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WILLIAMS BLOG: Light Heavyweight Rankings Rationale - Why I have Forrest first, Evans fourth, and Liddell even lower
Nov 24, 2008 - 8:06:24 PM WILLIAMS BLOG: Light Heavyweight Rankings Rationale - Why I have Forrest first, Evans fourth, and Liddell even lower

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My Light Heavyweight Rankings

1. Forrest Griffin

2. Quinton Jackson

3. Lyoto Machida

4. Rashad Evans

5. Wanderlei Silva

6. Chuck Liddell

7. Keith Jardine

8. Mauricio Rua

9. Luis Cane

10. Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): Thiago Silva, Vladimir Matyushenko, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Rich Franklin

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Forrest Griffin/"Rampage" Jackson was a historic battle. To review: in the 2005 Pride 205 Pound Grand Prix, "Whatever Happened To?" Ricardo Arona defeated Pride 205 pound champion Wanderlei Silva in the semi-finals before losing to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the finals, making Rua the lineal Pride champ. Rua won out in Pride before losing to major underdog Griffin in Rua's disastrous UFC 76 debut. Meanwhile, Wanderlei, still the nominal Pride title holder, lost the belt in his final Pride fight to Dan Henderson (confused yet?). Jackson unified the official UFC and Pride titles when he outpointed Henderson at UFC 75. Thus, Griffin's decision win over Jackson in a memorable brawl this past May unified all major strands of 205 pound title claims. Griffin is the champion of the division and a deserving (if improbable) number one.

I put Wanderlei above Liddell and Liddell above Jardine, but given their three-way tie in bouts against one another, that order could be argued. In the end, Wanderlei got the nod for the number five slot because of the way that he demolished Jardine (the easiest victory of the trio's series), and I put Liddell above Jardine due to Liddell's more impressive overall body of work in recent years.

I never would have guessed two years ago that "Shogun" Rua would be near the bottom of a 205 pound Top Ten list. By the time he fights Mark Coleman in January, he will have not competed in 16 months. The freakish injury ending to their initial bout aside, Rua should dispatch Coleman easily. To remain ranked, however, he needs to score a victory over a top fighter.

I think Cane, Nogueira, Thiago Silva, Sokoudjou, and Babalu could all make claims for the number nine and ten spots. I put Cane at nine due to the strength of his win over Sokoudjou, who, despite a bad loss to Machida, was still ranked due to his quick KOs of Minotoro and Arona. Speaking of that, some will think I am crazy for putting Nogueira above Sokoudjou, but Nogueira was a Top Five fighter before the loss, and while Sokoudjou has been sliding, Minotoro has rebounded well (albeit against nondescript foes). I do not put any stock in Matyushenko's decision win over Nogueira six years ago, either. Two very different fighters in a very different game.

No one should sleep on Thiago Silva. I do not have him in my Top Ten because I believe that for a fighter to be ranked, he needs to defeat someone in the Top Ten or accumulate a significant body of work against "near Top Ten" opponents. However, I anticipate that once Thiago receives some bouts against ranked competition, he will demonstrate that he belongs.

[Chuck Liddell photo credit: Wade Keller (c) MMATorch]