This is part one of a five part series examining each of the most common weight classes including lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. See how your favorite fighters rank and offer your own opinions. Let the debate begin.
Light Heavyweight Rankings – 205 lbs
1) Mauricio (Shogun) Rua (UFC): 16 – 3 MMA Record
Rua is one of the most dynamic strikers in MMA. 13 of his 16 wins have come via knockout. Shogun is the face of the next generation of fighters coming from the Chute Boxe camp in Curitiba, Brazil. He is a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and Muoy Thai. His style is aggressive, coming forward, constantly putting pressure on his opponents, and he has knockout power with his hands and feet.
Shogun is coming off a loss to Forrest Griffin, however, it was his first fight in the octagon and he was understandably nervous. The octagon itself also takes some getting used to coming over from PRIDE. Rua largely dominated the Griffin fight and most likely would have won a decision until he made a mistake with 15 seconds left in the final round and was submitted.
I give him the nod over Quinton Jackson because he dominated a head-to-head match with Rampage in PRIDE that resulted in a first round knockout victory for Rua.
Rua was signed on to face Chuck Liddell at UFC 85 but he blew out his knee training and now he will be on the shelf for a while. The good news is he is only 26 years old and can only get better. When he is healthy I would put him up against anyone on this list and feel confident.
2) Quinton Jackson (UFC): 28 – 6, Current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Rampage is essentially 1b on this list. He has won his last six fights against top level opponents including Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell and Matt Lindland. He has yet to be physically tested since joining the UFC.
His next opponent will be Forrest Griffin after The Ultimate Fighter season is complete. Expect him to beat Griffin. Rampage should rule this division in the UFC for a while until Rua is healthy, ready and deserving of a rematch.
3) Chuck Liddell (UFC): 21 – 5, Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Liddell has entered the twilight of his career and has lost two of his last three fights, however, he is coming off an impressive victory over Wanderlei Silva.
He is still as dangerous as anyone in this division in the UFC on his feet. He still has plenty to give. Expect him to defeat Rashad Evans at UFC 85 and get a rematch with Quinton Jackson.
4) Lyoto Machida (UFC): 12 – 0
Machida, in my opinion, deserves a title shot against Rampage before Liddell does, however, Liddell will be a big draw and Machida is a relative unknown even to some die hard MMA and UFC fans.
He is undefeated with impressive victories over former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin, Former UFC Welterweight and Current UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn, Stephan Bonnar and Sokoudjou. He is a rising star in this weight class and will make a name for himself sooner rather than later.
5) Wanderlei Silva (UFC): 31 – 8, Former PRIDE Middleweight Champion
Silva, like Liddell, is entering the twilight of his career. He has lost his last three fights, however, they have been against top flight fighters Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson and Mirko Cro Cop.
Silva looked apprehensive, on his heels, and had a visibly smaller body type for the Liddell fight. All these characteristics are out of character for him. Silva is arguably the most exciting and aggressive fighter in the history of MMA.
I expect him to bounce back at UFC 84 and defeat Keith Jardine and I would take his experience and potential explosive power over any of the fighters ranked below.
6) Forrest Griffin (UFC): 15 – 4
Griffin is a great fighter, however, in my opinion he is slightly overrated due to his overwhelming popularity in the UFC. His victory over Mauricio Rua is his only victory over a top flight light heavyweight fighter in his entire MMA career.
I do believe he would win a rematch with Jardine. He is better on his feet and on the ground than Jardine. He will certainly get a chance to prove himself against Rampage for the Light Heavyweight Title, although I don’t believe he deserves a title shot at this point.
7) Rashad Evans (UFC): 11 – 0 – 1
Evans and Griffin are largely interchangeable parts on this list. Evans is undefeated but has faced second-rate light heavyweight talent.
He will get his first crack at light heavyweight stardom when he takes on Chuck Liddell at UFC 85. This could vault him ahead of Griffin and maybe even Silva on the list, but don’t expect him to beat Liddell.
8) Keith Jardine (UFC): 13 – 3
Jardine is a model of inconsistency. For every impressive victory (Liddell, Griffin) there are other fights (Alexander, Bonnar) where he makes you scratch your head.
He is a one dimensional fighter on his feet which could present more problems for him going forward. His UFC 84 match with Wanderlei Silva will be another big test.
9) Tito Ortiz (UFC): 15 – 5, Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Ortiz’ fight with Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 will be his last UFC fight due to his contract expiring. He is one of the best light heavyweights in UFC history, and in my opinion, he will fade away and be forgotten due to his broken relationship with Dana White whether he wins or not and that will be unfortunate.
