The All-Time UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Tournament

During the near 14-year history of the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, 11 men have been called "Champion."

Many of these men are present or future Hall of Famers. Some of these men are considered the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of all-time.

Like any sport, people strive to find out who the best is. Many times, the way to find that out is to determine the two best teams, or players, and have them go at it to be considered the best.

But how does one go about determining the "Best of the Best"?

That's what this tournament will decide.

And, here we go:

The Rules

This is an 11 Man Single Elimination Tournament. That means the No. 1-5 seeds get a bye to the quarterfinals, while the  No. 6 and No. 11, the No. 7 and the No. 10, and the No. 8 and the No. 9 seeds all fight each other to earn a berth to the quarterfinals.

The rankings used for this tournament will come from Sean Smith's article: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/638335-ufc-128-fight-card-power-ranking-every-light-heavyweight-champ-in-ufc-history/page/2 with current champion Jon Jones added as the No. 5 seed.

Let's get started.

Round 1, Fight 1: Vitor Belfort vs. Rampage Jackson

The Tournament kicks off with the No. 11 seed Belfort taking on the No. 6 seed Jackson.

Belfort won the title when his punch cut open Randy Couture at UFC 46, and was awarded the title when a doctor said Couture couldn't continue. The title reign would be short lived as Belfort was also defeated via a doctor's stoppage at UFC 49.

Rampage won the championship when he knocked out Chuck Liddell at UFC 71, Liddell's first loss in 770 days. Rampage would then defend the belt against Pride Champion Dan Henderson at UFC 75, before losing the belt to Forrest Griffin in a Fight of the Year performance at UFC 86.

WINNER: Rampage Jackson

Rampage picks up the victory due to his edge in the power game. This fight is one that would likely be over within the first round, and Rampage's wrestling game would give Belfort enough problems to give Rampage a late first round/early second round (T)KO victory.

Round 1, Fight 2: Shogun Rua vs. Forrest Griffin

An intriguing matchup at the No. 7 vs. No. 10 fight.

Each man has finished the other before, with Griffin choking out Rua at UFC 76, and Rua knocking out Griffin at UFC 134.

Griffin used the victory over Rua back in 2007 to springboard his way toward a fight with Rampage Jackson, who he outpointed, earning a decision victory to win the title at UFC 86.

Rua's knockout of Griffin came in his first fight since losing the title to Jon Jones at UFC 128. Before that, he had knocked out Lyoto Machida at UFC 113 a year earlier to win the championship.

WINNER: SHOGUN RUA

Shogun is the better fighter, plain and simple. There's a reason why Griffin's win over him in 2007 was so much of an upset: Rua was the better fighter then, just like he's the better fighter now, which he proved by knocking him out at 134.

Griffin won't be knocked out in this fight, but Rua will outpoint him on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

Round 1, Fight 3: Lyoto Machida vs. Rashad Evans

Another rematch at the No. 8 vs. No. 9 fight, it's "The Dragon" vs. "Sugar."

At UFC 98, Machida showed why he was undefeated for the first 16 fights of his career, by flooring Evans in Round 2, winning the title.

Five months earlier, Evans had turned Forrest Griffin into a human punching bag, winning by TKO while Forrest was tapping due to strikes in the third round of their title fight.

WINNER: Rashad Evans

Machida might have a style that is one of the hardest to prepare for and deal with in the octagon, but Evans has the tools to upset him.

Using his wrestling, he will keep Machida off of his feet for the majority of the fight and earn a 29-28 x3 unanimous decision victory.

The quarterfinal matchups are as follows:

Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans

Frank Shamrock vs. Shogun Rua

Tito Ortiz vs. Rampage Jackson

Randy Couture vs. Jon Jones

Quarterfinals, Fight 1: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans

A very intriguing matchup here in the No. 1 vs. No. 9 quarterfinal, seeing as that Evans holds a knockout victory over Liddell in his career.

Liddell won the title by knocking out Randy Couture at UFC 52, then defended it four times, knocking out Couture again and rival Tito Ortiz. He lost the title when Rampage Jackson knocked him out at UFC 71.

WINNER: CHUCK LIDDELL

Evans won at UFC 88 because he knocked out a Liddell who was past his prime, and still getting big fights based on prior performance alone.

