Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
Lightweight
Jul 9, 2008
1. B.J.
Penn (Pictures) (13-4-1)
With his return to the division, many proclaimed Penn the world's best lightweight. With his dominant victory to retain the UFC lightweight championship against Sean Sherk (Pictures), Penn validated those claims. With a Roger Huerta (Pictures)-Kenny Florian (Pictures) eliminator on tap for August, and his desire to rematch welterweight king Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) made vocal, Penn's future should certainly prove exciting.
2. Takanori Gomi (Pictures) (28-3-0, 1 NC)
Gomi will return to action on the next Sengoku bill on Aug. 24, against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. More importantly, the card will also feature an eight-man lightweight clash featuring the likes of Eiji Mitsuoka (Pictures), Satoru Kitaoka (Pictures), Kazunori Yokota (Pictures), Rodrigo Damm (Pictures) and Duane Ludwig (Pictures), with the tournament winner likely going on to challenge Gomi for the inaugural Sengoku lightweight championship.
3. Shinya
Aoki (Pictures) (16-2, 1 NC)
It was a bit of a headache to schedule, but Aoki finally got into the ring with Katsuhiko Nagata (Pictures) for their Dream lightweight tournament quarterfinal, and the dynamic grappler notched a nasty submission win with a mounted gogoplata. Aoki will now meet veteran Caol Uno (Pictures) on July 21 in the semifinals of the grand prix, with a finals berth later that evening on the line.
4. Gesias Cavalcante (Pictures)(14-2-1, 1 NC)
Cavalcante came out on the losing end of things in his April 29 rematch with Shinya Aoki (Pictures). Now, "JZ" is looking at three to four months on the shelf to recover from a torn ACL.
Long critical of his perceived place in MMA rankings, Josh Thomson (Pictures) went out and put on the best showing of his career, dominating Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) from wire to wire in their June 27 Strikeforce title bout. Always considered a super talented fighter, Thomson finally has a performance to match, and with that, debuts at five in the Sherdog.com rankings.
6. Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) (14-2-0)
A favorite going into their June 27 clash, Melendez was completely outclassed by Josh Thomson (Pictures) over five rounds en route to a lopsided decision. What's next for the talented Cesar Gracie (Pictures) prospect is uncertain, but for now Melendez slips from fifth to sixth in the Sherdog.com rankings.
7. Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) (22-4-2)
On what is shaping up to be one of the year's best cards, perhaps the most action-guaranteed bout on Dream's July 21 card is the lightweight grand prix semifinal between Kawajiri and Eddie Alvarez (Pictures). If nothing else, he may be looking at being one half of the fight of the year, but a win would go a long way as Kawajiri drops from sixth to seventh in these rankings with Thomson's victory.
8. Sean Sherk (Pictures) (32-3-1)
The ten months of torture for Sean Sherk (Pictures) were punctuated in painful fashion, as he was thoroughly handled by B.J. Penn in their lightweight title clash. However, the possibilities are numerous for Sherk, who has only fought thrice in the division, making plenty of matchups with the UFC's young, talented lightweights possible. Josh Thomson (Pictures)'s victory bumps Sherk from seventh to eighth.
9. Caol Uno (Pictures) (25-10-4)
After turning in a vintage performance in May where he shockingly finished off Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures) to march into the Dream lightweight tournament final four, Uno will have his hands full on July 21, where he takes on Shinya Aoki (Pictures) in the semifinals of the tournament. "The Punk" toppling Melendez nudges Uno down a peg from eighth to ninth.
10. Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures) (16-4-1)
Most expected Ishida to use his active top game to take out veteran Caol Uno (Pictures) in the Dream lightweight tournament's quarterfinals. Instead, after being knocked off by Uno, Ishida will now be resigned to rooting for his friend and training partner Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) on July 21 when the lightweight grand prix concludes. Ishida moves to the fringe of the rankings with Thomson's victory over Melendez, falling from ninth to tenth.
*While victorious over Gleison Tibau (Pictures) on July 5, Joe Stevenson is just edged out of these rankings from the tenth spot with Josh Thomson (Pictures)'s victory over Gilbert Melendez (Pictures).
