It’s been a few days since the world saw Kamaru Usman knock out Jorge Masvidal in the second round of UFC 261.
A lot of people expected Usman to win with his wrestling, and if Masvidal had a chance, it would be standing up in a fistfight.
But Usman had different plans and proved he could punch too.
After Usman delivered on of the hardest right hands in MMA History to put Masvidal to sleep, there is no doubt who the best welterweight is in the UFC.
However, the bigger question becomes: Is Usman the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world?
Let’s focus on just the men because Amanda Nunes has distanced herself so far from the pack more than any other man has in the UFC. She has dominated both the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.
If you set weight classes aside and the basis was each fighter’s skills alone, who reigns over everyone else?
The UFC’s current men’s pound-for-pound rankings:
- Jon Jones
- Kamaru Usman
- Alexander Volkanovski
- Israel Adesanya
- Francis Ngannou
“The Nigerian Nightmare” has shot himself into the conversation for the number one spot after Saturday night.
For the past two years or so, the debate on who the best man is pound-for-pound was between Jones and the now-retired Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov (29-0, 13-0 UFC) retired by officially vacating his lightweight title, and he was regarded as the best pound-for-pound during his undefeated UFC run.
However, Nurmagomedov beats his opponents one way: on the ground.
Usman has proven to be unbeatable on the ground too. The numbers say so with a takedown defense of 100% compared to Nurmagomedov’s 84%.
Even if Nurmagomedov was still active, it’s hard to say he is definitively a better overall fighter than Usman given Usman’s ability to end fights with his fists.
Jones (26-1, 20-1 UFC) hasn’t fought since February 2020, and the lack of activity has hurt his case for being the best right now. Also, he hasn’t finished anyone inside the distance since 2018.
Jones is not active, and when he comes back to the octagon sometime later this year, there will likely be some rust from inactivity for that long.
On the contrary, Usman is active. He’s fought three times since the pandemic hit about a year ago.
Three of Usman’s last four fights have ended by knockout. He isn’t just beating everyone. He is dominating them both on the ground and standing up.
Some pundits say the 33-year-old is still getting better.
Usman’s 13-fight win streak is only second to UFC legend Anderson Silva who holds the record of 16 straight UFC wins.
What do your eyes say? What do the stats and fight résumé tell you? Is Usman number one?
If not, we are darn sure Usman’s name is at least right up there.
