UFC Fight Night 24 Results: Top 10 Light Heavyweights in MMA

In the last month, there has been a ton of action in the light heavyweight division.

Most recently, Phil Davis bested Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC Fight Night 24 on Saturday by unanimous decision.

At UFC 128, Jon Jones destroyed Mauricio Rua for the UFC light heavyweight title.

And, prior to that, Dan Henderson knocked out Rafael Cavalcante to become the Strikeforce light heavyweight champ.

Where does everyone end up in the top ten after so many meaningful fights?

Read on and find out.

10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Though Rogerio Nogueira has now lost two in a row, decisions to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis, he was competitive in both. It is clear that he has trouble with wrestlers, and at age 34, that is probably not going to ever change.

Still, Nogueira can make a good fight with just about anyone in the division.

Nogueira was supposed to face faded former champion Tito Ortiz at UFC Fight Night 24, but Ortiz withdrew because of a cut sustained in training. Davis came in as a somewhat late replacement to keep this main event alive.

It was a tough break for Nogueira, who was a big favorite to beat Ortiz and ended up with a much tougher task against Davis.

The UFC should put together a rematch between Mauricio Rua and Nogueira. Their first fight was an all-time classic.

9. Phil Davis

Phil Davis now enters the top ten after a tough win over Rogerio Nogueira.

Davis was having a hard time on the feet against Nogueira, but as with each of his previous fights, Davis was in full control when it got to the mat.

Davis is now 5-0 in the UFC, 9-0 overall, and a big fight should be looming in the near future. Though, I have a hard time finding a top contender that I would favor Davis against.

Though this win puts Davis in the top 10, he is still a prospect. He needs to work on rounding out his game, most importantly his striking.

The problem with this win is Davis will probably now be rushed into big fights when he probably isn't ready for them.

8. Forrest Griffin

Though Forrest Griffin took off all of 2010, he looked very sharp in his return, winning every round against former middleweight champ Rich Franklin, last month at UFC 126.

It was Griffin's second win in a row since dropping two straight to Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva, both by knockout—the first win being a 2009 decision over Tito Ortiz.

Griffin injured his right foot against Franklin and likely won't return until late summer. When he does return, there are plenty of attractive options for the him at light heavyweight.

A rematch with fellow former champ Quinton Jackson would excite many.

7. Ryan Bader

Clearly, losing to Jon Jones does not mean you are not an elite fighter.

Ryan Bader lost every second of his bout with Jones before being submitted in the second round, but after Jones became champion of the division just six weeks later by demolishing Mauricio Rua, Bader is in good company.

The loss to Jones was the first of his career and it was against one of the most gifted fighters we have ever seen in the sport. Bader is still a major player at light heavyweight, and would be a tough challenge for anyone else in the division other than Jones.

A bout with Rua would be interesting to see who of Jones' recent victims might work there way to a rematch.

For now, Bader is set to face Tito Ortiz at UFC 132, in a fight he should have little trouble winning. Really, I don't see the point of this fight. Ortiz has no chance and a win for Bader does very little for his ranking or reputation.

6. Lyoto Machida

However you scored his fight with Quinton Jackson, there is no denying that Lyoto Machida was in complete control for the entire third round.

Even if you think Jackson won the fight, which I don't, Machida's stock shouldn't drop much because of such a close split-decision loss.

Though "the Machida era" didn't live up to Joe Rogan's premature labeling, Machida is still an elite light heavyweight and will have a chance to prove that against a legend in Randy Couture at UFC 129.

With a win there, Machida will likely be back in the top five and looking for a major fight to earn his own crack at Jon Jones. It would be very interesting to see how Machida's style matches up against Jones.

5. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

In the last two years, Quinton Jackson has only won one fight and that was a highly disputed split-decision over Lyoto Machida.

Jackson has been fighting for a long time and the window for him to again achieve anything meaningful in the sport is quickly closing.

Next up is a match with mid tier contender Matt Hamill at UFC 130. That should be an entertaining fight, but if Jackson does not look good there, it will be very clear that his days near the top of the division are over.

Hamill is a good fighter, but he is the kind of fighter that Jackson would have handled easily a few years ago.

With a win, I would like to see Jackson get a rematch with fellow former champ Mauricio Rua.

4. Dan Henderson

Some may dispute Dan Henderson being this high in the rankings due to fighting the majority of the last three years at middleweight, but when you consider he is a former champion at light heavyweight and has knocked out his last two opponents in a span of three months, both at light heavyweight, he deserves the recognition of being in the top five.

After quickly knocking out fringe-contender Renato Sobral in December, Henderson earned himself a shot at Strikeforce champion Rafael Cavalcante and knocked him out in the third round of a competitive fight.

It was another vintage knockout from Henderson, who makes no secret about trying to put his opponent out with his big right hand, but still manages to get it done time after time.

Henderson is 5-1 in his last six bouts, though four of those took place at 185 pounds.

Next up for Henderson is likely the winner of Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle, in what would be a tremendous fight and one of the biggest that can be made in Strikeforce.

3. Rashad Evans

Rashad Evans has to feel like he brought his current situation on himself.

After deciding to sit out of action for 10 months while waiting for his title shot against recovering champion Mauricio Rua, Evans himself injured his knee and was forced to pull out of the fight.

Evan's teammate Jon Jones was offered the fight and Evan's gave his blessing.

Now Jones is the champion and Evans is bitter that he will have to face him for the title. Not to mention, he will have been out of action for over a year by the time the two meet.

It is hard to give Evans a decent shot in this bout, considering how amazing Jones has looked of late and how vulnerable Evans looked before this layoff. Still, Evans is familiar with Jones and arguably has a better style fit for Jones than Rua did.

Though Jones will be a massive favorite, this should still be a good fight.

2. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

It is hard to not feel bad for Mauricio Rua.

Since coming to the UFC as the No. 1 light heavyweight in the world in 2007, he has been plagued by constant knee injuries and has undergone three knee reconstructions. It seems like every time he gets some momentum, he is forced to sit out of action and returns looking like a shell of his former self.

His first title defense against Jon Jones was no different. After just a few minutes into the first round, Shogun looked completely gassed and took a vicious beating from the younger challenger, before being stopped in the third round.

I respect Rua for taking such a tough fight on short notice, but a fight of that stature required much more preparation than he obviously had.

Still, just one loss does not make his career and hopefully he can stay healthy and again become the fighter that became a UFC champion last year.

There are tons of big matchups to be made for him, including rematches with Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rogerio Nogueira, and Forrest Griffin.

1. Jon Jones

Well, that didn't look very hard, did it?

Just six weeks after achieving the biggest win of his career by submitting Ryan Bader at UFC 126, Jon Jones completely annihilated Mauricio Rua for the light heavyweight title.

Jones didn't suffer even a scratch against Rua, and is already set to face former teammate Rashad Evans.

Jones is quickly becoming the most talked about fighter in the sport and with a few more performances like the last few, he will be the biggest star coming out of MMA.

Hard to say who will give Jones a run for his money at this point, but I would be interested to see how Lyoto Machida went about trying.

Jones is now the youngest UFC champion of all time and has an endless list of marketable matchups over the next few years.