_RIVAL_

THIS IS WHAT I THINK THE WORLD LW PICTURE IS LOOKING LIKE RIGHT NOW... I'VE POSTED MY OPINION AS TO WHY...

IF YOU HAVE THEM RANKED DIFFERENTLY POST YOUR LIST...



#1.) FRANKIE "THE ANSWER" EDGAR UFC LW CHAMPION



TO BE THE MAN YOU'VE GOT TO BEAT THE MAN.... AND FRANKIE DID THAT TWICE.. SICK WRESTLING, PROBABLY THE MOST TECHNICAL STANDUP AT LW IN THE UFC....

NOTABLE LW VICTORIES

B.J. PENN
SEAN SHERK
TYSON GRIFFIN
JIM MILLER



#2.) GILBERT "EL NINO" MELENDEZ STRIKEFORCE LW CHAMPION



SAME CAN BE SAID FOR GILBERT... BEFORE SHINYAS LOSS TO "EL NINO" AOKI WAS WIDLEY RANKED AT #2 IN THE WORLD... GILBERT DOMINATED AOKI... HE'S ALSO THE ONLY LW IN THE TOP 5 IN THE WORLD THAT HAS AVENGED HIS LOSSES...

NOTABLE LW VICTORIES

SHINYA AOKI
JOSH THOMPSON
TATSUYA KAWAJIRI
MITSUHIRO ISHIDA
CLAY GUIDA

#3) B.J."THE PRODIGY" PENN



ARGUABLY #2 IN THE WORLD AND STAYS IN THE TOP 3 ON MY LIST BECAUSE OF HIS HIGH PROFILE FIGHTS AND ABILITY TO FINISH HIS OPPONENTS... CAN'T PUT HIM AT #2 BECAUSE 2 BACK TO BACK UNANIMOUS DECISIONS DO HURT YOUR RANKING.....AND UNLIKE GILBERT MELENDEZ HE WAS UNABLE TO AVENGE HIS LOSS AND RECLAIM HIS TITLE..


NOTABLE LW VICTORIES

DIEGO SANCHEZ
SEAN SHERK
TAKANORI GOMI
KENNY FLORIAN
DIN THOMAS

[B]#4.) GREY "THE BULLY" MAYANRD[/b]



UNDEFEATED. HOLDS A VICTORY OVER THE UFC CHAMP...HE CAN LOOK LACK LUSTER IN SOME OF HIS OUTINGS.... AND HE'S NOT A FINISHER, BUT HE'S WINNING.. #1 CONTENDER FOR UFC LW TITLE


NOTABLE LW VICTORIES

FRANKIE EDGAR
KENNY FLORIAN
NATHAN DIAZ
ROGER HUERTA
JIM MILLER

#5) SHINYA "Tobikan Judan" Aoki



SHINYA STAYS IN THE TOP FIVE BASED ON HIS NOTABLE VICTORIES AND HIS ABILITY TO FINISH FIGHTS... HIS SUBMISSION SKILLS AND KILLER INSTINCT ARE INCREDIBLE AND I ONLY RANKED GRAY MAYNARD OVER HIM BECAUSE OF MAYNARDS WIN OVER EDGAR...

NOTABLE LW VICTORIES

EDDIE ALVAREZ
TATSUYA KAWAJIRI
GEORGE SOTIROLOPOUS
JZ CALVANCANTE
JOACHIM HANSEN
CAOL UNO
VITOR RIBERIO

Danm2501

1. Frankie Edgar
2. BJ Penn
3. Gilbert Melendez
4. Gray Maynard
5. Kenny Florian

__________________
www.danmanley.co.uk

rockybalboa25

I'd switch 2 and 4. Melendez's level of competition is not nearly as high as Penn's or Maynard's. Aoki is highly overrated and his one dimensional style would not work in american mma.