In their primes, Liddell would have used his edge in power and his take down defense to keep the fight on the feet, eventually earning a TKO victory sometime in the late second/early third round.

Quarterfinals, Fight 2: Frank Shamrock vs. Shogun Rua

The first Light Heavyweight Champion against one of the most recent, as Frank "The Legend" Shamrock takes on Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the No. 2 vs. No. 7 matchup.

Shamrock became champion way back in 1997 in his UFC debut at "UFC Japan" when he submitted Kevin Jackson a mere 16 seconds into their fight. He would then go on to hold the belt for almost two years, before forfeiting it due to retirement, as a result of a 'lack of competition' in the UFC. He eventually returned and would go on to win the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship before retiring for good in 2009.

WINNER: SHOGUN RUA

This is the first big upset of the tournament.

Rua will use his kicks, his movement and slight height advantage inside the cage to eventually grind out a third round TKO victory, earning him a surprise berth in the semifinals.

Quarterfinals, Fight 3: Tito Ortiz vs. Rampage Jackson

Power and wrestling meets power and wrestling in this No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup.

Ortiz won the title at UFC 25, beating Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision. He would go on to hold the title for over three years, defending it five times against Evan Tanner, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock among others, before losing it to Chuck Liddell at UFC 47.

WINNER: TITO ORTIZ

Tito is one of the great practitioners of ground-and-pound. His ground game mixed with his power on the feet would give him a decision victory, and give him a spot in the semifinals.

Quarterfinals, Fight 4: Randy Couture vs. Jon Jones

There's a reason why nobody ever likes picking No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchups in the NCAA Tournament. They are very hard to call. This fight is no different.

Couture, the only two-time champion on this list, won his first title at UFC 44, beating Tito Ortiz by decision. After losing the title to Vitor Belfort at UFC 46, Couture won it right back at UFC 49, before losing it again to Chuck Liddell at UFC 52.

Jones, one of the most exciting fighters in years, won the title by TKOing Shogun Rua at UFC 128, just six weeks after he had submitted Ryan Bader to earn the No. 1 Contender's spot.

WINNER: JON JONES

Many people may be upset by this call, but Jones is the kind of guy who could really throw Randy off his game.

His unorthodox striking, mixed in with phenomenal wrestling and improving jiu-jitsu game is enough to throw Randy for a loop. Jones would win this fight by TKO due to a doctor's stoppage late in Round 2.

Semifinals, Fight 1: Chuck Liddell vs. Shogun Rua

Yet another rematch in our first semifinal as Liddell looks to avenge his KO loss to Shogun.

WINNER: CHUCK LIDDELL

After being knocked out cold by Evans, an even more past-his-prime Liddell fought Rua at UFC 97. Rua knocked out Liddell, because Chuck wasn't the fighter he once was, and Shogun was in his prime.

In this fight, Chuck would use his striking and take down defense to keep the fight on the feet and knock out Rua with a right hand midway through Round 2.

Semifinals, Fight 2: Tito Ortiz vs. Jon Jones

"The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" vs. "Bones" for the right to face Chuck Liddell in the Finals.

WINNER: JON JONES

Many fans may seem upset by this pick, but Jon Jones is a force unlike almost anything the UFC, or the world of MMA, has ever seen before.

His size, his striking game, his wrestling, jiu-jitsu skills, all of them mixed together, are a frightening thing to think about.

Tito might have great stand-up and solid wrestling/ground and pound, but he has to be able to solidly strike and take down Jones for that to work, and he would have a lot of trouble doing both of those things.

Jones works his way to a decision victory.

The Finals: Chuck Liddell vs. Jon Jones

"The Iceman" vs. "Bones" for the Undisputed All-Time Light Heavyweight Championship

WINNER: CHUCK LIDDELL

Jon Jones may very well be the winner of a tournament like this in a few years, but for right now, Chuck Liddell is the greatest Light Heavyweight Champion of All-Time. 

Liddell defeated Vitor Belfort, Randy Couture (twice), Tito Ortiz (twice), Babalu Sobral (twice) and Wanderlei Silva during his time in the UFC. The toughest test Jones has had is Shogun Rua, with no major victories other than that.

Chuck Liddell, The All-Time Light Heavyweight Champion.

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