10) Thiago Silva (UFC): 12 – 0
Silva is an up-and-coming star waiting in the wings. He is undefeated with 10 of his 12 victories coming by way of knockout. His knockout victory of Houston Alexander at UFC 78 made UFC fans take notice. Silva will only improve training at the Chute Boxe camp. Keep an eye on him going forward.
Random Thoughts:
- All 10 fighters are in the UFC
- UFC 84 will be a great barometer for this weight class
- Numbers 5-8 were the toughest to rank
- I did not include Dan Henderson since he last fought at middleweight
- Brandon Vera or Anderson Silva could be very competitive at this weight
- How can you not feel bad for Mauricio Rua and his knee injury?
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3 months ago
How can you have Rua at #1 when he tapped out to Griffin in his UFC debut?
3 months ago
"How can you not feel bad for Mauricio Rua and his knee injury?"- Well, I would say that in the world of MMA, there are a lot worse ways to be sidelined.
I'm also not entirely sure about the argument. I agree at how great a fighter he is, but the Pride transition argument doesn't hold up. The fighters that have come to the UFC and succeed have done so from the beginning. The octagon is a whole different world and Rampage would seem to have the advantage in the UFC.
I would almost give Machida a higher ranking. I love Liddell, but that loss to Jardin really hurt him in my eyes as a contender.
3 months ago
I'm not putting much stock in Rua's defeat to Griffin. It was his first UFC fight. He dominated the fight and won 14:45 of the 15:00 minutes and ran out of gas at the end and got caught out of position. He also had a knee injury going into the fight ... not to make excuses but i'm basically giving him a mulligan.
As for Rampage, Rua won the head to head and it wasn't close. It was a brutal first round knockout. He wasn't in the same ballpark as Rua that night. Until Rampage beats Rua I think he still deserves to be #1, but like I said, they could be 1a/1b right now. You really can't go wrong.
Also, the reason I feel bad for Rua is that he is entering his prime of his career and had two straight knee injuries. He was a superstar in PRIDE and hasn't been able to prove anything in the US yet. Obviously there are worse things that could happen to a fighter (death being one of them) but anytime someone goes down with an injury like that it sucks.
3 months ago
I can see the machida over liddell argument Jon. I like Machida a lot. Unfortunately Liddell will probably get the rematch with Rampage, will lose again, and finally Machida will be able to step forward.
3 months ago
I like Rua at number one considering his dominance in the division until the Forrest fight. Maybe walking into the UFC cage sucked the energy out of him, maybe he gased completely out because he didnt train any cardio because of his knee. Who knows, but after rewatching all of his Pride fights with 10 minute first rounds and ample gas in the tank, I dont put much weight into his loss to Forrest. Many of the Pride guys that have come over have struggled. Wanderlei didnt look like Wanderlei. No knee's, kicks, he stepped back and let Chuck get up after the knock down.? WTF? That would have never happened in Pride. It is wierd, Josh Barnett commented on Crocop's losses in the UFC saying, "Thats not the Crocop that fought me 3 times". I can see the rule changes having a hugely negative effect on Chute Boxe fighters. In the Wand vs Henderson fight Wand had Dan trapped in the north south position. Normally Wand would land many knees to the head here most likely ending the fight, Wand didnt seem to figure out what to do, they stood up and Wand was later knocked out. Under UFC cage rules, I think Wand and Shogun and Crocop are not as good as. I think in Pride rules Shogun is untouchable, Wand is top 3 and Crocop is top 2 HW.
from 3 months ago
I agree with you Chris most top level pride fighters(Apart from Nog, and even he has had some close calls.) seem to struggle in the UFC. Their cardio/conditioning and aggression don't seem to be up to the same levels?
Ive tried to explain this away using different excuses.
(1) as 5 min rounds are more of a straight sprint where as 10 min rounds necessitate more of a feeling out process.
(2)I have also used the rules to give my Heroes some leeway. The differences are larger than people often seem to understand between Pride/ K1heroes/Dreams style events, and the typical Cage style rules. Although if you know you are fighting under a certain set of rules then as a professional athlete you adjust your training program and your game plan accordingly.
(3) This is the last possibility, and I don't really want to put it out there; but it could well explain the lack luster performances form some of the guys crossing over..... I have heard a rumor that pride and japan in general don't really drug test for anabolic agents, whereas the UFC is big on drug testing its fighters. just look at any of the fighters from Hammer House competing in Japanese events to support this rumor.
3 months ago
Not to nitpick, but it's "heels", not "heals", and "feet", not "feat".
Also, you say that Rampage's strength hasn't been tested in the UFC yet, but he went five rounds with Dan Henderson. Even though Dan is a small Light Heavyweight, he's still no pushover.
