January 18, 2008: The phrase ground and pound was first put together by heavyweight MMA fighter Mark Coleman. Thus, many consider him the grandfather of the tactic. Along with this, when one thinks of ground and pound happening in a ring or octagon, they tend to think of people like Mark Coleman delivering it.

In other words, big bruising types.

But the interesting thing is that ground and pound tactics are widely practiced and delivered in MMA by fighters of varying sizes and make- ups. Said another way, lightweight fighters (155 pounds and under) are just as likely to take someone down and pound away as the bigger guys.

So lightweights and ground and pound, huh? Well, that inevitably leads to one question. Which lightweights in MMA today are able to utilize ground and pound tactics to their advantage best?

It's a question that Submit To MMA aims to answer.

The Top 5 MMA Ground and Pound Lightweights

We're not talking about a list of the top 5 lightweight fighters in the world here. Rather, we're talking about the five lightweights in MMA today that utilize ground and pound best. Now let's get going.

Honorable Mention: Gesias "JZ" Calvancante

JZ Calvancante is one strong guy. Like all MMA fighters that are able to utilize this fighting tactic to their benefit, Calvancante has excellent takedowns. However, that's not the thing that necessarily comes to mind these days when you think of him.

Rather, one's thoughts often to drift to the pound part of the equation.

Calvancante tends to demolish opponents once he gets on top of them. Along with this, he's finished two of his last three opponents rather quickly utilizing ground and pound fighting tactics. Just ask top 10 lightweight Vitor Ribeiro about the pressure Calvancante can dish out when on top of someone on the ground. He witnessed it back on 9/17/07.

Scary.

Once Calvancante-who is a very well rounded fighter, by the way-gets a few more top tier fights under his belt he may move up on this list. But for starters we're talking honorable mention.

5. Gilbert Melendez

Gilbert Melendez is hardly all about ground and pound (like most MMA fighters). However, he regularly demonstrates the three things that fighters must have to be successful with ground and pound. First, he's got the cardio. Melendez has also demonstrated the takedown and ground control capabilities (and takedown defense if you saw his fight against Clay "The Carpenter" Guida). And he's certainly got the strength and punching power.

Which is why he made the list.

4. Frank Edgar

The first and most important prerequisite to being a successful ground and pound fighter is takedowns and ground control. After all, without that the pound part of the equation never happens. Of course, when we're talking about takedowns and ground control, the conversation is really about wrestling skills. And here's the thing about New Jersey's Frank Edgar.

He's an outstanding wrestler. We're talking about a guy that made it to the New Jersey state championship tournament on two occasions as a high school wrestler. Further, Edgar continued wrestling at Clarion University of Pennsylvania where he qualified for the nationals all four years.

What's more, Edgar has proven his ground and pound dominance in his short UFC career by taking it to outstanding fighters like Tyson Griffin and Spencer Fisher in ground and pound fashion.

When Submit To MMA revises this list over the coming months, don't be surprised if Frank Edgar has taken some steps forward. But for now, given his relative inexperience at the highest level of mixed martial arts, Edgar falls in at number four.

3. Clay Guida

Somehow, Clay Guida tends to lose most of the close fights he's engaged in which is a shame because he's an outstanding fighter. Think about it: He lost very close and somewhat controversial decisions to Gilbert Melendez and Tyson Griffin. Further, he was truly dominating Roger Huerta in their recent Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale bout before Huerta dizzied him in the third stanza and pulled off a submission.

But here are the facts: Clay Guida was able to ground and pound each one of these guys during those bouts successfully. He's a cardio dynamo with excellent takedowns and ground control skills. Thus, this fan favorite deserves placement at number three.

2. Mitsuhiro Ishida

When Mitsuhiro Ishida destroyed Marcus Aurelio in ground and pound fashion, a man that had just defeated then PRIDE Light Champion Takanori Gomi back on 12/31/06, fans and media began to open their eyes. After all, Aurelio was a fighter that was known for prowess on the ground. However, he was unable to stop Ishida's takedowns and was controlled very easily on the canvas by the Japanese fighter.

Then Ishida lost to Gomi in dramatic fashion and all seemed forgotten.

But with Mitsuhiro Ishida's recent victory over Gilbert Melendez, a then undefeated fighter with outstanding cardio, wrestling skills, and ground and pound of his own, one had to give Ishida his just do.

This guy is a ground and pound nightmare for opponents. On top of it all, Ishida has a motor that has rarely been witnessed. In other words, it's not so much that he hits opponents all that hard on the ground once he gets them there (though it sure doesn't look like it feels good). Rather, Mitsuhiro Ishida hits them fast and in spurts.

Fast as lightning even. If you're a non believer just watch that Marcus Aurelio fight for confirmation. Thus, Ishida deserves the number two spot.

1. Sean Sherk

Yes, Sean Sherk is currently on suspension and has been stripped of his UFC Lightweight Title for testing positive for performance enhancing agents. However, that doesn't make him any less of a ground and pound marvel (at least for now).

Sherk currently possesses a 31-2-1 overall MMA record because he is the best in the lightweight division at taking people down, bettering his position there, and continually striking them. In fact, he's used his ground and pound skills to defeat elite opponents like Nick Diaz, Karo Parisyan, Kenny Florian, and Hermes Franca. Further, Sherk's only two losses have come at the hands of Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes, two bigger fighters that were able to stave off his ground and pound advances due to a size advantage and a high level of skill in ground and pound themselves.

One thing that you'll notice about all of the fighters on this list is that they are cardio machines. As was indicated earlier, that seems to be one of the prerequisites for delivering ground and pound successfully-you need to have the endurance to repeatedly take people down, keep them there, and strike.

Sean Sherk has cardio like perhaps no other fighter on this list or any other list. And this is why he is the standard by which all other ground and pound lightweight fighters are judged.

Looking forward to seeing what happens when Sherk comes back from suspension. Despite his past performances, he does have a lot to prove.

Remember to check for updates to this article on a regular basis.