Having finally completed my South African MMA Rankings for each
division, it seemed only fitting to look at the country as a whole. Pound for
pound rankings are common enough in fighting sports, and come with their fair
amount of speculation and criticism. Here is my list of the 10 best pound for
pound (P4P) MMA fighters in South Africa:
1. Jeremy “Pitbull” Smith (11-1)
Jeremy Smith has achieved more in his young MMA career than
most South African MMA fighters. Currently on an 11 fight winning streak, the
Pitbull has defeated local and international talent alike. On 2 March 2012,
Jeremy Smith removed any doubt of him being the best fighter in the country by
defeating a very game Garreth McLellan to earn the EFC Africa Middleweight
title.
2. Costa Ioannou (4-0)
Costa Ioannou has been a dominant force in the EFC
lightweight division since his debut in 2010,
manhandling his opponents en route the EFC Africa lightweight title.
Ioannou was also the first fighter to successfully defend his EFC title in
2011, and still undefeated, shows no
signs of slowing down in the near future.
3. Ruan “Fangzz” Potts (14-0)
Ruan Potts has had a dream run in the EFC, finishing every
fighter the promotion has put in his path. In 2011 Potts earned himself the
coveted EFC Africa heavyweight title, and later that year became the second man
to successfully defend his title, mere minutes after Ioannou. Ruan Potts has
won an extraordinary 14 fights in a row and has yet to be defeated in
professional MMA.
4. Garreth “Soldierboy” McLellan (6-2)
Garreth McLellan has evolved as a fighter over the past few
years and now shows a completely well rounded game. McLellan, now 5-1 in the
EFC, showed just why he is on this list in his titanic clash with Jeremy Smith
at EFC 12, a fight in which he had the champion and P4P #1 in trouble on
several occasions.
5. Chris Bright (26-3)
Chris Bright is somewhat of an MMA legend in South Africa
and has a truly notable record. The Port Elizabeth local also boasts
international experience and has never lost in his natural weight division.
Bright however has not fought since May 2010, which begs the question of how he
will perform against the rapidly improving athletes of today. Hopefully this
question will be answered soon enough.
6. Brendon Katz (7-1)
Brendon Katz’ sole professional loss was at the hands of
Costa Ioannou in a fight of the night clash. Shy of that, Katz has racked up 7
wins, won an XFC title and has now made the jump to fighting internationally
with great success.
7. Rico “White Lion” Hattingh (14-2)
Rico Hattingh mustered an impressive record early in his MMA
career with 13 straight wins. Hattingh’s losses have both come from
international opponents, and after his EFC debut in 2010, his local record stood
at 14-0. Hattingh has had a string of injury problems which has forced him out
of the Hexagon for almost 2 years. Hopefully Hattingh will be back in action
soon, in all likelihood against Ruan Potts in a epic South African heavyweight
clash.
8. Darren “Double D” Daniel (5-1)
Darren Daniel has defeated some of South Africa’s top MMA
fighters in brutal fashion, including current EFC welterweight champion Dallas
Jakobi. Daniel is also undefeated on South African soil, his lone loss coming
from an international bout in China. Darren Daniel has been out of action for a
while, but is set for a return in 2012.
9. Demarte “The Wolf” Pena (3-0)
Reigning EFC Africa featherweight champion Demarte Pena is
undefeated in the Hexagon and has defeated some of the top featherweights in
the country. The wolf will face his greatest test when he meets dangerous
contender Wesley Hawkey in his first title defence.
10. Dallas Jakobi (12-5)
Dallas Jakobi earned his spot on this list by capping off a
solid 3 fight winning streak with an impressive win against Adam Speechly at
EFC 10. The victory saw Jakobi taking the EFC welterweight title in his first
welterweight fight. A newcomer to the division, Jakobi still has a lot to prove
in a stacked division. First up is Jadyson Costa at EFC 13.
Honourable mentions
Wesley Hawkey, Wentzel Nel, Adam Speechly, Martin van Staden, Tyron Rightford, Norman
Wessels
For all rankings visit my MMA Rankings page
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7 comments:
Not a bad list. It's difficult to make a full top 10 but my top 5 pound for pound would look like this:
1. Costa Ioannou
2. Jeremy Smith
3. Garreth McLellan
4. Adam Speechly
5. Chris Bright
How professional a fighter fights counts a lot for my rankings.
Interesting read, I definitely think Chef should be in though, he is a great champion
Appreciated.
Difficult to argue Speechly's case right now after Jakobi beat him. He is a great champion though and I am sure he will be back.
Wessels was a tricky one, hence the honourable mention. In the end I just felt that his quality of opposition was not as high as some of the other fighters on this list. Will have to see how he performs at LHW.
Go Pitbull! Best fighter in South Africa, well done mate!
No Andrew Van Zyl? or Denzil Wait?
@dialate Who would you take out to put them in?
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