The lightweight division is by far the most volatile/cluttered/goofy division in MMA currently. There are a ton of fighters bunched together and many are fighting in different organizations. Below I’m going to quickly discuss some possible matchups I’d like to see to clear things up a bit. Some are completely possible and others are far from likely.
Diego Sanchez Vs Kenny Florian Fighter Comparision
Diego just had a solid showing against Clay Guida and although he said the cut was a bit rough he seems fairly acclimated to lightweight at this point. Given the back story with Florian, and the fact that win or lose Kenny Florian will still be a highly ranked lightweight I think they should square of next regardless of how the BJ Penn fight plays out.
Jamie Varner Vs Joe Stevenson Fighter Comparision
Also scoring a big win recently was Joe Stevenson. I think a great fight for him in his attempt to move back up the rankings would be against Jamie Varner. This is a fight that might be less likely given organizational differences, but the fight makes a ton of sense.
Varner is one of those fighters that people seem to dismiss, but click the link above and look at how he stacks up historically compared to Joe Stevenson. The two fighters overall level of competition is *VERY* similar. Additionally, Varner has a higher win%, a higher KO%, and a higher sub%. Simply put Varner has earned the right to fight at a higher level and show whether he really belongs there.
For me this is exactly the type of fight that should be made because both fighters have something to gain, both are risking something and the fight is good from both a sport (ranking) and fun (entertainment) point of view.
JZ Vs. Eddie Alvarez Fighter Comparison
I’ve actually heard rumors recently that this fight might happen, but haven’t seen anything confirmed yet. As you can guess I’m all for such a fight. JZ is an incredibly entertaining fighter with heaps of potential. He has faced many of the best lightweights and although he’s suffered a couple losses there’s no reason to believe he won’t start moving right back up the rankings.
Moving up the rankings is exactly what Eddie Alvarez has been doing lately. Sadly some might not have followed Alvarez recently as some of his more recent fights have been outside the more popular organizations. Like JZ, Eddie has faced some of the best fighters in the world. It’s interesting to notice that although both have lost to Shinya Aoki, and both hold wins over Andre Amade, Eddie actually holds wins over Hellboy and Kawajiri (both of whom have defeated JZ).
Whoever is trying to make this fight happen has my full support and I thank them for trying to put together such a great match.
Not to mention…
Although the lightweight division is such a “mess” it’s also very entertaining and full of incredible fighters. Whether the fights I mention above happen or not there are lots of other great fights already setup for fighters like: Penn, Florian, Aoki, Thompson, Melendez, and Kitaoka.
I know some look at the lightweight rankings on this site and think it proves the system stinks. The truth is it proves that the lightweight division is ferocious~!!! You’ve got so many great fighters clumped so closely in skill and and most of the fighters have wins/losses already against each other. It’s going to be very difficult for anyone to put together a solid win streak against this level of competition.
When a fighter does pull of a few wins though it is important to remember that doesn’t make their opponent trash and it doesn’t mean they are forever going to sit atop such a stacked division. Whether you like or the loath the person that appears at number one in the coming weeks and months I think it wise to respect whomever is there for all they have accomplished and wish them luck in holding onto that spot…they will surely need it.