Rich Hansen's Take
HANSEN: Transparency in MMA Rankings - My Top 15 Light Heavyweight Fighters (April 2014)
Apr 11, 2014 - 7:45:07 PM HANSEN: Transparency in MMA Rankings - My Top 15 Light Heavyweight Fighters (April 2014)

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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Guest Columnist

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Despite my hiatus from this site, both writing and audio, I’m still keeping up with the sport and with the site. On top of that, I’m still in charge of compiling the monthly rankings. And since I’m going through the effort to compile the rankings, I still put together my own rankings in each division as well. My breakdown continues today with the light heavyweight ranks.

1.) Jon Jones: What, you expected someone else maybe? Don’t be a clown. This should be a no-brainer. Jon Jones has been in the UFC since UFC 87 in August 2008, and has never legitimately lost a fight. Hell, he hasn’t been tested other than the fight with Alex Gustafsson at UFC 165 in September 2013. Gustafsson fought the fight of his life, one he might not be able to repeat, and Jones still had his hand raised. When the rematch does happen, expect Jones to be prepared for the surprises Gustafsson presented during their first fight, and to win the rematch more easily than their original fight.

Significant victories: Stephan Bonnar (HEY! HE’S A UFC HALL OF FAMER! STOP SNICKERING AND SHOW SOME RESPECT), Ryan Bader, Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Alexander Gustafsson (The win over Chael Sonnen does not qualify as ‘significant,’ hence the omission).

2.) Alexander Gustafsson: Even for someone like me who never for a second thought he defeated Jon Jones at UFC 165, Gustafsson was absolutely elevated in my eyes. That’s one of the best fights I’ve ever seen, but that’s not all there is to Gustafsson. A silky smooth striker with finishing power in both his hands and his feet, Gustafsson is comfortable everywhere the fight goes. I would like to see a longer list of significant victories though, as you will see below.

Significant victories: James Te-Huna, Thiago Silva, Shogun Rua

Notable losses: Phil Davis, Jon Jones

3.) Rashad Evans: It’s kind of hard for me to believe that Rashad Evans is as good as he is, but there’s absolutely no denying his credentials. And to be fair, it’s also kind of hard to envision this division without Evans in it. I really don’t know if he’s going to go down in the annals of history as an all-time great fighter. Sure, he beat Forrest Griffin to win the title, but Griffin might be the least respected, non-pasta-addicted champion in modern history. However, immediately after that, Rashad followed up on his crowning achievement by getting stanky-legged all the way back to Albuquerque. Evans also had in his pocket the fact that he was a major draw, having main evented in two separate PPV events that went over a million buys. He also coaxed 700,000 buys out of Jon Jones, which is a number the sublime Jones hasn’t come close to hitting since. Evans in my mind is somehow both the most underrated and the most overrated fighter in UFC history. I can’t figure the dude out, but that’s ok.

Significant victories: (UFC Hall of Fame (credibility killing) er) Stephan Bonnar, Ryan Bader, Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Thiago Silva, Quinton Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Phil Davis, Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen

Notable losses: Lyoto Machida, Jon Jones, Antonio Rogerio Mogueira


4.) Daniel Cormier: Daniel Cormier has fought professionally for 7,182 seconds, and has been in total control for exactly 7,182 of those seconds. The man is the most dominant wrestler in the UFC and he’s at the peak of his abilities. He’s smart enough to fight to his strength, he’s smart enough to put aside his pride and duck Cain Velasquez, and he’s smart enough to run his mouth into an inevitable fight with Jon Jones (the fact that Jones will starch him notwithstanding). Cormier’s never lost a fight, never been challenged, and won’t be given an opponent who will jeopardize either of those streaks until he gets a shot at the champ.