3 months ago
Oh yeah, and I'd also rank Babalu over a lot of these fighters. He's fought some tough competition and even has a win over Rua. He's not in the UFC anymore though, so maybe that's why you didn't include him?
3 months ago
Where would you rank Babalu?
Also, this list is open to all organization, not just the UFC. It just so happens that I believe the best 10 light heavyweights are in the UFC.
I did not include Babalu because he has only had two significant victories (Rua/Horn) in his entire MMA career, which is 36 fights. He has also lost the majority of his big fights including Henderson, Liddell twice, Kevin Randleman, and Fedor.
I don't dispute he is a great fighter. I just don't think he belongs on this list at this point in his career.
3 months ago
All 3 judges had Forrest winning his fight against Rua before he submitted him, and Forrest went for surgery on his shoulder after that fight as well so it's not like he was in top condition either. Does suck about Shogun's knee though, I was looking forward to him seeing fight Chuckles.
I like that you put Machida up there and that you included Ortiz on your list. There's so much unwarranted Tito hate going on right now.
3 months ago
I had not heard that the judges had Forrest winning the Rua fight before the submission, however, if that is that case I disagree.
I recently watched that fight again and Rua definitely won the first round. The second round was a toss up. The third round was a toss up before the submission too. Not sure which fight they were watching ... Griffin was winning the standup battle for the most part but Rua was taking him down fairly easily and griffin's face was a bloody mess from taking punishment on his back.
Rua got beat but if they fought 5 times Rua would probably win 4 of the fights. Even the best fighters in the world have an off night and every opponent is also a professional and has the potential to end a fight with one kick or one punch or whatever. There aren't any belt holders than have zero losses.
Bottom line in that Griffin isn't better than Rua, just like Serra isn't better than St. Pierre, and Jardine isn't better than Liddell.
3 months ago
wow, i have never seen this much ass sucking on one fighter since GSP. rua gassed in the first round people. he didnt have his steroids and he gassed. forrest is going to get beat down when he fights rampage. the only person in title contention is loyota machida, which by my calculations sets up the UFC for a blackhouse trifecta. bottomline rua sucks with drug testing.
3 months ago
Rampage Jackson is no 1, then Chuck liddell, 3 should be Wanderlei Silva then 4 is Machida and number 5 i would put Forrest Griffen ! all thes guys are tough as hell ! my fave is Rampage ! I love mma
3 months ago
"There aren't any belt holders than have zero losses."
i call bullshit. Nice generalization, but there's a guy named Paulo Filho, and even though he was getting beat by Chael Sonnen in thier title match, he still won the fight, and has a 16-0 record. nice try.
Shogun's not number one in any LHW rankings done by people who actually cover the sport professionally, and he shouldn't be here. I'd rank him above griffin, for sure, but I along with others expected him to blow through Forrest, and getting choked out by a guy who's known for brawling doesn't help him much. Rampage is king right now, for good reason. I see him stopping Griffin within regulation rounds (As opposed to championship 4th and 5th rounds), which is hard to say, as I am a fan of Forrest's. Other than that though, a well put together list.
3 months ago
I was talking about UFC with regards to filho ...
Also, i could care less what the rankings by the "professionals" are. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and their opinions aren't anymore correct than mine. To be honest, I don't find most of the internet sites to be anymore credible than bleacher report.
I do expect rampage to move right through griffin and then liddell for a second time. That doesn't sway my opinion at all though. I don't think rampage could be rua, plain and simple, and history has shown that to be true.
I was previously discussed the various "flukes" that have happend to top fighters including liddell (jardine), rua (griffin), and st pierre (serra), but rua over rampage was not fluke. That fight was ruthless and brutal and rampage didn't stand a chance.
Many publications had rua ahead of rampage in their rankings prior to rua losing to griffin and rampage beating liddell and henderson. Henderson is naturally 185 and he went toe to toe for 5 rounds. Liddell is on the downslope of his career and not the same fighter he used to be and Rua was winning the griffin fight in my opinion before the submission. That was a fluke victory and one of the biggest upsets ever in the UFC. So why should I flip flop the two? Those events have not proven anything to me. A rua/rampage rematch would be nice ...
from 2 months ago
I agree that the Rua/Jackson fight was total domination by Shogun, but I don't think that a rematch in the UFC would have the same turn out. People are talking about Shogun not being able to take his "drugs", but the biggest reason there'd be a different outcome in a rematch is not being able to kick to the head when your opponent's on the ground. Rua is well known for his head stomps and soccer boots to the head, and taking that away really changes how a fight will turn out.
