MMA's Quest to Be Best: Who Really Is the King?

Okay, so I keep hearing names being tossed around in an effort to identify the best pound for pound fighter in the MMA world today.

The names I hear most are GSP, Anderson Silva, Fedor, Randy, BJ Penn, and Urijah Faber.

I wonder what really makes you the best fighter in the world, pound for pound. Is it your record? Is it the quality of your opponents? Is it the way in which you win your fights?

Is it fan support? Is it the strength of your abilities compared to your weaknesses? Is it how you work to improve upon your weaknesses to make sure you are constantly growing?

You could really make a strong argument for any of the fighters listed above. I mean, GSP is young, talented, and constantly working to improve his skills as a fighter.

BJ Penn has many accomplishments and a nice resume. However, many of those accomplishments are not specific to the sport of MMA.

There is Randy, who at his age pretty much wows everyone every time he steps into the ring or cage. He has been a Champion many times in both Light Heavy Weight and Heavy Weight divisions.

Fedor has an impressive record, but many people believe the level of talent Fedor has fought is suspect to say the least.

Faber also has an impressive record, but from what I know of him, which granted isn't a whole lot, he is in the same boat as Fedor. The biggest name he has faced with WEC is Jens Pulver, making him 6-0 with that fight organization.

Last but not least is Anderson Silva. He is up at the top of my list of favorite fighters of all time. Only GSP and Royce the Legend come before him. A record of 22-4 in the world of MMA I would say is still rather impressive. Since entering the UFC he has pretty much walked through each of his opponents. Most of the time you can say he completely destroyed them.

Chris Leben is known to have a better than solid chin and many considered him to be virtually impossible to knock out. That was until Anderson's first fight in the UFC when a total of nine kicks and punches for 100 percent accuracy rocked Leben to sleep.

Rich Franklin was thought to be the man to rule the middle weight division for a long time until Anderson Silva destroyed him not once, but twice, breaking Franklin's nose in brutal fashion each time.

Anderson has beaten everyone the UFC has thrown his way in convincing fashion, so there is no doubt in anyone's mind about who the real champ is. The middle weight division is so short on talent that Anderson Silva is pretty much being forced to move up in weight class to light heavy weight in order to challenge himself.

At the end of the day, if you go by record alone, couldn't a case be made for fighters such as Jeremy Horn who have fought well over 100 times?

If you go by accomplishments that are outside of the sport but are related to fighting, couldn't a case be made for fighters such as Karo Parisyan? Karo, just like BJ Penn, accomplished a lot in his style of martial arts at an early age and has an impressive resume.

However, it's not MMA, so does that really count when talking about the best fighter in the world of MMA?

If it's only about the level of talent a fighter has faced, do Fedor and Faber's accomplishments mean nothing? I mean anyone can win or lose on any given day. All it takes is one punch or one mistake.

The debate will go on. This I am sure of. As fans I guess all we can do is watch and wait to see what happens next in the sport and hope for some exciting matchups.