overeem
4. Gilbert Melendez
5. Carlos Condit