USA TODAY/MMA Nation December 2011 Consensus Rankings: Lightweight

by Richard Wade on Dec 29, 2011 7:00 PM EST in MMA Rankings

Rank	Fighter	Points	Promotion	Last Rank
1	Frankie Edgar	425	UFC	1
2	Gilbert Melendez	399	Strikeforce	2
3	Gray Maynard	391	UFC	3
4	Ben Henderson	378	UFC	4
5	Shinya Aoki	341	DREAM	5
6	Clay Guida	314	UFC	6
7	Jim Miller	301	UFC	7
8	Donald Cerrone	267	UFC	8
9	Michael Chandler	262	Bellator	10
10	Anthony Pettis	251	UFC	9
11	Eddie Alvarez	201	Bellator	11
12	Joe Lauzon	134	UFC	12
13	Nate Diaz	131	UFC	13
14	Gleison Tibau	126	UFC	14
15	Melvin Guillard	120	UFC	15
16	Dennis Siver	102	UFC	16
17	Sean Sherk	92	UFC	18
18	Evan Dunham	85	UFC	19
19	Rafael dos Anjos	84	UFC	20
20	Sam Stout	77	UFC	21
21	Matt Wiman	76	UFC	21
22	George Sotiropoulos	71	UFC	26
23	Josh Thomson	69	K-1	23
24	Jorge Masvidal	68	Strikeforce	24
25	Mizuto Hirota	58	DEEP	27

Upcoming Bouts:

#1 Frankie Edgar vs. #4 Ben Henderson at UFC 144

#5 Shinya Aoki vs. Satoru Kitaoka at DREAM NYE

#7 Jim Miller vs. #15 Melvin Guillard at UFC on FX: Miller vs. Guillard

#8 Donald Cerrone vs. #13 Nate Diaz at UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem

#12 Joe Lauzon vs. #10 Anthony Pettis at UFC 144

#18 Evan Dunham vs. Paul Sass at UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis

#20 Sam Stout vs. Thiago Tavares at UFC 142

#22 George Sotiropoulos vs. Takanori Gomi at UFC 144

Based on the premise that all MMA rankings are subjective but that it’s still useful and informative to know who the online MMA community as a whole ranks as the best fighters in MMA, we collect and average the rankings of the top MMA websites to produce our consensus rankings. We compile the top MMA rankings from each of our sources and award 25 points for a first place ranking, 16 for a 10th place ranking, 1 for a 25th place ranking. A formula is used to "normalize" the data so all fighters are awarded points from those lists that do not include a full 25 fighters. This formula ensures that each ranking site awards the same number of total points regardless of how many fighters they choose to rank. Each fighter’s total is divided by the number of possible points to determine their standing in the Consensus Rankings.

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Comments

9 Michael Chandler

…

The artful muppet formerly known as KrmtDfrog.
Please read my sardonic wit and over-blown sense of self over at headkicklegend.com

by Cory Braiterman on Dec 29, 2011 8:25 PM EST reply actions

Shinya Aoki is ranked too high, he has weak strikeing too weak for that rank.

I would put him down around 14 or lower.

by kentmurr410 on Dec 30, 2011 2:20 AM EST reply actions

This division is sick.

I think we’re on the verge of a revolving door championship here, beginning with Henderson defeating Edgar.

"If you say Chael Sonnen I will light you on fire." -- Farthammer.

by IKiIIed007 on Dec 30, 2011 4:14 AM EST reply actions

The only issue I have here....

…..is that Alvarez is number 11 and Pettis is 10. I realize Alvarez lost to an unranked fighter but he’s been a top 5 LW for years now. Granted, I’m not quite sure how he got there to begin w/, but never the less he was and has been there. He loses once and drops to 11 from 5, yet Pettis has yet to defeat 1 top 10 LW and somehow cracks top 10. I was under the impression beating a top 10 fighters gets you in the top 10. Apparently I was wrong.

by Cestus84 on Dec 30, 2011 1:17 PM EST reply actions