Joseph Benavidez isn’t on the card for Saturday’s WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber pay-per view, but the bantamweight fighter knows that it is an important night in his career.

As World Extreme Cagefighting jumps into the PPV world, a successful card on Saturday can lead to big things for the promotions other fighters, including Benavidez, who is one of the WEC’s brightest young stars.

“This is huge. It is the start of the WEC growing as big as the UFC,” Benavidez said of the PPV. “I am really excited about it because I know it is going to do well and it is going to give us more respect and it is going to get the fighters more money. I have gotten two bonuses from the WEC for my fights and I know it isn’t anything compared to what the UFC does. We have some great business minds running this organization, so things will be fine. I just need to stay patient and things are going to work out the best for me.”

AMP Energy sponsors Benavidez and allowed Bullz-eye to get a chance to speak with him fresh off his victory over former WEC Bantamweight champion, Miguel Torres.

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One month ago I had a lot of debate as to who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

After UFC 101, my questions were answered.

Long have I felt Fedor Emelianenko was the best in the world no matter the weight class, but that honor I now give to Anderson Silva following his absolutely flawless win over Forrest Griffin.

The Silva victory combined with Emelianenko opting to sign with Strikeforce puts Silva at No.1 in my book. When making this list I am considering the fighters as they are today, not as they were five years ago. Emelianenko looked a little sloppy in his last fight and is now going to have much easier competition as a whole in Strikeforce, whereas Silva and Georges St. Pierre have fought the best and looked impressive doing so.
So, here is my list. As always, I encourage healthy discussions.

1. Anderson Silva (24-4) – Middleweight/Light Heavyweight – UFC
If you really look at, the Silva vs. Griffin fight was every bit as big as St. Pierre vs. Penn from a standpoint that you had a champion from one weight class facing a bigger fighter that was one fight removed from being the champion in that weight class as well. Silva made Griffin look like Glass Joe from Mike Tyson Punch Out and basically made Griffin quit out of embarrassment (which has caused me to stop reading Forrest’s book, as he know seems to look like a hypocrite). After that display, I truly feel that Silva could not only be Light Heavyweight champion, I have serious beliefs that he is the kind of guy that could actually beat a guy like Brock Lesnar. His accuracy and power while backing up would be a problem for Lesnar in more ways than one. Brock wouldn’t be able to get a takedown without eating a solid knee or punch that could put him down. I know many of you think I am crazy probably, but that is the way I feel.

2. Georges St. Pierre (19-2) – Welterweight – UFC
I used to think GSP could give Silva a fight, but I don’t feel so good about that now. If Silva was to move to Light Heavyweight on a permanent basis, I would like to see GSP move up to middleweight for a new set of challenges. Guys like Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann don’t seem to present much of a challenge and nobody is going to be excited to see rematches with Jon Fitch or Thiago Alves. Middleweight could present some intriguing fights and would really test GSP.

3. Fedor Emelianenko (30-1-1) – Heavyweight – Strikeforce
Well, again this is all about present day and Fedor hasn’t done anything as of late to keep his top ranking while guys like Silva and St. Pierre are beating some of the best. Fedor had no control over what happened with Affliction: Trilogy, but the option to sign with the UFC was there and he turned it down. He has to know that UFC has better overall talent and hosting an exhibition sparring match with Gegard Mousasi is not going to get me excited. I think Fedor’s career is probably the best of anyone, but in terms of best fighter in the world today, I don’t see him as No. 1.

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Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

– At last weekend’s UFC 101 show, Anderson Silva got his balls back with a stunning knockout of Forrest Griffin and BJ Penn taught Kenny Florian a very painful lesson.

– Brian Bowles scored the upset of the year with his shocking first-round KO of WEC bantamweight ruler Miguel Torres. Unfortunately, Bowles got paid peanuts for the win, and broke his hand in the process.

– Inspired by Nick Diaz’s marijuana-related screwjob of Strikeforce, we counted down the 10 most cursed MMA events of all time.

– The UFC has recently been stockpiling crusty old-timers, including Vladimir Matyushenko and Phil Baroni. Can a “Veterans” season of The Ultimate Fighter be far behind?

– We took a look at some classic MMA moments, crudely recreated in MS Paint.

– Notorious MMA steroid abuser Josh Barnett sold his last shred of dignity in a freaky pro-wrestling bout in Japan.

– Hit up CagePotato.com starting tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET for our liveblog of “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg.” Get familiar with the card by reading our interview with Cris Cyborg, some last-minute betting advice, as well as our always provocative “Ben vs. Ben” debate.

Miguel Torres may be the best fighter you’ve never seen.

At 37-1 in his professional mixed martial arts career, Torres is considered to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. But, it was only in the last two years that Torres has started to garner national recognition. Two years ago Torres debuted for World Extreme Cagefighting, and in a short time became the WEC Bantamweight (135-pound limit) champion with a first-round submission of then-champion, Chase Beebe, in September of 2007.

In his first title defense, Torres stole the show at WEC 34 in a three-round war with Yoshior Maeda and began to draw the attention of MMA fans worldwide. Now, as he is set for his fourth title defense on Aug. 9 against Brian Bowles in WEC 42: Torres vs. Bowles on Versus at 9 p.m., Torres is looking for another exciting fight that will push him up the pound-for-pound rankings and make him an even bigger commodity in the world of MMA.

As Torres prepares for his latest fight, he took some time from training to speak with The Scores Report about Bowles, how he got started in MMA, and his feelings on Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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At one point following UFC 100 this past weekend, I felt like there are a lot of new questions about who the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world is.

Georges St. Pierre certainly raised his stock with a definitive win over Thiago Alves, who was considered to be GSP’s toughest fight to date prior to UFC 100.

Brock Lesnar also deserves some consideration for his dominant performance over Frank Mir, which left many wondering who can beat him.

Here is my personalized top 10 ranking of who I feel are the top 10 overall fighters in the world. In making this list, I consider win-loss record, how convincingly the fighters have won their most recent fights, and their appeal to other fans. Well, here we go:

1. Fedor Emelianeko (30-1-1) – Heavyweight – Affliction
About a year ago, I was one of those people that claimed that Fedor was overrated and didn’t fight the best. Well, after two quick KO’s of Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski, you can’t argue that Fedor is not the best. The guy has virtually never lost, with his lone loss coming on a cut. The guy never changes his expression and never makes a mistake in his fights. Until someone beats him cleanly, Fedor will be at the top of my list.

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