So, essentially, you're here to bravely be the light which cuts through the fog laid by the UFC and enlighten us sheeple to the glory that was PRIDE?  Come on.  One of the things that's been great about this thread is that it has had absolutely none of the PRIDE-UFC bullshit that, somehow, still is prevalent on all the MMA boards even though PRIDE hasn't existed for over a year.

Yeah, Gomi is an animal.  He also lost twice while holding his belt without losing it somehow, and one of them was a UFC cast-off.  Does that mean UFC > PRIDE?  No, it means on that day, Diaz > Gomi.

As for that TUF joke of a fighter?  He beat Shogun in every facet of the fight, for the entire fight.  Honestly, anybody that doesn't think Forrest Griffin is a hell of a fighter just because he got into the UFC on a TV show is delusional.  A whole bunch of guys brought in through TUF were on there way to the UFC anyways, it just sped up the process, and guys like Forrest and Florian have since improved with every fight and turned into legitimate contenders.

Finally, as for Anderson, what he did in Pride is irrelevant.  His last PRIDE fight was in 2004, and the amount of growth possible in that time is substantial, and he's clearly made the most of it.  With the exclusion of the upkick DQ against Okami (which I do not doubt he'll avenge when they meet) he's won 9-straight since falling victim to one of the slickest subs ever in that final Pride fight.  In that time, he's finished the former UFC Champ (twice) and the former PRIDE Champ, and done so convincingly, with nobody in that stretch making it out of the second round.  The P4P rankings are supposed to be about who is most substantially buzz-sawing their division, and I can't really see anybody as having done so more thoroughly of late than Anderson, and then, GSP. 

Fedor was the best in the world, and very well could still be (hell, probably is) but the fact is it's been over a year since he fought a real opponent, and that was following a year lay off from his last real fight.  He ran through everybody in the past, including guys still on top now, but as I said, fighters can grow substantially in one year, let alone three or four, so he isn't likely to see the tops of any P4Ps again until he fights some more top talent (which it seems he may finally be up to again.)

It is never a bad time to profess hatred for Mike Bisping.

A few things to address:

First of, regarding Staff's comment on Sherdog's P4P rankings, I think they have the top three ranked correctly. Josh Gross (formerly oh Sherdog, but has recently moved over to SI.com) and Jordan Breen are the two primarily responsible for establishing Sherdog's rankings, and both have stated on numerous occasions that they rank fighters based on what they have accomplished recently, most significantly against other ranked competition. First consider that Rampage has beaten Dan Henderson and Chuck Liddell in his last two fights, both of whom were highly ranked at the time of his victories. Next, remember that St. Pierre's upset loss to Serra is only three fights in the past, and came against a guy who nobody considered a top ten WW, let alone a top P4P fighter. That has to impact his ranking, and I think that loss, combined with Rampage's recent record, is why Rampage gets the nod from the guys at Sherdog.

For Gemineye, I think it's absurd to compare Anderson Silva from four years ago to Anderson Silva today. The guy is a completely different fighter. For one, he's absolutely huge now, walking around in the 200s. Also, somewhere between when he left PRIDE and when he wound up in the UFC, he found his power. The guy has mind boggling power behind his punches now, immediately making him a significantly more dangerous fighter than he was years ago.

Also, to reiterate what SteelFan said, I think we should try and keep the UFC v. PRIDE bullshit to a minimum. This sport is ultimately about the fighters. While the UFC is the best promoter in the world, and thus much of the MMA discussion in this thread has focused on UFC events, they're still just a promoter. Let's not get into silly promoter versus promoter arguments.

okay look people are misunderstanding me here, i wasn't trying to make any pride vs. ufc bullshit. what i was doing is just throwing in some comments about pride because it seemed that people were not talking about it at all. i understand some of the things i said were a little on the ignorant side. i forgot who said it on this forum but alot of poeple only take in what ufc gives them. i was just trying to let some of the people who may not know pride, know a little bit about it (since this is a mma thread and not a ufc thread). so i truly apologize for making ignorant comments about it. like i said, i was just trying to let people get to know what used to be a great promotion. what i've read after my comment was true, fighters can gain alot of skill in a year. this is what made me realize i was being ignorant. so from the bottom of my heart i am truly sorry. for now on i will not be so pro-pride. i love fighting period so please don't hold one stupid comment against me and i will be sure to be more sensible. forest is a great fighter but it just upset me. i have been following fighting for a very long time so i can give some good input if you kind people would give me a second chance to show you i'm not gonna cause problems here. the last thing i want is to see this thread go to shit.

