Lightweight 10-12-09

Rank

Fighter

Comments

1.

BJ Penn

If the Prodigy can dispose of Diego Sanchez in December, maybe he should go back up to welterweight. Because honestly, there are no 155-pounders in the UFC who can deal with him right now. He's a complete fighter with a fearsome killer instinct, and watching him at his best is watching a true warrior at work.

2.

Shinya Aoki

At DREAM.11, Aoki went back to his bread-and-butter and submitted Joachim Hansen, winning their best-of-three series. (Maybe his last loss to Hellboy was due to exhaustion after all.) Despite his rudimentary striking ability, Aoki looks nearly unbeatable at lightweight. Let's hope a meeting with "Crusher" Kawajiri is next.

3.

Eddie Alvarez

 

4.

Tatsuya Kawajiri

Always dangerous and always entertaining, Kawajiri picked up one of the biggest wins of his career at DREAM.9 when he out-muscled Gesias Cavalcante to a unanimous decision. His strong wrestling and ground-and-pound set him apart from most Japanese fighters, and as we saw in his legendary 2008 fight against Eddie Alvarez, he can swing the hammers when he needs to.

5.

Diego Sanchez

As a welterweight, he was a perennial threat. As a lightweight, he’s within spitting distance of his first UFC title. He’s intensely positive, and positively intense, and Stevia has melted his body down into a 155-pound killing machine, player. Will BJ be able to handle the Yes Man at UFC 107?

6.

Kenny Florian

 

7.

Joachim Hansen

 

8.

Frank Edgar

The Answer has had a killer run in the Octagon, picking up wins over Tyson Griffin, Spencer Fisher, and Sean Sherk, and even though he dropped a decision to Gray Maynard last year, Edgar's wins have been more impressive than Maynard's, both in level of competition and entertainment value. Still, both guys need to start finishing fights if they hope to become fan-favorites.

9.

Gray Maynard

 

10.

Gesias Cavalcante