Leet's Take
LEET: My Problems With MMA Rankings (April) - The Lightweight Division
Apr 11, 2010 - 6:15:28 PM LEET: My Problems With MMA Rankings (April) - The Lightweight Division

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By: Laramey Leet, MMATorch Contributor

Recently MMATorch's staff posted their overall rankings for all the weight divisions for the month of April. This is the new addition to my ongoing break down of the rankings. I am breaking down the rankings of each division in a five part column; this is the lightweight (LW) division. These are strictly my opinions and my thoughts on the division rankings.

We rank the fighters to know who is the best in that particular division. This is not just for conversation; every sport in the world ranks their leaders to know who the best is. Like every sport there is confusion amongst the rankings, which doesn’t leave everyone happy. So do not expect to be. We all have different methods for MMA ranking; dominance, consistency, MMA record, level of opponent, aggressiveness, etc...

This is how MMATorch's staff ranked the Lightweight (LW) Division in April of 2010 (before UFC 112)

1. BJ Penn
2. Kenny Florian
3. Shinya Aoki
4. Eddie Alvarez
5. Gilbert Melendez
6. Gray Maynard
7. Frankie Edgar
8. Tatsuya Kawajiri
9. Josh Thomson
10. Joachim Hansen

Contenders: Tyson Griffin, Gesias Cavalcante, Ben Henderson, George Sotiropoulos, Sean Sherk, Clay Guida, Sam Stout, Takanori Gomi, Diego Sanchez

As we all know, B.J. Penn was the ruler of the division and no one has come close to beating him at 155lbs in 6 years; that is until he fought Frankie Edgar at UFC 112. I personally scored the fight 48-47 Penn, but when fighters leave it in the judge’s hands, they have no one to blame but themselves. (One judge scored the fight 50-45 Edgar; that is not only ridiculous but an impossible to justify score).

To me Penn did not look like his previous self, I do not know if he was sick, injured, had bad training, if the outside was a factor, if he had jet lag, or what was going on, but that was not the same B.J. Penn who has dominated his previous opponents. I have no clue what was going on with Penn. So with this loss you unfortunately cannot expect to see Penn on top of the rankings. I want to see a rematch. This is nothing but a speed bump for Penn, he will get his belt back.

MMATorch has Kenny Florian at #2, I completely agree with this as he is right behind B.J. Penn. Florian is famous for his razor sharp elbows and his comment “I finish fights,” and well, he does. Florian has only lost two fights at 155 lb. and both were for the UFC championship belt. With his recent win over Takanori Gomi there is no doubt that he belongs at #2. With his technique rising every time he steps in the cage he is staying on top of the division. I would not be surprised to see if him fight Frankie Edgar next for the belt.

Now in most rankings you will find Shinya Aoki ranked at #2, but he comes in at #3 at MMATorch. While Aoki had a very impressive win over Mizuto Hirota in December 2009. Aoki faces some stiff competition in Japan and is not as quite known to the American fans, but I think after he faces Strikeforce LW champion Gilbert Melendez April 17 many people will know who the man is. The only reason I have him at #3 is because of his 27 second loss to Hayato Sakurai a year ago. While you may think it is idiotic for me to hold the man to one fight that happen a year ago; in my opinion a man of his caliber should not let himself be vulnerable to a quick KO. This is why I have him at #3.

Coming in at #4 on MMATorch’s rankings is Eddie Alvarez; you will normally find him at #3 on most ranking systems. Alvarez is the first LW tournament winner of Bellator and he is the LW champion of Bellator. Alvarez did not have much stiff competition in the Bellator’s opening tournament, but he is 8-1 at LW. His only loss is to Shinya Aoki for the WAMMA LW belt. Alvarez needs to win another tournament or fight some top tier fighters to move higher on the list.

At a jaw dropping #5 on the list MMATorch has Gilbert Melendez. I completely disagree with Melendez being this high on the list. While he is the Strikeforce LW champion (excuse me for being disrespectful) he is the champion of a bunch of nobodies. Strikeforce possesses no real great LW fighters, that is why they have to bring in Shinya Aoki to make a good fight. Do not get me wrong, the Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thompson II fight was great and was a true classic. Melendez has not fought almost any top ten fighters and in my opinion is very undeserving of such a high listing.