BJ Penn is still an animal.  That being said, if there's anybody more tailor-made to fight him, I don't know who it is.  In 35 fights, Sherk's never been tapped, including his last three coming against some of the top submission fighters the UFC had.  Granted, none of them are BJ Penn-good at grappling, but Franca, Florian, Diaz is a hell of a three-man run.  Also, when you consider his only two losses are to the buzzsaw we call GSP and the greatest welterweight of all time (until GSP passes him) in Hughes, both in fights a weight class above his preferred weight against natural welters, 32-2-1 becomes even more impressive than 32-2-1 already is.  I'm really interested to see where this fight goes.

BJ Penn tapping him wouldn't surprise me, because he's BJ "The Prodigy" Penn.

Sherk surviving the first few rounds and grinding out a decision wouldn't either, because he's fighting BJ "Captain Cardio" Penn.

Do you mean North American jiu-jitsu artist? GSP is a French Canadian, so he's not really American. It's also somewhat awkward to call him a JJ guy, because he considers himself first and foremost a striker - his original training is in karate. Not saying he's not a great grappler (he handily pummeled Hughes, so no doubt there), just pointing out that it's a little odd.

I'll run this based on today, and just off the top of my head, so odds are high at least one answer will feature a glaring omission.
BJJ:
 - Penn -- I don't think his BJJ skills have ever been doubted in a fight, only his ability to apply them past minute 7.
 - Big Nog -- Also would be the clear favorite in toughest, due to his "Let them hit me for 10 minutes, then tap them anyways" style of fighting
Wrestling:
 - GSP -- He may not have the pedigree of other wrestlers in the game, but he still dismantled two decorated wrestlers in Hughes and Kos, and his wrestling now is clearly top-notch.
 - Hughes --  Though I'm not sure if he actually is succumbing to age, or if he'd still dominate at wrestling against anyone that's not GSP
Strikers:
 - Anderson -- I think the results speak for themselves.
 - Fedor -- I just felt like he had to be on my list somewhere, and since no part of his game is bad, this works for me.
Innovators:
 - Aoki -- I have never seen another fighter who is practically all-subs still always be on the offensive.  And, come on, standing rubber guard.
 - Sudo -- Sure, it has nothing to do with the fight, but you have to admit, the motherfucker is pure entertainment.
All-Around:
 - Anderson -- See above.
 - GSP -- I need to see Fedor come out and run through a top guy again, like he used to, and GSP and Anderson have been.

i forgot about sudo, great choice.

yeah i could see your point. to make this more specific, lets say that rankings should not be taken into consideration. i'm not talking about who has achieved the most with what is listed. i'm just saying, in your own opinion who is the best at (X) in mma? because if it is just for fighting in general than K1 would hold both top spots for strikers. who impressed you the most? even in defeat. i'm not trying to compile an actual "who is the best at..." list. i just want to see your personal opinions and just trying to start an intresting topic to discuss. this is not even really arguable because i'm not going by any set ratings. i appreciate you clearing this up, thank you. so if you want to add a list of our own, go ahead. if not, well that's fine too. what i am trying hard NOT to do is start bullshit. so if you think this is going to create problems lets just forget about this topic and move on to something else.
Thank you.

The second fight was a slugfest - pretty much all striking with a little bit of GnP in the second round as the guys slowed the pace. It was a pretty ugly fight. IIRC, both fighters came out swinging hard and started to get gassed by the end of round 1. Forrest's guy probably won round 1. Rampage's guy came out strong in the second round and took the fight by TKO on the ground.

I think Dana liked Matt's KO because he really measured Jeremy and unloaded a couple of solid knees, then timed a kick to finish him off. Dana is prone to hyperbole, and that wasn't the best KO in TUF history, but it was a solid KO. The fight wasn't spectacular, but (to me, at least) it was pretty evident that Matt Brown was a far, far superior fighter to Jeremy May. Brown almost looked like he just let May punch himself out then finished him without much fanfare. May didn't really belong in the ring with Brown, by all appearances. Either way, Brown postures too much and May just needs to have his ass kicked a few more times.

Clip of the fights here.