Light Heavyweights
1. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-4) Universidade da Luta
After being robbed of a decision against Lyoto Machida last October, Rua wasn’t going to let the judges have a say in his May rematch. Just over halfway through the first round of their five round title fight, Rua was able to turn the lights out on Machida. Rua has since underwent knee surgery and won’t be able to defend his title until sometime in 2011. Lets hope for a full recovery as “Shogun” is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport with 17 of his 19 victories coming by stoppage.
2. Lyoto Machida (16-1) Black House
Machida looked unbeatable until he fought Maricio “Shogun” Rua in what was one of the worst decisions in MMA history. Still, he got the “w” and kept his belt- until Rua was given a rematch and decided to take the judges out of the equation. Machida suffered his first loss of his career and will have another tough test in November against Rampage Jackson.
3. Rashad Evans (15-1-1) Jackson’s MMA
One of the biggest grudge matches in UFC history finally came to fruition at UFC 114 when Rashad squared off against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The match failed to live up to the hype as Rashad continually put Quinton against the cage and took him down on his way to a unanimous decision victory. The win will give Rashad another crack at the title but he’ll have to wait for Rua to recover from knee surgery.
4. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-3) Black House
Rogerio was supposed to face Forrest Griffin at UFC 114 but due to Griffin pulling out with an injury he instead squared off against Jason Brilz. Brilz controlled the fight and took Nogueira down at will and also was able to rock Nogueira on a few occasions but the judges apparently saw a different fight as they gave the nod to Nogueira. Nogueira’s next fight will tell us more about where he is as he has a very tough test against Ryan Bader at UFC 119.
5. Quinton Jackson (30-8) Wolfslair MMA
His fight with Rashad finally came and “Rampage” just didn’t deliver. There was notable cage rust as he just wasn’t aggressive and didn’t look comfortable although he did rock Rashad at one point but for some reason didn’t pursue. Rampage came into his camp very which turned his fight camp into a weight loss camp. He will look to get back into fighting shape and get back in the title hunt later this year when he meets Lyoto Machida in November.
6. Jon Jones (11-1) Jackson’s MMA
Jon Jones is continuing his tear through the LHW division and the level of competition is only going to get tougher which should make for some great fights. Jones had no problem getting through Vera and Matyushenko. Next up is TBA.
7. Forrest Griffin (17-6) Xtreme Couture
Forrest is a guy that always seems to hang around. He hasn’t fought since last November in a decision victory over Tito Ortiz and he doesn’t currently have anything concrete on his plate although there have been rumors of a fight with Jon Jones. We will see, but a win by Bader in November and continued inaction for Griffin will push him further down the list, possibly off of it altogether.
8. Ryan Bader (11-0) Arizona Combat Sports
Bader has a real chance to be considered among the top fighters in the division if he can get past Rogerio Nogueira in November. On top of being a great wrestler, Bader has knockout power in his hands as he showed in his fight against Keith Jardine.
9. Gegard Mousasi (29-3-1) Team Mousasi
One of the most talented guys in the sport but was completely dominated by one of the best prospects and most talented wrestlers. What the Lawal fight showed was exactly how physically lacking Mousasi is at LHW. Lawal was much bigger and obviously stronger. Mousasi still has a very complete skillset and needed only half a minute to tap out Jake O’Brien in DREAM. Although the level of competition isn’t anything special, at least he’s staying busy. Next up is a fight for the DREAM LHW title against Tatsuya Mizuno later this month.
10. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (10-2) Black House
The fight against Lawal was supposed to be a one sided affair but Feijao had other ideas. It was a fight that should have taught Lawal a lot about where he is and where he needs to be. Lawal simply didn’t have the striking skills to hang with Feijao in a fight where Lawal couldn’t get his opponent to the floor. Feijao did a great job keeping the fight standing and capitalizing on Lawal’s lack in the striking department.
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