1. Edgar
2. Maynard
3. Penn
4. Milendez
5. Florian

americanfighter

switch 2 and 4 and you got my list. as has been said before grey has fought and beat higher level of competition including edger and is still undefeated.

__________________

Tweak

Aoki's win on Soti was not notable.

rockybalboa25

By that logic Matt Hamil's win over Jon Jones isn't notable. Wait a minute you might be onto something here. We saw what Melendez did to Aoki Edgar, Maynard, Penn, and Florian would be him just as easily.

The Amarok

Im still suprised people arent giving Aoki much credit.
The man has the best grappling in the lightweight division imo.
I mean Aoki has beaten more World champs than BJ
Penn: Sherk, Hughes, Sanchez, Uno, Pulver, Gomi, Serra
Aoki:Kawajiri,JZ,Hansen,Hirota,Ribero,Alveraz,Uno, Kikuchi (1-1 with Jake Sheilds)
Yes I understand that Aoki needs to work on striking but just because he lost to Melendez he is a scrub and overrated? I swear MMA fan cant stay loyal for shit.

__________________
6'0 254 lbs 1-0 Amatuer
BW: Masakazu Imanari FW: Hastu Hioki LW:Eddie Alveraz WW: Mauris Zaromskis MW: Hector Lombard LHW: Christian M'Pumbu HW: Sergei Kharintonov

rockybalboa25

Aoki is not the best at grappling. While he is good if someone engages him, without his little pants he is incapable of getting the top of the division fighters to the ground.

What world champs has Aoki ever beaten?

You inexplicably left Stevenson and Florain off of BJ's list.

Also most of the guys you listed have fought mostly in Japan. These guys fight lesser competition over there and build up their records, but can't hang with the elite in the UFC or Strikeforce. Melendez easily beat Aoki and Edgar, Penn, Maynard, and Florian would beat him easily as well.

The Amarok

what world titles in MMA has Stevenson and Florian won?
Please dont tell your counting TUF as a world titles yea right.
How is it that there is lesser comp in Japan. Everytime i check fighters that try to swing over to Japan dont do so.
If that was the case how come Melendaz couldnt beat Ishida the 1st time? Or Randleman beat Nakamura, Liddell beating Rampage. I could go on and on with this list but the Nationalism and Elitism is highly evident in your post. As far as im concerned its a two way street. Think about how many U.S champs are there in Japan? If they were so good then maybe they can reign supreme but they dont. If jake sheilds was so good, how come he couldnt keep is Shooto title?

__________________
6'0 254 lbs 1-0 Amatuer
BW: Masakazu Imanari FW: Hastu Hioki LW:Eddie Alveraz WW: Mauris Zaromskis MW: Hector Lombard LHW: Christian M'Pumbu HW: Sergei Kharintonov

_RIVAL_

First and foremost anybody that thinks that Kenny Florian is above Shinya Aoki in the top 5 really hasn't seen Shinyas carreer.

Second there are many fighters who win in Japan and do so in the U.S. as well...

Eddie Alvarez
Shogun
Jake Shields
Nick Diaz
Yushin Okami
Fabricio Werdum
B.J. Penn
Lyoto Machida

to name a few were picking up wins in Japan and doing well for themselves stateside as well.


Sometimes there just seems to be a jinx between both. I wouldn't say that one region has superior fighters. Not for a second.



You need to watch that fight. Melendez was robbed. Gilbert won that fight. And came back and avenged that loss.


I'm glad you pointed this out. You can't say that the greatest are fighting in the U.S. you can only say that your "favorites" are fighting in the U.S.

Because like them or not Shinya Aoki and Kawajiri would vandalize the UFCs LW division. I think Kawajiri would bulldoze everybody outside of B.J. Penn and Edgar.... and he'd have a very close fight with Edgar.

Aoki vs Penn...... I really couldn't call a winner.

Are you saying that if Anderson Silva is so great than why did he lose 2 of his PRIDE fights?

__________________