Next on the list we have Gray Maynard. While Maynard might not be the most impressive fighter he is undefeated at 9-0. He normally wins by a decision and he has not faced a top ten opponent while they were ranked. I would rather him be closer to the bottom, but he is undefeated; maybe that is just for the time being until he faces some real competition.

Frankie Edgar comes in at #7 on MMATorch’s rankings. I think Edgar has a fair position on the rankings, until UFC 112. While Edgar has wins over B.J. Penn, Sean Sherk, Tyson Griffin, and Hermes Franca; he has one blemish on his record to Gray Maynard two years ago. Now Frankie Edgar is the UFC Lightweight champ, and he has beaten one of the best LW fighters in the world. (Whether you agree or disagree he has the belt and won the fight.)

I hate to put him at #1, but you almost have to. He stuck and moved for five rounds to get a victory, even though Penn out struck him every round, but one. I do not agree with the judges, but it is what it is. I hope that Dana does exactly what he did to the Shogun/Machida fight and gives Penn an immediate rematch.

Tatsuya Kawajiri is another one of the fighters that might not be that well known to some American fans, but Kawajiri is a very bad man. He is normally ranked much higher in other rankings, but falls short in MMATorch’s. While you might think that he deserves to be farther up in the rankings, I disagree. Kawajiri always falls short against the top guys; he has lost to Eddie Alvarez, Gilbert Melendez, and Takanori Gomi. While he has wins over other top ranked opponents he falls short to the better fighters, earning his spot at #8 on the list.

I cannot believe my eyes… Josh Thomson is on a LW ranking of the top ten. How in the world did this happen? You will not find Thomson listed on any LW rankings on the net and that is for a reason. He is the second best in Strikeforce, but that says nothing at all. He had a great match with Gilbert Melendez his last fight, but that says nothing. He has no great wins, not consistent, and is not always dominant. Why is he on this list? On top of that he is not even #10 he is #9.

Once again I am completely stunned. Joachim Hansen is on a LW ranking too. Did everyone feel bad for the guy for going 2-3 in his last five fights? You will not find this guy being mentioned anywhere near a top ten list as well. This is the least consistent guy on this list, real talk. He has a recent win over Shinya Aoki, but that is no reason to put him on the top ten lists. I am completely perplexed with the bottom two guys on the list.

Now let’s dig into some contenders who have more right to be on this list then some. My first guy is Tyson Griffin; I really think he is close to being in the top ten or just on the verge. He has a MMA record of 14-2, his two losses or to Sean Sherk and Frankie Edgar, which are no slouches in the division. He faces some tough competition at times, but he is not a very dominant fighter.

At my #10 spot I have to give credit to Sean Sherk. There is no doubt that the man is in a slump with injuries and a couple losses, but the man’s record is 33-4. You can find Sherk in most LW rankings on the net, so I am not a complete retard, some people do actually agree with me on this. When Sherk finally makes his return to the UFC we will see if he is able to return to his old form and get back underneath the win column.

My next guy I think should be looked at more is George Sotiropoulos. He absolutely dominated Joe Stevenson, in a way that we have never seen Stevenson handled. I think Sotiropoulos looks good at lightweight and this might be his new home, he will need one more victory in the division and you will see him in the rankings afterwards. Well now that you have heard me ramble on about what I thought of the rankings, now you get to judge mine. Here is how I ranked the LW division:

1. Frankie Edgar
2. B.J. Penn
3. Kenny Florian
4. Shinya Aoki
5. Eddie Alzarez
6. Gray Maynard
7. Tatsuya Kawajiri
8. Gilbert Melendez
9. Tyson Griffin
10. Sean Sherk

Yeah, I know I put Frankie Edgar on top, but he beat the champion (so the judges think), though I do not agree with the decision at all. Not too many rankings have come out yet, but I am sure that many will have Edgar on top. That is what I think of the LW division. Let me know what you think of MMATorch’s rankings and my personal rankings? What changes would you make to the division rankings? You can either email me at LarLLeet@yahoo.com or leave a comment on MMATorch.com's reader comment area. Thanks for all the feedback.

RELATED STORY: MMATorch rankings for April of 2010: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]