Significant victories: Antonio Silva, Josh Barnett, Frank Mir, Roy Nelson


5.) Phil Davis: I have a hard time saying anything nice to say about Davis, due to his allegiance to Penn State. I realize that his submission over Alexander Gustafsson was fantastic, and his hammerlock submission on Tim Boetsch was a thing of beauty. But let’s call a spade a spade here. Rashad Evans took him to school. And if you want to claim that Davis is much better than he was then, fine, but then you’d best stop crediting him so much for beating Alexander Gustafsson. After all, I think Gus has improved since then, too. My analysis of Davis is just so tainted by his allegiance to the worst place in the country that you shouldn’t take anything I say about this clown too seriously. That said, if he goes into his fight against Anthony Johnson thinking that he’s a good striker because he was able to tool Vinny Magalhaes on the feet, well, well I hope he does think that.

Significant victories: Brian Stann, Alexander Gustafsson, Tim Boetsch, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Lyoto Machida (in an absolute disgraceful robbery)

Notable loss: Rashad Evans


6.) Glover Teixeira: Of course, this changes drastically if he catches Jon Jones. But even though most believe that Alexander Gustafsson proved Jones to be human, I think what Gustafsson proved is that the second best light heavyweight in the world fighting the fight of his life still lost to Jones. If Teixeira’s smart he’s going to be training off his back a lot in this camp, because he’s going to be spending a lot of time on his back at the end of the month. And I take no joy in believing that, because Glover is a hell of a fighter with massive finishing power in his fists and crushing chokes. Just because he can’t beat Jon Jones doesn’t lessen the esteem one should have for Teixeira. Since he came to the UFC he’s never been in a dull fight, and I fully expect that streak to continue for a while.

Significant victories: Sokoudjou (significant in that after losing to Teixeira, Sokoudjou immediately went out and shocked Lil Nog and Ricardo Arona in two of the biggest upsets in MMA history), Rampage Jackson, Ryan Bader

Notable loss: Ed Herman (WAY back in the day. Teixeira hasn’t lost in nine years, and when he did, it was to Herman. Just let that sit on your tongue for a minute.)


7.) Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: Hard to give him too much credit for the win over Rashad Evans due to the fact that A) the fight was hot garbage and 2.) The win was more than 14 months ago and he hasn’t fought since. Attrition has to be wearing away at Nogueira. Never as electric on the mat as his twin brother Rodrigo, although once a far superior boxer, it’s just so hard to know what Nogueira is anymore. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, which is set to expire soon.

Significant victories: Guy Mezger, Kazushi Sakuraba, Alistair Overeem (2x), Dan Henderson, Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans. Nogueira went about five and a half years between significant victories. He beat Overeem for the second time in July 2006, and Tito Ortiz in December 2011. And beating Tito in 2011 is hardly significant.

Notable losses: Shogun Rua, Soukoudjou (notable in that Nogueira was a 25:1 favorite), Ryan Bader, Phil Davis


8.) Anthony Johnson: Before I start, guilty as charged. This is just lunacy on my part. Well, tough titties. I like Rumble, ad I think the division would be well served if he gets on a hot streak in the UFC. Rumble’s fun, has good power, decent wrestling, and a lot of charisma. And in a division this weak, that’s enough for me to vault him over some of the has-beens and never-will-bees who follow.

Significant victories: Dan Hardy, Andrei Arlovski (HEY! I already told you there’s no rational reason to have him up here, so let it go.)

Notable losses: Josh Koscheck, Vitor Belfort


9.) Dan Henderson: I’m going to avoid the easy ‘it’s time for Dan Henderson to retire because now he can go out on top’ bit and just say that it’s time for Dan Henderson to retire because now he can go out on top. Like Big Nog, the scalps he’s obtained say so much, I can’t reasonably add to it.

Significant victories, and there are zillions of them: Carlos Newton, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Babalu Sobral (2x), Renzo Gracie, Ninja Rua, Murilo Bustamante (2x), Kazuo Misaki, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Rousimar Palhares, Rich Franklin, Michael Bisping, Rafael Cavalcante, Fedor Emelianenko, Shogun Rua (2x)

Notable losses: Wanderlei Silva, Ricardo Arona, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Kazuo Misaki, Rampage Jackson, Anderson Silva, Jake Shields, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort

The dude has fought just freaking everybody. Well, everybody but Jon Jones, who Henderson was willing to murder a PPV to avoid…


10.) Ryan Bader: I told you light heavyweight was thin. But I feel compelled to flesh this out a bit more because I don’t want to write about Charlatan Sonnen who, SPOILER ALERT, is up next. Um…. Bader’s really good when he isn’t charging at Lyoto Machida with his hands down and chin up. And, uh, when Jon Jones defeated Bader, Jones got a title shot next. And… Shit. That’s all I got.