3 months ago
Gonna have to agree with you derek even though we may be in the minority on this one. Seems like the rua destruction of rampage has slipped through the minds of some mma fans. Youtube it - you'll only waste about 3 or 4 minutes of your time.
3 months ago
like i said, rua will NOT be an issue to any UFC fighter. Rua needs his drugs, or "supplements" to be a force in the U.S.
3 months ago
George -
PRIDE has done drug testing in the past. There was drug testing done by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for PRIDE's events in Las Vegas (PRIDE 32 and PRIDE 33), which were both 1st round victories by Rua over two excellent fighters - Kevin Randleman and Alistair Overeem. Rua was tested at both events and passed. He was also tested at UFC 76 and passed.
3 months ago
Rua as number one is absurd.
3 months ago
Derek -
You have a douchy name firstly. Secondly, you proved my point exactly, when he won in Japan, he looked like a completely different fighter than when he lost to forrest. Do your homework.
from 3 months ago
if your argument was better you probably could do without the personal attacks but since thats not the case i'll let it slide.
so the difference w/ rua is the drugs? why jump to that conclusion? he's never failed a drug test. Maybe it was just a bad night against forrest or the 7 month layoff he had prior to the fight or just getting used to the octagon or whatever.
there have been plenty of PRIDE fighters coming over to UFC and having a lot of success even though they are drug tested on a regular basis now.... rampage, nogueira, etc...
is that why henderson and wanderlei are struggling too? must be the drugs.
3 months ago
Shogun is a very well rounded mma fighter with impressive dominance in pride, but that fact of the matter is he lost to Forrest Griffin, all of the other arguments do not matter, yes it was his first fight in the UFC (he should have came in prepared, ready for 3 five min. rounds and done his homework on Forrest Griffin), he gassed( again nobody's fault but his own, this tells me that he took forrest lightly and was not ready for three five min rounds), he was nervous for his first UFC fight (rediculous argument altogether, someone with his credentials and experience in fighting can not let nerves get in the way), and of course his knee injury (legit argument but how hurt was his knee), simply stated you can not give someone a bye just because it was his first fight in the UFC, take for instance a football team ranked #1, playing another team MAYBE in the top ten at their stadium, and the number one team gets defeated, do you think they would still be number one on the polls next week even if they have never played in that stadium, or some players gassed or were nervous, or some had injuries (HELL NO), now i know you cant compare football to mma but this is a similar concept, therefore Quinton (who won his UFC debut, is the LHW champion and beat DAN HENDERSON(lets not forget henderson knocked out wandy) should be ranked number one, this is bashing shogun in no way, and i do believe shogun will be back and ready to compete
3 months ago
Valid points .. I'm giving rua a mulligan on griffin though. I haven't dropped st pierre just because he lost to serra. I still think st pierre is the best at 170.
I don't put any stock into the football type rankings. Those are to generate chatter and tv ratings. If I was ranking the top teams from college fball last year I'd have usc number one because they were the best team, regardless of losing to stanford.
Rua beating down rampage head to head cannot be forgotten. It wasn't a close decision either. It was a brutal and violent knockout.
3 months ago
also a good point about rua and rampage, rua needs to get better quickly , liddell vs rua would have been an amazing fight
2 months ago
You've dun good here Derek, except Tito is a wtite off and I hate hearing about him and Rashad is way overrated. Rua will come back fit like Forest then watch out, Pride fitness level is lower but Rua is great.
2 months ago
I honestly don't think Rua won any rounds in that fight. In the first round Rua attempted a takedown and Forrest reversed it to end up in guard, postured up and did some damage. Then he gets the takedown and ends up in Forrest's guard but doesn't do any damage, Forrest controls his wrists, strikes from the bottom, and Rua couldn't pass his guard. After a brief exchange on the feet, Forrest takes down Rua. On the multiple takedown attempts by Rua, Forrest would sprwal and take his back. Repeat this for round two excpet Rua gets gassed with about 2 minutes left, and walks with his hands down and breathing deeply. Not to mention the submission attempts by Forrest. All he had round two was the elbow that cut Forrest. Round 3: Rua couldn't pass Forrest's guard while Forrest attempts submissions. Forrest was the better fighter that night and deserves his title shot.
2 months ago
shogun should be close to the bottom, only 2 big name guys in the last year from pride has actually did something and thats rampage and noguiera, everyone else has been butt cheeks and im convinced that the ufc has the best fighters, now only if they can get faber to fight in the octagon and see how he fairs in the ufc
2 months ago
lets get matt hamill in there derek! he actually beat the woose bisping but gave it to him cuz he beat him at england
from 2 months ago
matt hamill is still young in his career (6 professional fights) and still has a lot to prove. i do agree with you that he got robbed against bisping.
