LW Top Ten: UFC vs. the World

I was looking at my LW rankings and realized that I have more LWs in there who are not part of the UFC than in the UFC. It's close, at 6-4 but this goes against most peoples assumption that the UFC holds the best fighters in every division besides HW.

To be fair, my top two spots are held by UFC fighters. The other UFC spots are 9-10. Also, if I expand my ranking to the top 20 then it becomes a majority for the UFC.

My Top 10 LWs:
BJ Penn
Sean Sherk
Eddie Alvarez
Shinya Aoki
JZ Calvancanti
Takanori Gomi
Tatsuya Kawaijiri
Joachim Hanson
Kenny Florian
Joe Stevenson

How does your LW rankings compare?

I think Alvarez above Aoki is tough to justify. That is just my opinion. I know he has a win (albeit decision) over the guy who just KO'd Aoki, but that is sticky MMAth.

I also think Hansen and Kawaijiri would get dominated by Stevenson and Florian.
My opinion on JZ is mixed. I know he fought Aoki very well, but I wish he had some more big name wins.

Good list though. I would just flip some guys around.

I haven't done a Top 20 myself, but here's HDNet Fights "Inside MMA" Top 25. They have 10 UFC guys, only 2 of whom are in the Top 10. And I think some more of the IFL guys will crack this list once they start fighting people besides each other.

1 BJ Penn
2 Takanori Gomi
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Tatsuya Kawajiri
5 Gesias Calvancante
6 Vitor Ribeiro
7 Sean Sherk
8 Josh Thomson
9 Joachim Hansen
10 Shinya Aoki
11 Gilbert Melendez
12 Mitsuhiro Ishida
13 Roger Huerta
14 Kenny Florian
15 Joe Stevenson
16 Tyson Griffin
17 Jamie Varner
18 Ryan Schultz
19 Gray Maynard
20 KJ Noons
21 Nick Diaz
22 Nate Diaz
23 Frank Edgar
24 Caol Uno
25 Spencer Fisher

i have basically the same people just different spots

1) BJ Penn
2) Takinori Gomi
3) Eddie Alvarez
4) Sean Sherk
5) Shinya Aoki
6) JZ Cavalcanti
7) Joachim Hansen
8) Kenny Florian
9) Roger Huerta
10) Tatsuya Kawajiri

And here's the Fight Matrix Top 20. Note that Fight Matrix does not rank fighters by skill, it ranks them by points, which are accrued by winning fights. Still, it can reveal some names that you might not otherwise have thought of (Rodrigo Damm, anybody?).

1. Penn
2. Hansen
3. Gomi
4. Alvarez
5. Aoki
6. Calvancante
7. Florian
8. Griffin
9. Sherk
10. Huerta
11. Thomson
12. Edgar
13. Uno
14. Schultz
15. Stevenson
16. Ishida
17. Noons
18. Maynard
19. Damm
20. Kawajiri

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Posted by ncordless

I was looking at my LW rankings and realized that I have more LWs in there who are not part of the UFC than in the UFC. It's close, at 6-4 but this goes against most peoples assumption that the UFC holds the best fighters in every division besides HW.

To be fair, my top two spots are held by UFC fighters. The other UFC spots are 9-10. Also, if I expand my ranking to the top 20 then it becomes a majority for the UFC.

My Top 10 LWs:
BJ Penn
Sean Sherk
Eddie Alvarez
Shinya Aoki
JZ Calvancanti
Takanori Gomi
Tatsuya Kawaijiri
Joachim Hanson
Kenny Florian
Joe Stevenson

How does your LW rankings compare?

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ya I think sean sherk should be down at the bottom

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Posted by holt8081

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Posted by ncordless

I was looking at my LW rankings and realized that I have more LWs in there who are not part of the UFC than in the UFC. It's close, at 6-4 but this goes against most peoples assumption that the UFC holds the best fighters in every division besides HW.

To be fair, my top two spots are held by UFC fighters. The other UFC spots are 9-10. Also, if I expand my ranking to the top 20 then it becomes a majority for the UFC.

My Top 10 LWs:
BJ Penn
Sean Sherk
Eddie Alvarez
Shinya Aoki
JZ Calvancanti
Takanori Gomi
Tatsuya Kawaijiri
Joachim Hanson
Kenny Florian
Joe Stevenson

How does your LW rankings compare?

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ya I think sean sherk should be down at the bottom

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I hear you. He hasn't done a whole lot in the LW division... but I'd favor him against the bottom four big time. Sherk could probably go anywhere between 2-6.

