Fedor Emelianenko is the greatest pound for pound fighter in MMA history

To win this debate, I merely need to show one MMA fighter has ever been better than Fedor Emelianenko. And unfortunately for my opponent, Emelianenko is not the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in MMA history. That distinction clearly belongs to Anderson Silva.1. Anderson Silva has defeated better competitionWhile Silva (31 - 4) and Emelianenko (33 - 4) own similar win / loss records, Silva deserves credit for beating significantly better competition. According to Silva's manager Ed Soares, the comparison isn't even close:"Yeah, Fedor had 30 wins, but do you know some of those guys he had wins against? I mean who are they? One of them’s an actor, one of them was a comedian, I mean no offense but Hong Man Choi? How can you compare that to the guys that Anderson has been able to beat? From Vitor Belfort to Rich Franklin to Forrest Griffin to Dan Henderson. . . If that doesn’t prove it, I don’t know what else does." [1]Similarly, Sports Illustrated's Tim Marchman had the following to say when comparing their level of competition:"[Emelianenko's] record is padded with conquests of the likes of pro wrestler Yuji Nagata, pituitary case Hong-Man Choi and judoka Naoya Ogawa. Imagine Cain Velasquez taking fights against John Cena, Butterbean and Shaquille O'Neal and you'll have an idea of the absurdity of some of these bouts. . . . Silva, by contrast, has always faced professional fighters." [2]2. Anderson Silva wins in more convincing fashionSince coming to the UFC, Silva hasn't just won his all of fights (14 - 0 record); he has dominated. Of his 14 wins, 12 came from knockout or submission - a simply amazing percentage. [3] This is in stark contrast to Fedor Emelianenko, as Tim Marchman points out:"In the four most important fights [Silva] had, against Henderson, Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin, he won in devastating style. He doesn't just finish elite opponents, but makes them seem as if they're competing in a different and lesser sport. It's a gift. In his four most important fights, Emelianenko won three decisions and took a no-contest. This is no cause for shame, but it's a fact." [2]3. Silva defeated an opponent that later knocked out EmelianenkoWhile Silva and Emelianenko haven't fought against each other, they do share one common opponent: Dan Henderson. Comparing their results against Henderson removes all doubt as to which fighter is better.In 2008, Silva submitted a 37-year old Dan Henderson by rear naked choke in the second round - quite a feat considering that Henderson was a two-time Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling. By contrast, Emelianenko got knocked out in the first round by a 40-year old Henderson in 2011. [4]4. Silva has gotten better with ageAlthough Silva (36) is more than a year older than Emelianenko (35), Silva remains the best fighter in the world while many people speculate that Emelianenko is already washed up.Silva is currently riding a 15-match winning streak, and is the consensus #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world according to ESPN, Sherdog, Yahoo! Sports, MMAFighting.com, and other publications. [3] According to one MMA blogger, even this is an understatement: "Just calling Silva the best doesn't really capture just how big a gap there is between Silva and the rest of the sport right now." [5]Emelianenko, by contrast, only recently stopped a three-match losing streak. He isn't listed anywhere in the top 10 best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. [5]Age and fight experience don't account for this huge discrepancy between the fighters, because Emelianenko is younger than Silva and began fighting later in his life. [1]Sources:[1] http://mmaweekly.com...;[2] http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com...;[3] http://en.wikipedia.org...;[4] http://en.wikipedia.org...;[5] http://www.mmafighting.com...;