Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Lightweights

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Welcome again folks, this time to Sherdog's list of the 10 greatest lightweights ever. This was compiled based on a weighted poll of 12 Sherdog contributors, and I will note where my own views deviated considerably from the consensus. Personally though, the appeal of any such list isn't the exact order or who was included or excluded, but the actual discussion of each entry. Anyone can come up with a list with no further commentary and it's no more “right” than another. However, the best such lists have entertaining and informative explanations, which is the goal I hope to accomplish.

A word about criteria: My main measure for this list was greatness for one’s era and how long that era lasted. I believe the majority of other contributors used a similar rubric. Ranking historical fighters based on who would beat whom doesn’t make sense, since the division as a whole keeps improving and evolving. This is especially true at lightweight, a division that gets better at warp speed; we've seen countless legends like B.J. Penn, Takanori Gomi and Jens Pulver, not far removed from their championship days, struggle to even win a fight. Nevertheless, fighters from earlier eras may be penalized for competitive their division was or was not. There were fewer decent fighters in the 90s when compared to even the 00s, let alone today.

By way of honorable mention, our lightweight poll featured a number of current and former greats who received at least one vote, but not quite enough to crack the Top 10. In descending order, they are: Michael Chandler, Rafael dos Anjos, Gilbert Melendez, Jens Pulver, Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor.

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