WEC Lightweight Division Rankings

Top WEC Lightweight Fighter Rankings:

1. Benson Henderson (12-1, 5-0 WEC) - Now 12-1 with three straight wins over the best the WEC has to offer, Benson Henderson will sit back and see who the WEC throws at him next. Having defeated Donald Cerrone twice and Jamie Varner once, Henderson may once again see Shane Roller, who he defeated at WEC 40, only this time with the WEC Lightweight Championship belt on the line.

2. Jamie Varner (16-3, 4-1 WEC) - With a 4-1 record against WEC competition and a 1-1 record in the UFC, Varner is no stranger to solid competition. He has WEC wins over Donald Cerrone, Marcus Hicks and Rob McCullough, and while "ring rust" did not seem to be a major factor in his loss to Ben Henderson at WEC 44, but it surely did not help after being out for a year. With Varner headlining the WEC 49 fight card facing Kamal Shalorus, a win for Varner could be enough to get another shot at Henderson's belt.

3. Shane Roller (8-2, 5-1 WEC) - With a 5-1 record in six WEC fights Roller's lone career WEC loss came at the hands of current champ Ben Henderson at WEC 40 in April 2009. Fighting Njokuani, Roller was able to avoid the heavy hands and force the tap out with a rear naked choke victory in the 1st round. Is a title shot up next for Roller?

4. Donald Cerrone (11-3, 4-3-1 WEC) - Donald "The Cowboy" Cerrone has wins over notable WEC Lightweights Danny Castillo, Anthony Njokuani & Ed Ratclif, but what is concerning is that Cerrone has not been able to handle a step up in competition losing 3 of his last 5 fights, two to Henderson and one to Varner. With a decisive loss to Henderson at the PPV-televised WEC 48 event, Cerrone drops on this list and will have to work his way back up the ladder. One good option is to match Cerrone with the loser of the Varner vs. Shalorus fight from WEC 49 as either would be a good co-main event fight to attract fans and viewers.

5. Kamal Shalorus (6-0-1, 2-0 WEC) - Shalorus, aka the "Prince of Persia," has been quite impressive in his first two WEC fights scoring a TKO win over Will Kerr and a unanimous decision win over Dave Jansen. It's obvious that the WEC brass has recognized Shalorus' potential as the Iranian fighter is pitted against Jamie Varner atop the WEC 49 fight card for the event titled Varner vs. Shalorus. Should Shalorus defeat the more experienced former WEC Lightweight Champion at WEC 49, he could be staring at a title shot later in the fall of 2010.

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6. Anthony Njokuani (12-3, 3-2 WEC) - Njokuani had won three straight in impressive fashion before running into Shane Roller at WEC 48. While a title shot may have been close for the native of Nigeria, the loss drops him to the middle of the WEC lightweight rankings. If Donald Cerrone does not face the loser of the Varner vs. Shalorus fight it makes sense to think that Njokuani would provide a good match-up as well.

7. Bart Palaszewski (34-13, 3-2 WEC) - Easily the most experienced fighter on this list, "Bartimus" has proven to be rather streaky in his long MMA career as he has followed consecutive losses in the WEC with three straight wins, two in the WEC. After a 1-2 start to his WEC career, his last two wins have come against Anthony Pettis at WEC 45 and Karen Darabedyan at WEC 47 to move up the list. His experience was on full display at WEC 47 when he was being out-boxed by Darabedyan only to escape with a submission victory.

8. Anthony Pettis (10-1, 3-1 WEC) - Anthony "Showtime" Pettis has suffered defeat just once in his career with a split decision loss to Palaszewski. Now 3-1 in the WEC with consecutive wins over Danny Castillo and Alex Karalexis, a fight with another Top 10 WEC lightweight would give Pettis a chance to work towards the middle or top of the 155-pound WEC rankings.

9. Ricardo Lamas (8-1, 3-1 WEC) - With his single loss in his MMA career coming to a solid fighter in Danny Castillo, Lamas has a promising future. His most recent win came over Bendy Casmir to improve Lamas' WEC record to 3-1 and with wins over Palaszewski and borderline Top 10 Lightweight James Krause, Ricardo has the potential to move up with another impressive win or two in 2010.

10. Karen Darabedyan (9-2, 1-1 WEC) - While he possess fast hands and strong boxing skills, Darabedyan found out what the "mixed" means in mixed martial arts when Bart Palaszewski locked in an armbar at WEC 47. Darabedyan was clearly winning the fight up to that point and while he is 1-1 in the WEC he will next face Will Kerr on the WEC 49 fight card as he looks to move up the list.

Bart Palaszewski (left), sponsored by ProFighting-fans.com, defeated Anthony Pettis (right) by Split Decision at WEC 43.