MMABay’s World Mixed Martial Arts Ranking’s for March

Lightweight

1: BJ ‘The Prodigy’ Penn: Penn looked absolutely untouchable in his UFC 107 clash with Diego Sanchez, putting on a clinical performance that left his opponent a battered, bloody and broken mess. While Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard may have earned their shots, it’s tough to see who, if anyone, can come close to ‘The Prodigy’ at 155lbs.  

2: Shinya ‘Tobikan Judan’ Aoki: Aoki continues to hold onto his number two ranking by the skin of his teeth. After pulling out a miracle submission against Joachim Hansen in his last bout, Aoki’s ended the year on a violent note, snapping the arm of Mizuno Hirota on New Year’s Eve. An all-Japanese showdown with ‘Krusher’ Kawajiri is hopefully next for Japanese MMA’s newest bad boy.

3: Gray ‘The Bully’ Maynard: The Xtreme Couture-trained lightweight has been on a tear of late, remaining undefeated in 10 pro bouts. While Maynard may be the most qualified man in the UFC to face Penn, but his plodding victory over Nate Diaz did little to enthral fans or the UFC matchmakers. Maynard will have to wait in the wings while a man he defeated two years ago gets a title shot ahead of him. If that’s not motivation, we don’t know what is. 

4: Frankie ‘The Answer’ Edgar: Edgar saw himself out of top ten contention after his loss to Gray Maynard, however two upset victories over Hermes Franca and former champion Sean Sherk saw ‘The Answer’ jump back into the top ten. A multiple time ‘Fight of the Night’ winner, his victory at the TUF 10 Finale over Matt Veach sees Edgar firmly in the mix to face BJ Penn for the title at 155lbs. He’ll get his chance at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.

5: Kenny ‘Ken-Flo’ Florian: Despite being largely outclassed in his second attempt at the UFC lightweight title against BJ Penn, ‘Ken-Flo’ is remaining resolute in his desire to become a champion at 155. He took his first step en-route to proving that the third time is a charm against fan-favourite Clay Guida at UFC 107 in December, finishing the wild man with a trademark rear-naked choke. It looks like Florian will be given the unenviable task of welcoming Takanori Gomi to the UFC; a win against ‘The Fireball Kid’ would see him thrust back into contention at 155. 

6: Eddie ‘The Silent Assassin’ Alverez: Alverez is becoming known as something of a tournament superstar. Undefeated in the 2008 DREAM GP, Alverez had to withdraw from the finals due to an eye injury. He then entered and won the first Bellator FC lightweight GP with three submissions. Alverez has taken a tumble in the rankings due to recent inactivity, and will need a big win against UFC cast-off Josh Neer in May to maintain his ranking.      

7: Tyson Griffin: After dropping an enthralling unanimous decision to former champion Sean Sherk last year, Griffin has rebounded in style, decisioning the durable Rafael Dos Anjos and scoring a devastating knock out of Hermes Franca at UFC 103. Griffin has seen his title aspirations put on hold for the time being after being forced to pull out of his UFC 108 clash with Jim Miller.  

8: Gilbert ‘El Nino’ Melendez: Melendez had been waiting for over a year to get his hands on perennially injured lightweight Josh Thomson. He certainly made the most of the opportunity, winning a five round war and taking a well deserved unanimous decision to earn his spot in the rankings.

9: Tatsuya ‘Krusher’ Kawajiri: After an up and down couple of years in which ‘Krusher’ has experienced wins and losses in MMA and K-1, the Japanese warrior has finally focused on MMA full time again. After his tune-up victory over unheralded Melchor Manibusan at DREAM 12, Kawajiri scored a dominating decision victory over Sengoku standout Kazunori Yokota on New Year’s Eve, setting the scene for a title showdown with Shinya Aoki.

10: George Sotiropoulos: Many thought that Australian Sotiropoulos was only given a shot against former title challenger Joe Stevenson because the event was in his backyard. The Aussie proved everyone wrong with an excellent technical display against a man who most people thought would make mincemeat of him. The win sees the former TUF fighter crack the top ten rankings at 155lbs and based on recent performances, the only way is up.
 
NOTE: Diego Sanchez has recently revealed that he will no longer fight at 155lbs. We have removed him from the lightweight rankings and will re-rank him at welterweight following a significant win at 170lbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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