In Search Of The Perfect Fight

For years, fans and fighters alike have been drawn to combat sports in search of the perfect fight. Fighters move up and down in weight classes to challenge themselves and push their bodies to the absolute limit to find their gladiatorial equal.

But what makes a fight perfect? Is it two experts of their own fields, dueling it out for martial arts supremacy? Or masters of similar styles, such as stand-up monsters dropping bombs on each other's faces for the mere pleasure of it? Then there are jiu jitsu black belts transitioning from position to position, grappling and counter grappling with the constant threat of danger literally in the palm of their hands.

In boxing, there have been several fights that could be considered perfect. "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler vs. "Sugar" Ray Leonard comes to mind and let's not forget about Ali's "Rumble in the Jungle" or the "Thrilla in Manilla", where he battled some of boxing's greatest heavyweights in George Foreman and Joe Frazier - coming out victorious in the end.

But what self respecting boxing fan hasn't been sitting around a bar and asked themselves: who would win between Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson? Two fighters that could have collided at just the right time in their careers and put on a show that would be so unique that it could only be deemed as "perfect".

After the jump, we'll take a look at the current champions of the UFC and compare them side by side with a fighter from the history of the sport that would provide the best challenge for them and really push them to their limits for the perfect fight.

Heavyweight: Junior dos Santos vs. Fedor Emelianenko of 2005

via www.mmalinker.com

Junior dos Santos is coming off the biggest win of his career after dismantling former champion Cain Velasquez in very impressive fashion. His striking has solidied him as one of the baddest men on the planet. The former "baddest man on the planet" was Fedor Emelianenko and there was no better time to watch him fight then in 2004.

Fedor defeated Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, and fought and won twice against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira all in the same year to stake his claim as the best heavyweight of all time. A prime Fedor slugging it out with JDS would be a site to see and it would be a miracle if that fight somehow made it out of the first round.

Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones vs. Chuck Liddell of 2006

via ufrsports.com

Jon Jones has had one hell of a ride to the top in his short career. With a record of 14-1 with his only loss coming by disqualification, Jones has proven to be the next king of the light heavyweight division. Chuck Liddell, the man who held the throne from 2005-2007, is considered the greatest light heavyweight in the history of the UFC.

Could Chuck Liddell catch the youngster Jones with his vintage overhand right? Or does the current champ dispose of Liddell just as easily as he did his previous opponents?

Middleweight: Anderson Silva vs. Frank Shamrock of 1998

via mmaworldwide.com

Anderson Silva is widely known as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. Frank Shamrock was the first fighter of his kind, blending all techniques together to deliver savage beatings to the foes he encountered.

The striking display of Silva against the athletic strategy that Shamrock imposed would be a fantastic matchup and a real battle between two great tacticians.

Welterweight: Georges St. Pierre vs. Royce Gracie of 1993

via 1.bp.blogspot.com

Most can speculate that we have already seen a similar fight like this go down when an aged Gracie battled Matt Hughes at UFC 60. Hughes dominated Gracie but Royce was nowhere near his prime, when he would fight men almost twice his size.

Georges St. Pierre is a great champion with seemingly no flaws and a showdown with the winner of UFC 1 would be a challenging fight for the champ.

Lightweight: Frankie Edgar vs. Takanori Gomi of 2005

via cdn3.sbnation.com

Frankie Edgar came out on top of his three fight showdown with Gray Maynard, the only man to ever defeat him, in impressive fashion by knocking the challenger out in the fourth round. Takanori Gomi was on top of the lightweight world in 2005 and was on a ten fight win streak culminating in a victory over Hayato "Mach" Sakurai at Pride Shockwave 2005.

Both are brilliant boxers with Edgar having the speed advantage and Gomi being the more powerful puncher. This would be a real bloodbath as neither fighter is known for backing down.

Featherweight: Jose Aldo vs. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto of 2005

via cdn3.sbnation.com

Watching Jose Aldo fight is a thing of beauty and should be considered a privilege. At his young age, Aldo has shown an immense amount of talent and natural ability. "Kid" Yamamoto was once considered the future of the sport and even won a title in K-1.

The stand-up battle that would go down in the octagon featuring Aldo and a "Kid" Yamamoto who was in his prime would provide fireworks and an explosive outcome.

Bantamweight: Dominick Cruz vs. Miguel Torres of 2008

via www.cagetoday.com

Dominick Cruz avenged his only loss recently to title challenger Urijah Faber. Cruz's speed and crisp striking has enabled him to become the best fighter in the world at is weight class. In 2008, Miguel Torres was 35-1 and a ferocious beast inside the cage. His style of fighting during that period could only be described as "destructive".

After a knockout loss to Brian Bowles, Torres changed his approach and decided against all out headhunting, relying on strategy and intelligent fighting. There is no doubt that a fight between these two would go down as a classic.

Leave your opinions and comments if you have any other fights that you think would be perfect match-ups for the current UFC champs.