The Rundown: Fighting Favorites

I realized on the way home from work tonight that for all the time I spend talking about MMA on this site, I've never dropped a Rundown centered around the one thing outside of Sarah that my life is actually centered around.

How do I go well-over 500 posts without dropping the most easy-to-put-together list I could ever imagine? Well, no one ever said I was the smartest...

So after way too long a delay, let's get into the five fighters I'd fight you to the death over in today's Rundown.

All-Time Top 5 Favorite Fighters

5. Forrest Griffin
One of the winners from Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter, Griffin will be the first to tell you that he's not that great of a fighter. He doesn't have a dominant skill like many guys these days and isn't going to knock you into next week with one shot any time soon.

What he does have is tremendous heart and drive. He beats guys he shouldn't beat and does it with a goofy smile on his big-eared face.

As of late, Griffin has been shooting up my rankings with his numerous comedic appearances in video segments, like the one where he tried selling copies of his book at Borders and his earnest assessment of things on UFC Countdown.

4. George St-Pierre
Canadian, dominant in almost every facet of the game and a tremendous ambassador for the sport, GSP is the face of the UFC and deserving of the role.

Additionally, he earns high marks in my books for his attire; while others rock horrific Affliction t-shirts with skulls and daggers and glitter, GSP sports a suit and looks crisp all the time.

What? You thought I stopped be a fashion guy all of a sudden?

3. Miguel Torres
The WEC Bantamweight champion is supremely confident and with good reason: sitting at 37-1 heading into his fight this weekend, Torres hasn't been beaten in nearly six years.

Torres goes a thousand every second of every round until the fight is over and throws out some crazy moves from time to time. Not many guys try a rolling kick ever, not to mention in a title fight against an undefeated opponent.

Best of all, Torres has a super mullet. Seriously. Google him. It's awesome in a "it's so bad it's good" kind of way.

2. Royce Gracie
The man who got me hooked on the sport and taught me that in Brazilian "R" is pronounced like an "H" is an absolute legend and will always be the best ever to fight in the UFC in my books.

Watching him submit guys over and over during those early UFC tournaments was simply unbelievable. as was his epic battle with "The Gracie Killer" Kazushi Sakuraba back in 2000.

We marvel at guys who fight 15 or 25 minute wars; those two went 90 minutes... just incredible.

1. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Three words: Ricardo Arona Powerbomb.

It's going to be very hard for me to ever select something else as my all-time favorite knockout and it's going to be equally hard to knock Rampage off the top of my list.

Not only is he a dominant fighter, the dude is a video blog goldmine. Whether it's picking fights with Mo Lawal, playing bag-tag his omnipresent wingman Tiki Ghosn and Dana White or whatever, Rampage never ceases to make me laugh.

Then he goes in the ring, let's out his trademark howl and gets to "whippin' that ass" as he would say.

What's not to like?