Significant victories: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Rampage Jackson

Notable losses: Jon Jones, Tito Ortiz (He lost to SHOT TITO! That’s pretty freaking notable, people.), Lyoto Machida, Glover Teixeira


11.) Chael Sonnen. Ew.

Significant victories: I can’t recall

Notable losses: Every Brazilian who ever stepped into a cage. As well as Trevor Prangley, Forrest Griffin (before TRT. I mean, before Forrest’s TRT), Jeremy Horn, Keiichiro Yamamiya (never heard of him. Just want to flesh out this section as much as I can), Jeremy Horn (that’s twice now), Terry Martin, Babalu Sobral (Brazilian), Jeremy Horn (yes. Three losses to Horn.), Paulo Filho (Brazilian), Demian Maia (also Brazilian), Anderson Silva (Brazilian), Anderson Silva yet again (really damn Brazilian), Jon Jones, Rashad Evans

OK. So writing about Chael Sonnen can be fun if you know how to limit your scope.


12.) Shogun Rua: He was outclassing Dan Henderson, admittedly not the highest of praise anymore, until the moment he was, you know, not. Shogun’s another fighter who could certainly not be faulted for going into retirement, even though he could certainly beat a few more people for a few more dollars. Even though he was briefly a UFC champion, his UFC run can only be considered a flop. Not just when comparing it to the way he ran roughshod through PRIDE in the mid 2000’s, but the man is a sub .500 fighter since signing with the UFC. Injuries are to blame here, along with myriad other factors. Sure, he could hang on for a couple more years, but no one who isn’t on Shogun’s payroll wants to see that.

Significant victories: Rampage Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, Ricardo Arona (those four fights won him the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix, which is one of the crowning achievements anyone in MMA has accomplished), Kevin Randleman, Alistair Overeem again, Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin

Notable losses: Babalu Sobral, Mark Coleman (notable in how it happened more than anything), Forrest Griffin (one of the great upsets), Lyoto Machida (one of the great screwjobs), Jon Jones, Dan Henderson (2x), Alexander Gustafsson, Chael Sonnen


13.) Quinton Jackson: It’s much easier to be fair about this tool’s career when following Chael Sonnen. Rampage is a distant second to Sonnen in the MMAssholympics. Although he sure as hell does his best to narrow the gap, don’t he? I’m convinced Rampage still has something left, although he’ll never be able to prove it while he’s stuck in Bellator. All wins there are under a Bellator ceiling, and any loss there is crippling to his remaining credibility. I really think I’m undervaluing him, but, meh. Bellator.

Significant victories: Mike Pyle, Igor Vovchanchyn, Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Chuck Liddell (2x), The Super-Hluk Minowa-man, Ricardo Arona, Ninja Rua, Matt Lindland, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Lyoto Machida

Notable losses: Kazushi Sakuraba, Wanderlei Silva (2x), Shogun Rua, Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Jon Jones, Ryan Bader, Glover Teixeira


14.) Ovince St. Preux: Hey! Anyone who can hit a Von Flue on Nikita Koloff Krylov is clearly an other-worldly talent. Or, LHW is thin and I’m just a fan of the guy (see Johnson, Anthony)

Significant victories: I guess that depends on how much you like Abongo Humphrey

Notable losses: Gegard Mousasi


15.) Emanuel Newton: The current Bellator Champion has about as impressive of a resume as one can compile outside of the UFC. Unfortunately for him other than his “feminine” spinning backfist KO of Muhammad Lawal, he’s the most boring fighter in the division (non-Jimmo category). That said, he beat Lawal twice, so eternal love, Mr. Newton. Eternal love.

Significant victories: Muhammad Lawal (2x),

Notable losses: He fights in Bellator. How notable can any losses really be, right?

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