Punches, people. Just punches. And in case you were wondering, this is a pound for pound list made up of only upper echelon MMA fighters still competing regularly. In other words, since Tank Abbott is no longer competing at a high nor consistent level his punch isn't going to make the list.

The five hardest punchers in MMA today (in alphabetical order not numerical as it's hard enough deciding on the top 5 pound for pound power punchers in the game let alone numbering such a mythical creation)

Honorable Mention: Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Quinton Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Tim Sylvia.

The Top 5

Andrei Arlovski:The event? UFC 66. The opponent? Marcio Cruz.

In essence, Andrei Arlovski knocked out Marcio Cruz with a punch from his back. And that was all she wrote.

Beyond that, Arlovski has dropped Ben Rothwell, Tim Sylvia (another big puncher), and Paul Buentello, amongst others.

Was there any wonder that this punching machine would make this list?

Takanori Gomi: It seems that Nick Diaz can take any punch. That said, when he got hit by Takanori Gomi in their now famous bout things looked awful hairy for several moments.

In sum, Gomi could very well be the hardest pound for pound puncher in the game today. His reflexes are cat- like, helping him to deliver punches that have taken out the likes of Mitsuhiro Ishida (didn't take him long, either), Hayato Sakurai, Jens Pulver, and Luiz Azeredo, amongst many others.

Gomi is one of the most powerful punchers of all time.

Robbie Lawler: Lawler has been in there with some of the best in the world. So when you look at his 16 MMA wins and realize that 13 came by way of (T)KO it becomes evident that something is up. However, if you go a step further to note that his last six victories have come by way of knockout, then the pattern becomes even more transparent.

Lawler is a big puncher. Big enough to make the top five power punchers in MMA, in fact.

Chuck Liddell: When discussing powerful punches, you're really talking about one punch knockout power. The kind of power that drops a man like Randy "The Natural" Couture with one shot when he'd never been truly knocked out previously. The kind of power that felled Kevin Randleman. The kind of power that dropped Tito Ortiz, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, and Alistair Overeem.

One thing that cannot be questioned is that the Iceman hits like a truck.

Liddell hasn't knocked someone out in three straight fights. But the fact is that he dropped eight of his last nine opponents with heavy punches previously to that means something.

Chuck Liddell represents the definition of punching power.

Anderson Silva: Yes, we've all heard it before. Anderson Silva is one of the most technically advanced stand up fighters in MMA history but isn't overly powerful.

Well, if that's the case then how is it that when he hits James Irvin with one punch he crushes him? How about when he punched Nathan Marquardt in their fight or when he connected with those punches on Rich Franklin in their second fight?

Make no mistake: Anderson Silva is the most technically advanced striker in the game today. He also has excellent jiu jitsu.

And he also hits like Godzilla.

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