All hail the king. You, the Bloody Elbow readers have spoken and your voices have been heard, and now, the greatest MMA striker of all time is…
JOSE ALDO
The UFC Featherweight champion defeated Anderson Silva by a score of 110-86 in the final round to claim the gold, handing Silva the silver. Important to note that this Silva vs. Aldo match-up came right after the news of Silva’s failed drug test – interesting to consider what might have been the result prior to that news.
Silva was, understandably, Aldo’s toughest challenge of the tournament. Here’s his path to the gold:
def. Maurice Smith 54-4
def. Carlos Condit 51-8
def. Shogun Rua 67-17
def. Fedor Emelianenko 46-17
def. Anderson Silva 110-86
That’s an impressive run that includes a victory over 2 of the men most often cited as MMA’s GOAT. One other note from this victory – this was a BE’s Baddest rematch, as Silva defeated Aldo in the Final Four of our GOAT tournament (Silva ultimately fell to Fedor in the finals). Now, Aldo has his revenge.
In the Bronze medal match-up, Lyoto Machida defeated Fedor, 57-19, making your final standings in the list of all time greatest MMA strikers:
1. Jose Aldo
2. Anderson Silva
3. Lyoto Machida
4. Fedor Emelianenko
This means the BE readers have named Fedor the #1 greatest MMA fighter of all time, #4 greatest MMA striker of all time, and top 8 greatest MMA submission fighters of all time. Not bad for The Last Emperor.
Check out the final tournament bracket below.
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