Mixed Martial Arts Forum banner

Rank The 5 Best LWs In The World.... And Explain Why...

5K views 53 replies 13 participants last post by  rockybalboa25 
#1 ·
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
 
See less See more
5
#7 ·
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.
 
#8 ·
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.
 
#11 ·
drunken rant:

goddamn it.. maynard doesnt stand a chance against the others. not in a real fight, not a goddamn chance in hell against the others. do you know what they can do to a human body? by the third round maynard would lose control of his bowls. he'd be pissing and shitting himself in front of his friends and relatives. its a loss he'd never live down. not until the day he died. it'd be pathetic and goddamn terrible.
 
#13 ·
I personally find it interesting how B.J. was the #1 LW in the world and loses a razor close decison in their first fight with Edgar who wasn't even top 5 at the time...


Than comes back to the rematch and gets completley outclassed, dropping two fights in a row and is still top 5....

Than you got Shinya Aoki who was #2 gets beaten by the guy who was #5 at the time (Melendez) and returns to literally tear Kawajiris foot off his leg in an excellent reshowing of why he's so dangerous, sending Kawajiri to the hospital .... and yet he's out of the top 5 still?

That is absolutly ridiculous.

Shinya Aoki is a monster, and way underrated if you don't see him as top 5 IMO.
 
#14 ·
Cause Aoki sucks. Face it Aoki outclasses crap opponents in Japan cause the refs let him scoot around on his ass. Aoki loses to even gatekeepers like Joe Stevenson in the UFC because the refs won't favor him the way they do in Japan. Plain and simple Aoki would fall out of the top 10 completely if he started fighting full time in the US.
 
#16 ·
Butt scooting will never ever work in a cage. Ever. In a ring at least you can cut off the ring and use the corners you can't even do that in a cage. Joe would pick Aoki apart standing and just walk away from butt scootin boogie.. Kenny would tear Aoki apart worse than Mach did. Face it Aoki has no chance outside Japan against any top 15 LW.
 
#21 ·
He did it against Eddie. That's not how he gets fighters down Toxic.

Aoki can pull guard on an opponent by getting a hold of even a wrist, he's that dangerous.

He would maul 13 of the guys you listed. Joe Stevenson outboxing Aoki wouldn't happen for a second.

Joe would try to come in with that standard boxing style that has never been effective against ANY elite fighter and Aoki would get a hold of a part of his body and tear it off or choke him out.

LOL @ Joe Stevenson being able to defeat Aoki. :D

And Shinya Aoki has every chance outside of Japan at the top 15. That includes Eddie Alvarez again.

21 of his 25 wins are by stoppage. He's got sick killer instinct. You're way wrong on this one.
 
#37 ·
A shooto title is meaningless, its kinda like being the king of pancrease these days in that its meaningless. The KOTC title means more at this point.
Notable fighers who have competed in Shooto....

Jake Shields
Kawajiri
Gilbert Melendez
Takanori Gomi
Vitor RIbeiro
Anderson Silva
Joachim Hansen
Hayato Sakurai
Shinya Aoki
Kid Yamamoto

And a good handfull of other recognizable names... in order to receive titles you had to go through guys like this...that's just between LW and MW.... You just sound biased.


I already outlined that I think Alvarez is over rated and that I think Huerta is a step up in competition for him that he won't be able to handle
Roger Huerta?? And who exactly has Roger Huerta defeated for you to make this claim?

The only win you named that impresses me at all is Rierio
That's because you are not paying attention to underrated top talent..

but that only impresses me due to how Aoki won. Subbing a grappler of that level is impressive
Riberio competed in the ADCC world championship in 00 and 03...He's also won the BJJ world championships 4 times...Shooto Champion... and he has won A Cage Rage title as well..

The only guy Aoki even beat who has any kinda of wrestling is Alvarez,
Alvarez has solid wrestiling yes..


most Japansese fighters have horrible wrestling so Aoki is obviously able to capitalize that but your average fighter who competes in the US LW division has a vastly superior wrestling game than there Japanese counter parts
That sounds good in theory, but they have massive jitz and Aoki is subbing guys that are champions on the ground... he's not a traditional BJJ player, hes a jiu jitsu mma bone breaker, he'd do to Guida what Maia did to Sonnen... Because your boy Guida has shown the potential to be submitted by lesser calibur jitz players...

Do you honestly not see the difference in wrestling ability between guys like Kawajiri or Kikuchi and guys like Frankie Edgar and Clay Guida?
You do realize that Kikuchi has defeated Jake Shields.... and Jake Shields is a world class grappler...

Do you not see how the Japanese officials refusal to make Aoki actually stand up gives him an unfair advantage?
He booty scooted in the Alvarez fight... but you're trying to make it out to be his signature move...

Shina Aoki grabs your limbs and pulls guard or goes straight to a submission lock..
 
#38 ·
Notable fighers who have competed in Shooto....

