So here's part two of our fun with ranking series, the Light Heavyweight division:
Light Heavyweight
| 411 Mania | Sherdog | MMA Weekly |
| Mauricio "Shogun" Rua | Mauricio Rua | Mauricio "Shogun" Rua |
| Quinton "Rampage" Jackson | Quinton Jackson | Quinton Jackson |
| Chuck Liddell | Dan Henderson | Chuck Liddell |
| Dan Henderson | Chuck Liddell | Dan Henderson |
| Wanderlei Silva | Wanderlei Silva | Wanderlei Silva |
| Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou | Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou | Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou |
| Ricardo Arona | Ricardo Arona | Ricardo Arona |
| Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira |
| Tito Ortiz | Rashad Evans | Tito Ortiz |
| Rashad Evans | Jason Lambert | Kazuhiro Nakamura |
Note: The Irish Whip has a pretty good rankings page too.
We've got the most unanimity of opinion about this division. Everyone agrees that Shogun is number one, which just increases the pressure on him to perform well in his UFC debut against the unranked Forrest Griffin. Everyone has Rampage, Dan Henderson and Chuck Liddell rounding out the top four. Some disagree about Henderson vis a vis Liddell, but that will be clear after Rampage vs Henderson at UFC 75.
The next groups is also unanimous with the fallen former #1 Wanderlei, then the fast rising Sokoudjou and his two recent KO victims Arona and Little Nog.
No one's really sure what to do with Tito, but he's still top 10 in 2 of 3 lists, Sherdog is unaccountably ranking Rashad over Tito despite Tito only drawing the fight due to a point penalty. Sherdog's dis of Tito gives them room for Jason Lambert, hot off his upset over former perennial top 10 Babalu Sobral. MMA Weekly bumps Rashad and includes Kazuhiro Nakamura instead. Will be interesting to see if Machida breaks into the top 10 if he beats Nakamura at UFC 76.
UFC has 9 of these 12 fighters signed. Sokoudjou teased EliteXC then went with K-1. Little Nog is apparently focusing on his boxing, With Ricardo Arona in limbo according to a recent interview in Brazil's Tatame mag:
I wonder who Sokoudjou will find to fight in Japan. The 205lb class is not a strong point of the Land of the Rising Sun. I expect he'll beat up on Dong Sik Yoon and Melvin Manhoef. Alistair Overeem, Kayoshi Tamura, and Vitor Belfort are out there ronin-ing it at that weight class too. Tony Bonello seems like the hottest prospect who's not with a big organization.
In addition to Machida, keep an eye on Tomasz Drwal vs. Thiago Silva at UFC 75, the winner of that fight should jump in the rankings pretty quickly as well.
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