I don't care if I get flamed but I think Sherk would rock Gomi's world if the fought
same goes with Aoki,JZ,Hanson,and Alvarez. I respect these fighter but watching them fight I couldn't see these guy being able to stop the little Shark from GnP any of them. and Im not huggin the UFC or anything cause DREAM rocked this weekendubt Sherk is vary good at 155

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Rankings aren't determined by fantasy match-ups. Just because Sherk "could" beat those other guys doesn't mean you bump him up that high. Fact is, he lost to Penn and only had 2 other LW fights (when Florian was still pretty green). Good list though, besides Sherk being at the opposite end of where he should be.

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Posted by AchillesHeel

I haven't done a Top 20 myself, but here's HDNet Fights "Inside MMA" Top 25. They have 10 UFC guys, only 2 of whom are in the Top 10. And I think some more of the IFL guys will crack this list once they start fighting people besides each other.

1 BJ Penn
2 Takanori Gomi
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Tatsuya Kawajiri
5 Gesias Calvancante
6 Vitor Ribeiro
7 Sean Sherk
8 Josh Thomson
9 Joachim Hansen
10 Shinya Aoki
11 Gilbert Melendez
12 Mitsuhiro Ishida
13 Roger Huerta
14 Kenny Florian
15 Joe Stevenson
16 Tyson Griffin
17 Jamie Varner
18 Ryan Schultz
19 Gray Maynard
20 KJ Noons
21 Nick Diaz
22 Nate Diaz
23 Frank Edgar
24 Caol Uno
25 Spencer Fisher

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i got edgar a litle bit higher but good rankings

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Posted by Buddharox
Rankings aren't determined by fantasy match-ups. Just because Sherk "could" beat those other guys doesn't mean you bump him up that high.

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So rankings are determined by who has fought most recently? NO....

Rankings are determined by skill which is observed in recent fights and who you have beaten. A fighters timeline of action should not directly affect a fighters ranking unless there has been a huge layoff. Sherk lost to BJ who many felt was the number 1 LW.

1 BJ Penn

2 Sean Sherk

3 Takanori Gomi

4 Joachim Hansen

5 Shinya Aoki

6 Eddie Alvarez

7 Kenny Florian

8 Gesias Calvancanti

9 Joe Stevenson

10 Nick Diaz

the ufc lw fighters deserve more respect
penn
sherk
gomi
huerta
florian
thomson
alvarez
hansen
griffin
aoki
the reason i have huerta florian thomson so high is because they haven't been beatin by the fighters below them. all the crazy shit in the gp forced me to take jz and my guy melendez out of the top 10 and put aoki at 10 in case your thinking wtf is this guy thinking.

I only have 2 UFC LW breaking the top 10.
1 BJ Penn
2 Takanori Gomi
3 Gesias Calvancanti
4 Joachim Hansen
5 Eddie Alvarez
6 Sean Sherk
7 Shinya Aoki
8 Tatsuya Kawajiri
9 Mitsuhiro Ishida
10 Josh Thomson

BJ Penn
Gomi...unfortunately
Alvarez
Aoki
JZ
Kawajiri
Sherk
Hansen
Griffin
Ishida

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Posted by jiujitsufreak74

BJ Penn
Gomi...unfortunately
Alvarez
Aoki
JZ
Kawajiri
Sherk
Hansen
Griffin
Ishida

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I agree with the "...unfortunately" on Gomi. His bout with Nick Diaz seriously exposed him in the rankings IMO. I know Diaz has a lot of reach and great subs, so it's not really fair, but I was very unimpressed with Diaz being able to hang in the boxing department vs. Gomi. If rankings were true Gomi should have dominated him on the feet

I would argue the Hansen placement, but he's so damn hard to rank for one and for two I know it would be blasphemy to call you out on anything that would affect Aoki's ranking

Then again I don't bother with top 10 rankings because they're so subjective to "what ifs" I try to look at fighter's skillsets and rank in my head based upon those. Not by who they have this record or that record against. That being said there's absolutely 0 arguing BJ Penn being 1st in the LW rankings.

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Posted by Jackelope

Then again I don't bother with top 10 rankings because they're so subjective to "what ifs" I try to look at fighter's skillsets and rank in my head based upon those. Not by who they have this record or that record against. That being said there's absolutely 0 arguing BJ Penn being 1st in the LW rankings.

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after the dream event that is the only thing that is certain. i still have Aoki in my top 5 and i didn't have Hansen ranked until he beat Aoki so to rank him too high would be hard for me to do. i believe Alvarez is a top 3 LW and i would have actually given him the advantage against Aoki if they fought although i would have picked Aoki of course.

oh, and to address the topic, it is my opinion that most of the LW talent is outside of the UFC. but to argue it is really pointless because it is impossible to come to a conclusion as the only way to settle it is if they fought each other.