Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Lightweight

1. B.J. Penn (13-5-1)
With his Greasegate protests now seemingly behind him, Penn has accepted the offer to defend his UFC 155-pound crown against Kenny Florian at UFC 101 on Aug. 8, in a long overdue lightweight matchup.

2. Shinya Aoki (20-4, 1 NC)
Shinya Aoki was keen to avenge his August 2005 loss to Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, as he stepped back up to the welterweight division on April 5 for Dream. Instead, Aoki lasted only 27 seconds, as he was brutally destroyed by a belt of Sakurai knees and punches.

3. Eddie Alvarez (16-2)
After overcoming an early scare, Alvarez got a comeback victory under his belt and opened the Bellator Fighting Championships’ lightweight tournament in style, notching a first-round submission over Greg Loughran on April 3.

4. Joachim Hansen (19-7-1)
Despite the attention given to his New Year’s Eve rematch with Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante, the bout was nixed at the last minute when a pre-fight medical test revealed an undisclosed head injury to Hansen.

5. Gesias Cavalcante (14-2-1, 1 NC)
With his New Year's Eve scrap with Joachim Hansen getting nixed at the last minute, "JZ" will finally get into the ring with a stalwart opponent, as he'll take on Tatsuya Kawajiri at Dream 9 on May 26.

6. Sean Sherk (33-3-1)
Sherk’s quest toward regaining the UFC lightweight title will continue at UFC 98 on May 23, when “The Muscle Shark” will take on fellow dynamic wrestler Frank Edgar. Sherk has won 16 of 18 fights.

7. Kenny Florian (11-3)
Florian won't have to wait much longer for his second crack at the UFC's lightweight title, as champion B.J. Penn has accepted to face "Ken Flo" at UFC 101 in August.

8. Satoru Kitaoka (24-8-9)
Kitaoka is expected to make the first defense of his Sengoku lightweight title in August, but as a Pancrase torchbearer, the powerhouse grappler has chosen to make a stopover in his old stomping grounds for a June 7 tune-up.

9. Josh Thomson (16-2, 1 NC)
Injury has struck Strikeforce's champion yet again, as a broken leg suffered in training will nix his slated April 11 rematch with the man he took that title from, Gilbert Melendez.

10. Gray Maynard (7-0, 1 NC)
Maynard turned in his fifth straight victory inside the Octagon at UFC 96 in March, battering a serious fighter in Jim Miller over three dominant rounds to claim his place in these rankings.

Other contenders: Tatsuya Kawajiri, Gilbert Melendez, Jim Miller, Eiji Mitsuoka, Jamie Varner.

*With the entry of Gray Maynard, formerly No. 10 ranked Tatsuya Kawajiri falls outside the top-10.