Jake Shields
Kawajiri
Gilbert Melendez
Takanori Gomi
Vitor RIbeiro
Anderson Silva
Joachim Hansen
Hayato Sakurai
Shinya Aoki
Kid Yamamoto

And a good handfull of other recognizable names... in order to receive titles you had to go through guys like this...that's just between LW and MW.... You just sound biased.
There is a difference between fighting in Shooto when your coming up in the sport and fighting in it in your prime.

Roger Huerta?? And who exactly has Roger Huerta defeated for you to make this claim?
Huerta really hasn't beat anybody but he has held his own with some good fighters.

That's because you are not paying attention to underrated top talent..
Or I am paying attention but actually think many of them are overrated due to not being that well rounded.


Riberio competed in the ADCC world championship in 00 and 03...He's also won the BJJ world championships 4 times...Shooto Champion... and he has won A Cage Rage title as well..
Did you miss the part where I said that the fact he submitted Riberio was extremely impressive.





That sounds good in theory, but they have massive jitz and Aoki is subbing guys that are champions on the ground... he's not a traditional BJJ player, hes a jiu jitsu mma bone breaker, he'd do to Guida what Maia did to Sonnen... Because your boy Guida has shown the potential to be submitted by lesser calibur jitz players...
Your missing my point, I am not saying Aoki doesn't have great jitz I am saying he doesn't have the striking to set up the TD or good enough TD's to force it against a solid wrestler without being able to scoot around on his but like he did against Alvarez and tried against Melendez.

You do realize that Kikuchi has defeated Jake Shields.... and Jake Shields is a world class grappler...
You do realize that was 6 years ago and Shields has improved vastly since that time right?

He booty scooted in the Alvarez fight... but you're trying to make it out to be his signature move...

Shina Aoki grabs your limbs and pulls guard or goes straight to a submission lock..
No he pulls guard and grabs limbs against inferior fighters without the ability to defend his weak ass takedowns, against a fighter with solid enough wrestling to keep it standing he flops around like a fish out of water with his ridiculous butt scoots.
 
#17 ·
i mean the only "legit" ranking i go by now is fightmatrix. They have Aoki at 2. I personally beileve he should be at 3 behide Melendez and Edgar
1.Edgar
2. Melendaz
3. Aoki
4.Maynard
5. Alveraz
People are giving BJ too much of a benefit of a doubt. 2 straight losses to the same guy, HE OUT OFTHE TOP FIVE. These guys in my top 5 are dominant right now. If BJ wants back in, he is gonna have to earn like everybody else has. Nobody gets special treament is MMA rankings (unless its Zuffadog, i mean Sherdog). Hell to this day i believe that Werdum is the number heavyweight in the world. Despite his past defeats he sumbitted Fedor. He beat the best, therefore he is the best and there aint no way around it. Unless Brock defeat Werdum or Werdum retires then Brock is the number 2 Heavyweight in the world, despite holding the UFC belt.
That the one thing I dont get, is how Zuffa fighters get the best treatment in the rankings. Why is that?
 
#18 ·
Even Alvarez who has he really beat? Honestly I think Huerta is the toughest challenge Alvarez has faced in his MMA career. Sadly I also think Aoki's biggest win is over an overrated Alvarez.

Fighters in the UFC I think beat Shinya Aoki,

BJ,
Edgar,
Kenny,
Diego,
Maynard
Stevenson
Sotty
Nate Diaz
Guida
Gomi
Griffen
Sherk
 
#19 ·
I think its the other way around if THEY want Aoki's top ten spot, THEY have to beat Aoki. You got it all sorts of twisted. And there are several things wrong with that list beside the UFC favoritism
1. No Ben Henderson?
2.We seen what happens when Joe daddy goes up against a good grappler, imagation what happens if Aoki gets a hold of him
3. Sanchez is Welterweight
4.Griffen? Really?
5 Gomi has shown that the ground game is his weakness. Aoki would just make it more obvious
4.Nate Diaz is welterweight
5.If Ken-flo doesnt get stage fright, he might stand a chance
6. Guida is too damn reckless, Ken-Flo made him pay.
7. If Sherk can layoff the juice. And beside his only wins worth metion is over Karo, Gamburyan, Ken-Flo and Franca. All by descions and by most peoples standard (not mine) that not all that impressive is it?
Soti, Edgar, Maynard and maybe BJ at this point are the only legit compition teh UFC has for Aoki.
 
#41 ·
While i greatly enjoy this mod fight, and apparently being "learned" on both sides of a shinya aoki argument, i figured this thread would have a lot more to do with the non UFC LWs than it does. Ben Henderson has been mentioned once, in relation to the aoki question, is it really so apparent that he isnt worthy of being called a world class LW?
 
#45 ·
Another promblem is fan loyalty. Since Aoki lost he is a scrub? Why going into the Kawajiri fight i was rooting for Aoki.
Is it because he is a non-Zuffa fighter. I smell Zuffa-Zombies.
Any promo outside of the UFC has "lesser" compition because big bad Dana says so.
The reason people believe this is other promos have a hard time getting the word out in America since its UFC territory.
I bet you over-seas in Asia the UFC is having a harder time getting the word out since its DREAM/WVR territory.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top