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Around SBN: Dana White Announces Koscheck vs. Hendricks for UFC on FOX

Compiling the rankings of twenty top mixed martial arts web sites, the USA TODAY / MMA Nation Consensus MMA Rankings present the top 25 fighters in MMA for the seven major weight classes. These world MMA rankings are the most accurate reflection of how the top fighters in MMA across all promotions like UFC, Strikeforce and ProElite are viewed by the experts who cover the sport.

Lightweight MMA

Consensus Rankings posted March 26, 2009

Rank Fighter % Promotion Last Rank
1 B.J. Penn 97 UFC 1
2 Shinya Aoki 95 DREAM 2
3 Kenny Florian 84 UFC 3
4 Sean Sherk 82 UFC 6
5 Eddie Alvarez 81 Bellator 4
6 Joachim Hansen 79 DREAM 5
7 Gesias Cavalcante 78 DREAM 7
8 Josh Thomson 63 Strikeforce 8
9 Satoru Kitaoka 58 WVR 9
10 Tatsuya Kawajiri 47 DREAM 10
11 Diego Sanchez 41 UFC NR
12 Gray Maynard 32 UFC 15
13 Mitsuhiro Ishida 29 DREAM 12
14 Tyson Griffin 26 UFC 14
15 Takanori Gomi 26 WVR 11
16 Jamie Varner 23 WEC 13
17 Gilbert Melendez 21 Strike Force 22
18 Eiji Mitsuoka 20 WVR 16
19 Caol Uno 18 UFC 17
20 Clay Guida 17 UFC 20
21 Frankie Edgar 17 UFC 21
22 Roger Huerta 17 UFC 19
23 Spencer Fisher 15 UFC 22
24 Joe Stevenson 14 UFC 24
25 Joe Lauzon 14 UFC 27
25 Jim Miller 14 UFC 18
41

Analysis by Kid Nate

Well #1 B.J. Penn's attempt to rule two weight divisions at the same time has succeeded in breaking his 100% hold on the #1 position of the lightweight division. It really has more to do with WAMMA deciding to name #2 Shinya Aoki their champion than any blowback against B.J.

Disagree? Read more & discuss at Bloody Elbow »

About the Rankings

compiled by Kid Nate and Richard Wade of Bloody Elbow

Bloody ElbowBased 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. Show more »

Sources

Jeremy Botter, Heavy MMA
Fight Matrix
Jordan Breen, Sherdog
Jim Genia, Full Contact Fighter
Jesse Holland, MMA Mania
Kevin Iole, Yahoo!
Eric Kamander, MMA Ratings
MMA Playground
MMA Weekly
Leland Roling, Bloody Elbow
Matthew Roth, Head Kick Legend
Wojslaw Rysiewski, MMA Rocks
Michael David Smith, MMA Fighting
Derek Suboticki, Fightlinker
Luke Thomas, SB Nation