Rich Hansen's Take
HANSEN: Transparency in MMA Rankings - My Top 15 Lightweight Fighters (April 2014)
Apr 21, 2014 - 4:10:46 PM HANSEN: Transparency in MMA Rankings - My Top 15 Lightweight Fighters (April 2014)

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By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Guest Columnist

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 lightweight ranks.

1.) Anthony Pettis: I always think I'm being a little generous putting Pettis so high, but then I see all of my colleagues putting him higher than I do, and I don't feel so guilty. I think I'm guilty of overrating him because of the Milwaukee connection, his style of fighting, etc., but apparently I'm not too crazy with putting him so high. It would be much easier for me to rank him in the top five if he just had more fights and fewer injuries. Pettis is one of the great talents in the sport, and it's a damn shame he fights as infrequently as he does. Pettis might have the most complete arsenal of finishing skills in the sport. He was the first UFC challenger to submit a sitting champion since 2004, but he's much more widely known for his vicious and flashy striking abilities. As much as I still want to see him vs. Jose Aldo, the prospects of him vs. Gilbert Melendez will have all fight fans drooling (and praying to St. Jude) that the fight actually happens.

Significant victories: Danny Castillo, Jeremy Stephens, Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone, Benson Henderson (2x)

2.) Eddie Alvarez: Alvarez is, for now, the best fighter in the world who is not currently under a UFC contract. And if he defeats Michael Chandler this May, he'll most likely be under UFC contract before the end of this year. Alvarez vs. Melendez. Alvarez vs. Cerrone. Alvarez vs. Grant. Alvarez vs., dare I say it, Alvarez vs. Pettis. Yes, please, to all of the above.

Significant victories: Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Roger Huerta, Pat Curran, Shinya Aoki, Patricio Freire, Michael Chandler

Notable losses: Nick "The Goat" Thompson, Shinya Aoki, Michael Chandler

3.) Michael Chandler: The worst thing that ever happened to the future legacy of Michael Chandler was the UFC matching Bellator's contract offer to Gilbert Melendez. With one fell swoop, Bellator went from having more top-five fighters in the lightweight division to being possibly one fight away from the same division being known as Chandler and the Chandlerettes. Had Melendez gone to Bellator, it is conceivable that would have persuaded Alvarez to stay. And Melendez's first six fights could (should) have been trilogies with Alvarez and with Chandler. Chandler is now going to be Tom Hanks, without even Wilson to talk with. Chandler's resume does not earn him a spot on this list. But my eyes have seen him fight Eddie Alvarez for fifty minutes, and there is no separating the two in my eyes on any list.

Significant victories: Eddie Alvarez, Rick Hawn (semi-significant. I mean, it's Bellator, Dude)

Notable losses: Eddie Alvarez

4.) Gilbert Melendez: The one downside of Melendez's continued stay in the UFC is that his next UFC fight won't be until New Year's Eve, which is more than 14 months after his last fight. Just as significantly, it will mean Anthony Pettis will be on the shelf for 16 months. Which sends the message to fight fans that The Ultimate Fighter should be perceived as more important that the UFC Lightweight Championship. Fans will absorb that message by forgetting how great these two fighters are and not order the PPV.

Significant victories: Clay Guida, Tatsuya Kawajiri (2x), Mitsuhiro Ishida, Josh Thomson (2x), Shinya Aoki, Jorge Masvidal, Diego Sanchez

Notable losses: Mitsuhiro Ishida, Josh Thomson, Benson Henderson

5.) Benson Henderson: Like most observers, I had Melendez over Henderson when they fought a year ago. I was in the building for that fight and when I first watched it live I thought Henderson snaked the victory from Melendez. Upon each re-watch, I saw it for Melendez. Razor-thin, but there you go. Lightweight is a killer division, and it's a testament to Henderson to be top five in the division despite not being able to finish a fight to save his life.

Significant victories: Donald Cerrone (2x), Jamie Varner, Jim Miller, Clay Guida, Frankie Edgar (2x), Nate Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, Josh Thomson

Note that the second Edgar win, the Melendez win, and the Thomson win were all awful decisions.

Notable losses: Anthony Pettis (2x)

6.) Josh Thomson: You know, as awful as it was that he got jobbed by the judges in the fight with Henderson, imagine had he won. He would have earned a title shot, which would have led to the UFC not being able to offer Gilbert Melendez an immediate title shot with Anthony Pettis, not to mention the TUF gig. Or maybe what would have happened is that they would have rushed Pettis back to fight Thomson before he was ready to fight, leading to a Thomson win, leading to TUF 20: Thomson vs. Melendez 4. I love thinking about these things #Dork

Significant victories: Gilbert Melendez, JZ Cavalcante, Nate Diaz

Notable losses: Yves Edwards, Clay Guida, Gilbert Melendez (2x), Tatsuya Kawajiri, Benson Henderson

7.) T.J. Grant: When Anthony Pettis replaced Grant in the main event of UFC 164, do you remember when all the conspiracy theorists screamed bloody murder that Grant was ordered out of the fight in Milwaukee so that Pettis could take the slot. And how dare Dana White manipulate things like that just for money? Well, right about now I bet T.J. Grant wishes that was actually the scenario that played out. Since beating Gray Maynard almost eleven months ago, and earning a title shot shortly thereafter, Grant has yet to be cleared to return to action due to a severe concussion. Grant's future is up in the air, and it's eminently possible that the Grant who went 5-0 at lightweight in the UFC is gone forever.

