MMA Rankings > MMA Light Heavyweight Rankings
MMA Light Heavyweight Division Rankings
A review and ranking of the top 205-pound Light Heavyweight fighters in MMA - January 2011 Update
The 205 pound weight class in Mixed Martial Arts may well be the deepest of all divisions in terms of talent. Sitting atop the 205 pound rankings is current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua who won the belt avenging his UFC 104 loss to Lyoto Machida. While the UFC dominates this division it is worth noting that two Strikeforce fighters make the 205 pound Top 10 list led by former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi at #5 on our list below.
Here are the top ten light heavyweights in Mixed Martial Arts midway through 2010.
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Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (right) lost a controversial decision to Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 but avenged the loss with a win over Machida at UFC 113 to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. |
1. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-4) – “Shogun” is an 8-year professional who won twelve of his thirteen career PRIDE bouts including the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix. He made his UFC debut in 2007 and in his fifth octagon appearance he overtook Lyoto Machida for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title at UFC 113. Overall, Shogun has won three of his last four inside the octagon fences.
2. Rashad Evans (15-1-1) – Former Michigan State University wrestler, Sugar Rashad Evans won The Ultimate Fighter 2 in 2005. He moved on to win the Light Heavyweight Title at UFC 92 in December 2008 against Forrest Griffin but lost it in his very next bout against Lyoto Machida. He has won back-to-back bouts over Thiago Silva and Quinton Rampage Jackson and five of his last six overall. He will fight Shogun Rua for the Light Heavyweight title on March 19th atop the UFC 128 fight card.
3. Randy Couture (19-10) – Randy "The Natural" Couture is a former UFC Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight Champion who has begun to wind down his 13-year MMA career. After losing his HW belt to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 and Antonio Rod Nogueira at UFC 102, Couture has won three in a row as a light-heavyweight. His recent victories against Brandon Vera, Mark Coleman, and James "Lights Out" Toney have earned him a chance to fight former champ Lyoto Machida on the UFC 129 fight card in April.
4. Quinton Jackson (31-8) – Rampage is a longtime PRIDE FC veteran who made his UFC debut in 2007 at UFC 67. He won the 205-pound title at UFC 71 against Chuck Liddell and defended it against Dan Henderson at UFC 75. He lost his title against Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 but has won three of his last four since. Rampage defeated Machida at UFC 123 in November 2010 and will meet Thiago Silva at UFC 120 on May 28th.
5. Gegard Mousasi (30-3-1) – The Dreamcatcher won 12 of his first 14 before joining PRIDE in 2006. He won the Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight title in August 2009 against Renato Sobral but lost to Muhammed Lawal in his very next bout to end his 15-fight winning streak. He has won back-to-back bouts since his third career loss, defeating Jake O’Brien at DREAM 15 and Tatsuya Mizuno at DREAM 16 this past September to earn the organizations’ Light Heavyweight title.
6. Jon Jones (11-1) – Jonny Bones Jones had only six bouts to his credit when entering the UFC in 2008. He won his first three octagon bouts before earning a disqualification loss at the TUF 10 finale in December 2009 against Matt Hamill. Bones has won back-to-back bouts since including a victory over Vladimir Matyushenko this past August at UFC Live 2. He will fight Ryan Bader at UFC 126 on February 5th. 7. Ryan Bader (12-0) – Former Arizona State wrestler Ryan Bader was brought into the UFC after winning the TUF 8 tournament in December 2008. He has won all five of his UFC bouts including a victory over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 119 in September. He will fight Jon Jones at UFC 126 on February 5th. 8. Lyoto Machida (16-2) – After winning his first eight bouts of his career, Machida began fighting for the UFC. He won the Light Heavyweight title in his 7th octagon bout at UFC 98 against Rashad Evans and defended it against Shogun Rua at UFC 104. He has lost back-to-back bouts against Rua at UFC 113 and Quinton Jackson at UFC 123. He will fight Randy Couture at UFC 129 on April 30th. |
9. Dan Henderson (26-8) – Hendo won the PRIDE Middleweight Championship at PRIDE 33 in February 2007 against Wanderlei Silva. He turned back to the UFC in 2007 but lost title bouts against Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva in his first two bouts. He won his last three inside the octagon but left when his contract was up. He has split his two Strikeforce bouts, losing against Jake Shields and winning against Sobral to become the #1 contender for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight belt.
10. Forrest Griffin (17-6) – The original The Ultimate Fighter won his tournament in 2005 to launch his UFC career. He won six of his first eight octagon bouts to earn a chance at the Light-Heavyweight crown at UFC 86 against Quinton Jackson. He won his July 2008 bout for this title but lost it in his first defense against Rashad Evans at UFC 92. He has lost two of his last three but did defeat Tito Ortiz at UFC 106 in November 2009. He will fight Rich Franklin at UFC 126 on February 5th.
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By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer
Published January 2011
Photo used with permission from the UFC