Frankie Edgar to Overtake Silva and GSP in the P4P Rankings?

The top pound-for-pound spot in MMA has become synonymous with Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre.

Is it time to give UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar the same consideration?

At first glance, the mere idea of Edgar bypassing Silva and St-Pierre to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings sounds ludicrous.

He hasn't been nearly as dominant, and Silva and St-Pierre have reigned over their respective divisions for a significantly longer period of time.

Still, what is it about Edgar that makes some want to put him in the pound-for-pound discussion?

"Here's what's so special about him, if there had been a 135-pound class in UFC when he started, that's where he would have fought," Edgar's boxing trainer Mark Henry told ESPN.com. "He's the best pound-for-pound fighter because he's doing it the opposite way––he's giving up weight. Nobody's doing it that way."

Edgar has been undersized since he burst onto the scene in the UFC lightweight division in February 2007, when he defeated highly-touted up and comer Tyson Griffin in his debut.

After his bout with Griffin, Edgar went on to win two more fights before running into a brick wall in Gray "The Bully" Maynard.

He was bullied by Maynard's overbearing wrestling and dropped a lopsided unanimous decision.

With the loss, people began to call for Edgar to consider dropping weight and joining the ranks of the WEC featherweight division. He was an incredibly gifted fighter, but there was certainly more where Maynard came from at 155 pounds.

"People don't give him credit," said Henry. "If he'd have started at 135 and later won the 155-pound title, people would be calling him 'incredible.'"

This is certainly a viable argument. In a combat world infatuated with world titles, how different would the world see Edgar if he was the UFC bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight champion?

If things would've unfolded in this manner, we could be having a completely different discussion right now.

However, this isn't the way things went down. It still worked out in the long run for Edgar, who managed to win the lightweight title, defeat MMA legends B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk, and even the score with Maynard.

"I don't see these 155-ers beating Frankie, but if they did, they're not accomplishing what Frankie is doing," said Henry. "If they want to accomplish what Frankie has, they'd have to win at 185 or at least 170."

The only other fighter that can claim this feat is none other than Penn, who Edgar defeated twice in 2010.

"And all the 145-ers are bigger than him. [UFC bantamweight champion] Dominick Cruz, who entered his last fight at 160, would be bigger than Frankie if they fought," Henry insisted. "Frankie could absolutely make 135, if we got with the right people. If everybody else can do it, why can't we? We're just 23 pounds over [the bantamweight limit]."

The great pound-for-pound debate has always ended with either Silva or St-Pierre.

Is it time to welcome in Frankie Edgar?