The Top Five Pound-for-Pound Non-UFC MMA Competitors in the World Today

The UFC is a huge organization when it comes to MMA, but in truth, there are many more fighters who fight at a world-class level outside the confines of the UFC octagon. In fact, a majority of the top 50 MMA competitors are not part of the UFC organization.

That is not to disparage the UFC, which has grown geometrically in the USA and also, it seems, Canada and England. For some odd reason, the UFC seems determined, in contrast, to damage MMA's popularity in the Far East. Despite such an effort, the sport lives on and the rest of the world is watching. MMA in the Far East is alive and well, fortunately, and continues to produce some of the best fighters in the world.

The following is a list of the Top Five Pound-for-Pound MMA competitors that are still able to scratch out a living despite the efforts of the UFC to make that not so.

1. Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko

Clearly the No. 1 choice. Fedor, while once unknown to most North Americans, has become extremely familiar as of late. The press surrounding his Barnett match and possible UFC signing really advertised this man's existence.

This upsurge in familiarity has resulted in a type of education for a lot of MMA fans. As a consequence of this, his You Tube videos have become extremely popular. It is a rare thing indeed to find a fighter in any gym, anywhere, that would disagree that Fedor is the best fighter in the world bar none. It is not even close. At 30-1, Fedor is No. 1 'til he gets beaten, plain and simple.

Those fans that still believe Brock Lesnar could compete with Fedor are beginning to find themselves in the minority. Especially after Brock's recent attempt to dodge Shane Carwin.

2. Shinya "Tobikan Judan" Aoki

Despite relatively little to no coverage of East Asian MMA, Shinya is actually fairly well known in the States. Certainly is is difficult to find an MMA gym that does not know of him and his tremendous BJJ skills.

Arguably the best BJJ player in the world, Aoki holds several titles in many different organizations including Dream.

In order to drive the point home, Shinya defeated Vitor Ribiero in a grappling contest at Dream 10. This win earned him a title shot vs the incredible Joachim Hansen. He defeated Hansen to become the first undisputed DREAM LW Champion.

It is questionable, however, whether or not his skills would transfer to the UFC with any success. The fact that he is basically a pure grappler would cause him a number of problems in the UFC, where the refs commonly stand-up competitors.

In such a setting, it is hard to see how he could defeat a fighter like Joachim or BJ Penn. He simply doesn't have the standup skils. Despite this weakness his accomplishments can not be denied.

3. Jeff "The Snowman" Monson

Jeff Monson is one of the greatest grapplers in the world.

Despite his increasing age, he is actually fighting more than ever. His win over Sergei Kharitonov at Dream 8 was a real shocker. Monson was not expected to win much less dismantle Sergei with such ease.

Unfortunately, Jeff's long winning streak recently came to an end when he lost a decision to Pedro Rizzo this past September.

Despite this loss, Monson has acquired an excellent record and has managed to avoid being KO'd or submitted in any fight since 2002.

It should be noted that Monson still had one fight left on his UFC contract when he broke it in order to fight Fedor. Such a fight never occurred and Monson has been on the outside looking in for some time.

4. Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen

Joachim once stated that he would rather die from a festering hemorrhoid than fight for Dana White.

This is a real shame because Joachim is a fantastic fighter that could easily compete for the LW Championship in the UFC. Only BJ Penn would have a chance at stopping him and even that is unlikely. Unfortunately, we will never know.

Joachim is a beast in the Ring with an awesome array of weapons. Standup or on the ground he is nearly unstoppable. He has truly vicious knees and strikes, but it seems his greatest weapons are timing and ferocity.

5. Vitor "Shoalin" Ribiero

Vitor is a straight up and down BJJ player that has amassed an incredible 20-2 record. His last win was a brutal victory at Dream 8 over Katsuhiko Nagata, a famous Japanese wrestler.

His style is not the most exciting. Indeed watching his fights could actually put fans to sleep. His loss to Shinya Aoki was a perfect example of this in which both fighters seemed to merely squirm around on the mat for ten minutes. The ref has to stand these guys up or a boring fight will inevitably result.

Whatever the case he has dominated opponents for a long time and despite claims by UFC announcers, Vitor has probably been hit less than any other man in the history of the sport. Especially after Machida was exposed by Rua in their latest engagement.

Honorable mentions should also go to Fabricio Werdum, Takanori Gomi, Nick Diaz, Renato Sobral, and Even Josh Barnett, despite the recent steroid controversy.