MMA Rankings: Light Heavyweight

MMA Light Heavyweight Rankings

1. Jon Jones (13-1)- Jones hasn’t been in a fight where he hasn’t completely dominated his opponent. Many thought that would not be the case heading into his championship fight with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but Jones made the person who many believe is the greatest light heavyweight of all time look like an amateur. Jones next fight will be against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 134 on September 24th.

2. Rashad Evans (15-1-1)- Rashad is coming off an impressive TKO victory over Tito Ortiz and after a 15 month layoff, Evans looked as impressive as ever. Evans is now the clear cut number one contender after the Jones, “Rampage” bout concludes, so for right now, the biggest possible fight at light heavyweight is Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans.

3. Quentin “Rampage” Jackson (32-8)- Coming off of two wins, “Rampage” is in a position to regain the light heavyweight title after losing it to Forrest Griffin back in July of 2008. Jackson didn’t look amazing against Lyoto Machida or Matt Hamill, but he did enough to win and with “Rampage”, you have to remember that there are fewer more dangerous fighters than him. If Rampage can tap into what made him great in Pride, then Jones might be in trouble.

4. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-5)- He drops to number four from one due to the fact that there are so many question marks regarding his health. Rua’s cardio against Jon Jones coming off knee surgery was sub par to say the least and “Shogun” has a history of cardio problems following knee injuries (see the fight against Forrest Griffin/Mark Coleman). Rua now has a rematch against Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 in Rio, on August 27th. If “Shogun” wins that fight, then he is right back in the title picture, but if he loses, then Rua’s best days are probably behind him for good.

5. Lyoto Machida (17-2)- After back to back (some would say back-to-back-to-back) losses to “Shogun” and “Rampage”, Machida scored a karate kid-esque knockout over in MMA legend Randy Couture. The light heavyweight division is stacked right now, and Machida is quickly making his case for a title shot. After “Rampage” and Evans, he is next in line without a doubt, but he’ll probably have to fight once more in the meantime.

6. Phil Davis (9-0)- It might be a little premature to rank Davis this high, but like Jon Jones, it would be silly to overlook someone who shows flashed of dominance in every fight. He hasn’t finished top guys in the fashion that Jones has quite yet, but a win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is huge for someone so early in their career and Phil Davis wasn’t exactly a massive underdog against Rashad Evans before he had to pull out with an injury. 2012 could be Davis’ year to push his way to he top of the division.

7. Dan Henderson (27-8)- The old man still has it. Since winning the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship, Henderson is yet to defend the belt, however, he did score a second round TKO in a mega-fight against Fedor Emelianenko. Henderson’s Strikeforce contract is up sooner than later, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in the UFC making a run at their light heavyweight belt. He might be turning 41 in a few days, but “Hendo” still poses a problem for any opponent he faces.

8. Forrest Griffin (18-6)- Since the Anderson Silva debacle back in August of 2009, Griffin has quietly been on a two fight winning streak with wins over Tito Ortiz and more recently, Rich Franklin. Griffin’s next challenge will be a rematch against “Shogun” next weekend in Brazil and if Forrest can pull off another upset, then he propels himself right back into the title picture.

9. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-5)- Nogueira was set to fight Rich Franklin at UFC 133, but the bout was scrapped. Nogueira is coming off back-to-back losses and badly needs a win to stay relevant in the light heavyweight division. His boxing background gives him the ability to stand toe-to-toe with anyone in the division and his jiu-jitsu is second to none in the division as well. Nevertheless, he needs a win as bad as anyone else in the UFC.

10. Gegard Mousasi (31-3-2)- Once was one of the biggest prospects in MMA, but after a loss to Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, his stock dropped a little bit. However, since the loss, he has won three of his last four and the draw was a fight where he had a point taken away from him against Keith Jardine. Mousasi is only 26, and can be a force in the division for years to come, but he needs to get back on the map with a big win. Also, if anyone is interested in a pointless/random fact; Mousasi and Fedor have the same win/loss record at 31-3.