UFC Rankings: Top 10 Challengers to Frankie Edgar's Lightweight Belt

Frankie Edgar has proven that he holds sway over the UFC’s lightweight division after a fourth-round knockout of Gray Maynard. The question now is, who in the division can pose a threat to Edgar’s reign as the UFC’s Lightweight Champion?

Edgar is arguably the greatest lightweight in the history of the UFC.

His trilogy with Maynard put to rest any thoughts of a rubber match any time soon.

That being said, Edgar has a host of lightweight talent eager to unseat him as the lightweight king...

10.Dennis Siver

Siver, known for his spinning back kicks to the body, is on a four-fight win streak and could make it five if he gets past Donald Cerrone at UFC 137.

A challenge for Edgar’s lightweight belt is nowhere near reaching the top four contenders. A win here and there will get him into lightweight contenders mix.

9. Joe Lauzon

Lauzon comes in at number nine, simply for the fact that he put a halt to the Melvin Guillard express train in 47 seconds flat of the first round, via rear naked choke.

His win over Guillard has propelled him higher up the rankings and he should be taken seriously.

Lauzon is a threat to anyone in the lightweight division, including Edgar.

A submission specialist, Lauzon has 17 of his 21 wins coming via submission.

8. Eddie Alvarez

The Bellator Lightweight Champion is on a seven-fight win streak since his loss to Shinya Aoki almost three years ago.

Like Gilbert Melendez and Aoki, he needs that move to the UFC if an Edgar fight is ever to materialize.

His next bout is at Bellator 58 against Michael Chandler.

7. Shinya Aoki

Aoki, the current Dream Lightweight Champion, is a top-10 lightweight and could be a challenger for Edgar’s crown. However, he currently fights for Dream, so the chances of that fight transpiring doesn’t seem to be in the offing, at least until he makes the switch to the UFC.

Regardless of his six-fight win streak since his loss to Gilbert Melendez, his continuation to fight lower-tier fighters like Rob McCullough can only result in his stock plummeting.

6. Jim Miller

Miller is at number six and could’ve even been lower in the pecking order, save for the fact that he has fought the likes of Ben Henderson, Gray Maynard and the champion himself.

Therein lies the problem: he has lost to all three combatants.

This might be proof that he lacks championship calibre against the elite of the division.

His chances of a title shot look slim.

His next fight is expected to be against fallen star Melvin Guillard in 2012 or thereabouts.

5. Gray Maynard

Maynard, regardless of his knockout loss to Edgar, is still a force to be reckoned with.

He’ll take a well-deserved rest. Expect to see him back in the mix some time in 2012 against the winner of Ben Henderson or Clay Guida, or a top-10 lightweight like Anthony Pettis.

If he gets past the competition, he just might get another shot at Edgar’s belt.

4.Anthony Pettis

Close but no cigar comes to mind when I think of Pettis.

He was slated to take on the winner of the second Edgar-Maynard fight, but that fell through as the fight ended in a draw and a third fight was made.

Like a true warrior, he took on Clay Guida instead of waiting around for the title shot. 

He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Taking the Guida fight was his undoing, but it also made him all the better for it.

Since that loss he has gone on to defeat Jeremy Stephens. His next fight could be Nate Diaz sometime in 2012—a daunting prospect.

Pettis will get that title shot, but he needs to keep on winning. A “Showtime Kick” here and there won’t hurt his cause, either.

3. Clay Guida

Guida, who was thought by many as being the gate keeper for the lightweight division's up-and-coming stalwarts, had other ideas. His defeat of top contender Anthony Pettis put an end to that.

A win over Ben Henderson will put him firmly in the driving seat with a very good chance of vying for Edgar’s belt.

2. Ben Henderson

Henderson lost his WEC Lightweight Championship courtesy of the Anthony Pettis “Showtime Kick,” but is on the rebound after consecutive wins over Mark Bocek and Jim Miller.

He’s next scheduled to throw down with Clay Guida at UFC on Fox 1. The winner most definitely will get the next shot at the lightweight championship and Edgar himself.

Right now, I don’t think he’s ready to upend Edgar’s six-win streak.

1. Gilbert Melendez

Melendez is the current Strikeforce Lightweight Champion. More than any of the other contenders, he has a real chance of defeating Edgar.

Melendez (21-2 MMA), has defeated the likes of Shinya Aoki, Clay Guida, Tatsuya Kawajiri (twice) and has avenged the only two losses of career to Josh Thomson and Mitsuhiro Ishida.

The likelihood of an Edgar vs. Melendez fight depends on Melendez making the jump to the UFC, which is more than likely since the UFC’s recent acquisition of Strikeforce.