All Time Rankings: Lightweights

All rankings are subjective, as such mine are going to be made under my own criteria.  These continue championships, title defenses, historical significance, and my personal preference.  As this is my blog, I get to use it to push my own narcissistic agenda.  If you agree/disagree/don't know go ahead and drop a comment.  I'd be happy to tell you why I'm right.
Lightweight is the smallest weight class that I am going to make All Time Rankings for.  This is not for a lack of talent but rather the short time period.  The lightweight class did not debut a champion at the highest levels of the sport until February 23, 2001 when Jens Pulver defeated Caol Uno to become the first UFC lightweight champion.  The lightweight division wasn't even much of a factor when I first became a fan and in fact had no champion for four years until Sean Sherk defeated Kenny Florian at UFC 64 to become the second UFC lightweight champion.  Over in Pride, Takanori Gomi was the only champion to ever be crowned.  The fighters on my top 5 have a combined career record of 104-25-4 and held Pride, UFC, Strikeforce, Shooto, WEC, Reality Fighting and Rumble on the Rock championships.

Honorable Mention : Jens Pulver, Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian

5. Benson Henderson

Years Active: 2006-present
Record: 18-2
Championships: WEC, UFC
Championship Fight Record: 6-1
Versus UFC/Pride Champion Record: 2-0

This was probably the hardest slot for me to pick.  I had it narrowed down between Henderson and Jens Pulver.  What did it for me in the end is that championship fight record.  That, and the fact that a Ben Henderson fight is guaranteed to be a FOY contender.  Henderson is the current UFC champion, having won it from Frankie Edgar and defending it against both Frankie Edgar and Nate Diaz.  A black belt in both Tae Kwon Do and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Bendo combines exciting stand up with solid wrestling and a seemingly untappable submission defense.  Henderson will be defending his belt on April 20th against the next man on this list.


4. Gilbert Melendez
Years Active: 2002-present
Record: 21-2
Championships: WEC, Strikeforce
Championship Fight Record: 10-1

I had to set aside my disdain for Cesar Gracie's crew of thugs and recognize that Gilbert Melendez is simply one of the most talented lightweights ever.  Look at that championship fight record.  His only loss on there was Josh Thomson, who he has beaten twice since.  I had a periphery knowledge of the man but was never really took notice until he made a mockery of the hated Shinya Aoki.  The destruction of the formidable Tatsuya Kawajiri had me convinced that he just might be the top lightweight fighter in the world.  Scott Coker calls Gilbert Melendez a pillar of Strikeforce.  You can't get much more elite than that.  The only thing left for him is to win his April 20th fight against the UFC champion, Benson Henderson.

3. Takanori Gomi
Years Active: 1998-present
Record: 34-8 (1)
Championships: Shooto, Pride
Championship Fight Record: 4-2

Versus UFC/Pride Champion Record: 1-1

For a time the "Fireball Kid" was considered the greatest lightweight in the world.  His following (read fanboys, counting me as one of them) regaled at him throwing heat at opponents in the Pride ring.  His baseball influenced punching style sent many men crashing to the canvas.  Before entering Pride, Gomi was the Shooto welterweight champion.  He defended the title once before relinquishing it to Joachim Hansen and then losing to BJ Penn. Gomi shared the honor of Sherdog 2005 Fighter of the Year with Shogun Rua.  At the peak of his powers Takanori would have been favored against any 155 lber in the world.

2. Frankie Edgar
Years Active 2005-present
Record: 15-4-1
Championships: Reality Fighting Championships, UFC
Championship Fight Record: 4-3-1
Versus UFC/Pride Champion Record: 3-3
The modern day Rocky.  In my "Why Love MMA" post, I listed Frankie "The Answer" Edgar as the epitome of one of my main reasons.  The man has an iron will to go along with his iron jaw.  As has been said a lot lately, never has a man lost three consecutive fights but not any standing.  Just as Rocky was known as the underdog that simply would not stay down, Edgar proved in trilogy with Gray Maynard  that he can never be counted out of a fight.  He proved in his two fights with the legendary BJ Penn that he could win as a gigantic underdog.  After the first of the two fights, he was even nominated for an ESPY.  To date, Edgar has won five post fight awards, fight of the year and is ranked on multiple UFC top 10 statistics list.  At 31 years old, he will only add to this legacy and possibly enter his name onto the list of greatest featherweights and all time pound for pound greats as well.


1. B.J. Penn
Years Active:  2001-Present
Record: 16-9-2
Championships: UFC (weltwerweight and lightweight), Rumble on the Rock
Championship Fight Record: 6-5-1
Versus UFC/Pride Champion Record: 7-7

Could there be anyone else?  Especially if you have read any of my previous posts, you would have seen this coming.  The Prodigy came sprinting into the cage in his early days with such a fire and intensity that was nearly impossible to match.  His willingness to fight anyone at any weight has defined him. He has fought from lightweight all the way to light heavyweight.  His one time foray into the light heavyweight division found him on the losing end of a decision to UFC champion Lyoto Machida.  That's right, he didn't get stopped when he went 50 pounds up from his natural weight and fought one of the best, he lost a decision.  His first victory over Matt Hughes and his dominance of the lightweight division in the UFC cemented Baby Jay as the greatest  lightweight of all time. 




Next week I will go through the top 5 welterweights of all time.