Significant victories: Evan Dunham, Matt Wiman, Gray Maynard, Rafael dos Anjos

Notable losses: Kim Dong-Hyun, Johny Hendricks, Ricardo Almeida (all were at Welterweight)

8.) Khabib Nurmagomedov: There are voices that I respect that believe Nurmagomedov is a sham who is going to be exposed when he faces the right guy. Well, hasn't happened yet, now has it. 22 fights, 22 wins. I'm convinced. He mostly plowed through Rafael dos Anjos in Orlando, so I would expect a lot of those voices to quiet down.

Significant victories: Gleison Tibau, Abel Trujillo, Pat Healy, Rafael dos Anjos

9.) Nate Diaz: One of the more polarizing figures in the UFC, Diaz has a much lower ceiling than he would like to admit. He's currently bitching about his lot in life, earning 60/60 per fight, despite being 0-2 against fighters ranked above him in this list. And in those losses to Thomson and Henderson, Diaz was competitive for exactly zero seconds of those fights. Diaz is talented, valuable, popular, and controversial. There's certainly a place for him, if he's willing to claim that place. That said, he's got a 17-9 professional record, and it's not like he's a BJ Penn or a Randy Couture, legendary fighters who can absorb a large number of losses.

Significant victories: Manvel Gamburyan, Melvin Guillard, Donald Cerrone, Jim Miller, Gray Maynard

Notable losses: Hermes Franca, Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson, Gray Maynard, Kim Dong-Hyun, Rory MacDonald, Benson Henderson, Josh Thomson

10.) Rafael dos Anjos: I think I'm lower on dos Anjos than most people. I don't see anything exceptional about him, but he keeps on winning. And I must say I was pleasantly surprised when he beat up Donald Cerrone in Indianapolis. His fight with Nurmagomedov was make or break for him, and he fell on the wrong side of it.

Significant victories: Terry Etim, George Sotiropoulos, Anthony Njokuani, Mark Bocek, Evan Dunham, Donald Cerrone

Notable losses: Jeremy Stephens, Tyson Griffin, Clay Guida, Gleison Tibau, Khabib Nurmagomedov

11.) Donald Cerrone: A lot of admirable qualities here. A finisher, both on the feet and with submissions. Will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime. Knows how to talk. Knows how to get under the skin of everyone he fights. Always, always in exciting fights. But dude, Kid Rock? Ugh. That said, how awesome was his fight with Edson Barboza on the Orlando card?

Significant victories: Anthony Njokuani, Danny Castillo, Jamie Varner, Charles Oliveira, Dennis Siver, Jeremy Stephens, Melvin Guillard, Evan Dunham, Edson Barboza

Notable Losses: Jamie Varner, Benson Henderson (2x), Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis, Rafael dos Anjos

12.) Rustam Khabilov: A lot of the same voices I hear that don't think Khabib Nurmagomedov is the next best thing do however think Khabilov is the guy to keep an eye on in this division. And if Khabilov makes the most of his main event fight with Ben Henderson this June, the voices will become much louder. Khabilov tore through Vinc Pichel and Yancy Medeiros in violent fashion, but it was his picking apart of Jorge Masvidal which really got my attention. But as highly as you want to think of Khabilov, he hasn't faced anyone at all like Ben Henderson.

Significant victory: Jorge Masvidal

13.) Jim Miller: So, we're just totally pretending that Pat Healy didn't ragdoll him, simply because of a little bit of weed? Yup. Miller's done too much at a high level for me to totally disregard him losing a fantastic fight against Pat Healy. A win over Yancy Medeiros at UFC 172 might allow Miller one more chance to make a run in the division.

Significant victories: Matt Wiman, Mac Danzig, Mark Bocek, Gleison Tibau, Charles Oliveira, Melvin Guillard, Joe Lauzon

Notable losses: Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Benson Henderson, Nate Diaz

14.) Myles Jury: Speculative pick? Sure. But what's wrong with that? He hasn't beaten anyone ranked higher than him on this list, but there are several guys up there who certainly want nothing to do with the ever-improving Jury. And unlike several very good fighters, he's smart enough to stick to a gameplan when being baited by an inferior fighter. It's hard to know how high the ceiling is until he starts to get top-10 opponents, but the future is bright.

Significant victories: Michael Johnson, Ramsey Nijem (both wins look better every day), Diego Sanchez

15.) Erik Koch: This is 80% a Roufusport pick, and 20% a speculative pick. That said, Koch needed barely four minutes combined to knock out Francisco Rivera and Raphael Assuncao. They're bantamweights, I get that, but they're also bantamweights who are likely to fight for the title in the next year or two.

Significant victories: Francisco Rivera, Raphael Assuncao

Notable losses: Chad Mendes, Ricardo Lamas, Dustin Poirier