Top Five Journalists in MMA

Months ago heavyweight fighter Shane Carwin posted online a list of those journalists he considered to be the best in the sport.  And sure, maybe his list was an attempt to lash out at those who participate in fighter rankings, but the big guy did have the right idea.  There are a ton of idiots out there cranking out blogs full of nonsense (myself included) and a ton of fools conducting horrific interviews, yet there are a few select individuals worth paying attention to.  So how’s the Average Joe on the Internet supposed to know who to trust?  Well, fear not, because MMA Journalist has made a list of the top five.  Yes, it’s a subjective list, but it’s also a true list of who I read first whenever I start up my web browser.  That’s got to mean something, right?  Anyhoo, the top five journalists in MMA are:

1. Dave Meltzer, Yahoo! Sports – Want a mix of choppy, hard-to-swallow writing with the keenest insight possible?  Meltzer is your man.  On the plus side, he came over from pro wrestling and has been around the MMA industry literally forever (he was cageside for the infamous Cain vs. Abel bout).  On the minus side, his newsletter reads like a gang of chimpanzees raped a bunch of typewriters.  But he seriously knows the business and entertainment angles of MMA like the back of his hand, and I will bite the bullet and read whatever he writes every time.
2. Josh Gross, SI.com – Gross was writing about the sport back when it was called “no hold barred”, and for years he was the duct tape that held Sherdog.com together.  To his credit, Gross isn’t afraid to ask hard questions – which, of course, means he will likely never again in his life get credentialed to a Zuffa event.  But hey, so what?  Neither will I.
3. Zach Arnold, FightOpinion.com – Arnold is the exact opposite of paid shill, which means he will harsh on anything and anyone if he sees some form of ill being perpetrated.  Yes, folks, MMA has (and needs) a moral compass, and the needle is always pointing toward FightOpinion and Arnold’s work.
4. Ryan Harkness, Fightlinker.com – I don’t know about you, but I like to read my news while smoking a joint and wearing a pair of green-tinted goggles while the Beastie Boys’ “Paul’s Boutique” plays in the background.  At least, that’s how Harkness makes me feel whenever I go to Fightlinker.  And that’s a good thing.
5. Steve Marrocco, MMAJunkie.com – Marrocco may be most famous for the time he was caught simultaneously writing for Full Contact Fighter and for MMAWeekly.com under an alias, but he churns out quality work that doesn’t make me want to throw up.  I rank him right below Gross in terms of how well he writes (which is high praise), and when I want a little insight into what makes a certain fighter tick, I know Marrocco will be the one best providing it.