With his return to the division, many proclaimed Penn the world's best lightweight. With his dominant victory to retain the UFC lightweight championship against Sean Sherk (Pictures), Penn validated those claims. With a Roger Huerta (Pictures)-Kenny Florian (Pictures) eliminator on tap for August, and his desire to rematch welterweight king Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) made vocal, Penn's future should certainly prove exciting.
2. Takanori Gomi (Pictures) (28-3-0, 1 NC)
Gomi will return to action on the next Sengoku bill on Aug. 24, against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. More importantly, the card will also feature an eight-man lightweight clash featuring the likes of Eiji Mitsuoka (Pictures), Satoru Kitaoka (Pictures), Kazunori Yokota (Pictures), Rodrigo Damm (Pictures) and Duane Ludwig (Pictures), with the tournament winner likely going on to challenge Gomi for the inaugural Sengoku lightweight championship.
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It was a bit of a headache to schedule, but Aoki finally got into the ring with Katsuhiko Nagata (Pictures) for their Dream lightweight tournament quarterfinal, and the dynamic grappler notched a nasty submission win with a mounted gogoplata. Aoki will now meet veteran Caol Uno (Pictures) on July 21 in the semifinals of the grand prix, with a finals berth later that evening on the line.
4. Gesias Cavalcante (Pictures)(14-2-1, 1 NC)
Cavalcante came out on the losing end of things in his April 29 rematch with Shinya Aoki (Pictures). Now, "JZ" is looking at three to four months on the shelf to recover from a torn ACL.
5. Josh
Thomson (Pictures) (15-2-0, 1 NC)
Long critical of his perceived place in MMA rankings, Josh Thomson (Pictures) went out and put on the best showing of his career, dominating Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) from wire to wire in their June 27 Strikeforce title bout. Always considered a super talented fighter, Thomson finally has a performance to match, and with that, debuts at five in the Sherdog.com rankings.
6. Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) (14-2-0)
A favorite going into their June 27 clash, Melendez was completely outclassed by Josh Thomson (Pictures) over five rounds en route to a lopsided decision. What's next for the talented Cesar Gracie (Pictures) prospect is uncertain, but for now Melendez slips from fifth to sixth in the Sherdog.com rankings.
7. Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) (22-4-2)
On what is shaping up to be one of the year's best cards, perhaps the most action-guaranteed bout on Dream's July 21 card is the lightweight grand prix semifinal between Kawajiri and Eddie Alvarez (Pictures). If nothing else, he may be looking at being one half of the fight of the year, but a win would go a long way as Kawajiri drops from sixth to seventh in these rankings with Thomson's victory.
8. Sean Sherk (Pictures) (32-3-1)
The ten months of torture for Sean Sherk (Pictures) were punctuated in painful fashion, as he was thoroughly handled by B.J. Penn in their lightweight title clash. However, the possibilities are numerous for Sherk, who has only fought thrice in the division, making plenty of matchups with the UFC's young, talented lightweights possible. Josh Thomson (Pictures)'s victory bumps Sherk from seventh to eighth.
9. Caol Uno (Pictures) (25-10-4)
After turning in a vintage performance in May where he shockingly finished off Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures) to march into the Dream lightweight tournament final four, Uno will have his hands full on July 21, where he takes on Shinya Aoki (Pictures) in the semifinals of the tournament. "The Punk" toppling Melendez nudges Uno down a peg from eighth to ninth.
10. Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures) (16-4-1)
Most expected Ishida to use his active top game to take out veteran Caol Uno (Pictures) in the Dream lightweight tournament's quarterfinals. Instead, after being knocked off by Uno, Ishida will now be resigned to rooting for his friend and training partner Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) on July 21 when the lightweight grand prix concludes. Ishida moves to the fringe of the rankings with Thomson's victory over Melendez, falling from ninth to tenth.
*While victorious over Gleison Tibau (Pictures) on July 5, Joe Stevenson is just edged out of these rankings from the tenth spot with Josh Thomson (Pictures)'s victory over Gilbert Melendez (Pictures).
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