2 months ago
RUA DOMINATED GRIFFIN? NO, HE GOT BEAT, AND SOUNDLY TO. MAYBE HE WILL COME WITH BETTER CARDIO NEXT TIME AND DO BETTER, BUT TO PUT HIM AT NUMBER ONE IS WRONG. AND WOULDNT TITO HAVE BEATEN EVENS IF NOT FOR THE POINT DEDUCTION? AND DIDNT ALMOST EVERYBODY THINK THAT BISPING GOT ROBBED AGAINST EVANS? EVANS MIGHT BE IN THE TOP TEN, I GUESS. AND I TOO THINK ALOT OF MACHIDA, BUT HE HASNT FOUGH THE KIND OF COMPETITION THAT ALMOST EVERYBODY ELSE ON YOUR LIST HAS. THE RANKINGS ARE WRONG AND THE LOGIC BEHIND IT IS FLAWED. BUT IN THE WRIGHTERS DEFENSE, I TRIED TO COME UP WITH A BETTER LIST AND REALLY COULDNT COME UP WITH ONE I WAS COMPORTABLE WITH. SO, NICE TRY. ANYWAY WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SPIDER AND MAYBE ST PIERRE (AFTER HIS FIGHT WITH SERRA) NUMBER ONE IS GOING TO BE HARD TO CALL IN ANY WEIGHT CLASS. AND UHHHHH, WHATS UP WITH COTOUR? COTOUR/NOGIERA........YEH!
2 months ago
Thiago Silva no longer trains at Chute Boxe, he started training at American Top Team right before the Alexander fight.
2 months ago
I don't think that the Griffin win was a fluke. The fact is that Griffin is a huge lightheavy weight and that helped him in the wrestling game vs Rua. I haven't seen the fight in a while but I recall it being very close, and regardless of whether Griffin finished that fight via submission or not, he was dominating the third round by that point and I find it likely he might have won the fight by decision. Jackson will have his hands full with Griffin, I expect Griffin's size to help him match Quinton's strength in the clinch, and Griffin has great boxing as well. I expect an exciting great fight, although I do fear an ending circa Rampage vs Liddell or Jardine vs Griffin in the first 2 rounds of the fight (in favor of Rampage of course). I think Machida is way overranked. When it comes to MMA the record isn't as big of a deal as who you have beaten. His best win is against Sokoudjou, an unproven commody, although thought to have a wealth of potential. BJ Penn is a lightweight, he's supposed to win that fight. Franklin is a natural middleweight -- he should win that fight. Bonnar lost twice to Griffin too, and that's not too impressive a win. If he beats Ortiz and shows ability to beat the guy who wants to take you down and ground and pound (and is a fellow top ten lightheavy weight) THEN you can put him in the top 5.
The other thing is about Wanderlei, his size is finally catching up to him. If he fought Rashad or Forrest they'd both be smart and take him down and control the action circa Tito vs Wanderlei at UFC 25.
This is the only list of the 5 I have major disagreements with you on. So I'll write my top ten here:
1. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
2. Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell
3. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
4. Forrest Griffin
5. Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine
6. Rashad "Sugar" Evans
7. Tito "The Huntington Beach Badboy" Ortiz
8. Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida
9. Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva
10. Thiago Silva
Rampage is the only one stopping Liddell, similar to Franklin vs A. Silva, although I believe Chuck has a chance to beat Quinton and Franklin could never beat Silva. This is the hardest division to rank. So many of them have big wins and big losses. I decided just to rank based off who has the best wins and who I think would beat who in a future fight (if Lyoto beats Ortiz I'd put him up to 5). I still question my list as I hit the 'post' button.
2 months ago
Meh. I feel like I overrated Keith, but the wins over Chuck and Forrest compel me to put him higher.
Other thoughts: Anderson Silva would be a competitor at 205, but I don't know how all the added meat would affect his game. First instinct would say the size and wrestling ability of guys like Matt Hamill, Rashad Evans, and Tito Ortiz would cause him problems that even Dan Henderson can't cause him at 185, but maybe he could fit in the frame and develop a better take down defense... His striking is so above everyone else and his jui-jitsu is high enough level that he would be a challenge for everybody either way. I think a more interesting weight class change would be Mirko Cro Cop moving down to 205. He'd be able to challenge for the title very quickly. It's just a matter of whether he would want to make that move. I personally don't think he'll ever be world heavyweight champion due to the size disadvantage, but at 205 he has potential to dominate.
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