Okay which list is more impressive? UFC Lightweights: 1.BJ Penn 2.Sean Sherk 3.Kenny Florain 4. Joe Stevenson 5. Clay Guida 6. Nate Diaz 7. Frankie Edgar 8. Gray Maynard 9. Tyson Griffin 10. Hermes Franca Other Lightweights: 1. Shinya Aoki 2. Eddie Alvarez 3. Joachim Hansen 4. Takanori Gomi 5. JZ Cavalcante 6. Josh Thompson 7. Mitsuhiro Ishida 8. Gilbert Melandaz 9. Tatsuya Kawarji 10. Satoru Kitaoka Looking at the UFC’s list and thinking of who I left off the list, I’d say the UFC’s talent base at 155 has greatly improved. Just the same I think after you get past Sherk and Penn, these guys are very beatable and the outside team win 6 of the 8 matchups. No one is beating Sherk or Penn IMO. Sherk’s a consummate pro and fights everyone hard and the a motivated BJ at 155 is nearly impossible to beat. Did I leave anyone off either list that absolutely should be there?
First off, I think Roger Huerta is the fifth best fighter in the 155 division of the UFC. I think maybe you forgot about him? I think some of the world fighters are kind of overrated, especially guys like Takanori Gomi. While I do believe he should have won that Sergey Golyaev fight, not sure how they came to the conclusion he lost, I was less than impressed by his showing. I don't see Gomi as a finisher against good competition, his fights with Swung Hang Pang and Golyaev proved that he isn't a finisher. His two fights with Marcus Aurelio were less than impressive as well, one he lost by arm triangle and the other Aurelio took him the distance in his loss. I think any of the top 5 in the UFC could beat Takanori in a fight, and probably any of the top four could finish Gomi in a fight.
I left Huerta off because I think he's been facing cans until his recent loss. His fight with Guida he was getting dominanted and caught Guida with a great shot. I give him toughness for sure, but I'm not sold on him totally. Loss Kenny Florian (10-3-0) Decision (Unanimous) 5:00 3 UFC 87 - Seek And Destroy 2008-08-09 Win Clay Guida (24-9-0) Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 0:31 3 UFC - The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale 2007-12-08 Win Alberto Crane (9-3-0) TKO (Strikes) 1:50 3 UFC 74 - Respect 2007-08-25 Win Douglas Evans (5-4-0) TKO (Strikes) 3:30 2 UFC - TUF 5 Finale 2007-06-23 Win Leonard Garcia (11-3-0) Decision (Unanimous) 5:00 3 UFC 69 - Shootout 2007-04-07 Win John Halverson (17-7-0) TKO (Punches) 0:19 1 UFC 67 - All or Nothing 2007-02-03 Win Jason Dent (16-9-0) Decision (Unanimous) 5:00 3 UFC 63 - Hughes vs Penn 2006-09-23 Look at the guys he beat.. Garcia went the distance but he's not fighting at 145 lbs!! That's my personal feelings, but I can see him being 8-10 in the list. He'd be my number 11. Who do you think should be dropped though? As for Gomi.. I think he's a little like BJ was like and if he's not feeling challenged, he doesn't train hard enough and he's not as talented as BJ (who is though) and it's caught up with him. He's definitely a top 10 talent overall IMO, he just needs to be in a better org who will place talented 155ers in front of him. Look at these wins he has Wins (vs top 100): Mitsuhiro Ishida (19) Hayato Sakurai (20) David Baron (35) Marcus Aurelio (48) Duane Ludwig (70) not exactly a bunch of chumps and he's still 6-3 in the last 3 years (I'm counting the Diaz loss). I think he can beat anyone besides BJ and Sherk and I think he could even give Sherk a hard time because he'd rise up to the challenge.
Its difficult to gauge how a fighter will do in the Octagon. We've seen guys who should do very well seem to crumple under the pressure. IMHO, outside of Penn and Sherk, the UFC has a lot of middle of the road lightweights. Great, but not the best. The collection of lightweights not in the UFC is very good. Lightweight should be the deepest division in all of MMA, and I reckon it is, so the UFC has done an admirable job in getting a good volume of the top-25 into their stable.
Its tough to call, a lot of the UFC guys are tough wrestlers that are capable of lay and pray to victory. Most of the non UFC lightweights I've seen in action don't seem strong enough to defend the take down. Skill wise though I think outside of Penn the non UFC guys take it.
