Notable Info
- Mainly a maintenance update. There was a show from DEEP and some other bout updates, but mainly just a pre-UFC 92 refresh.
Top Lightweights outside of UFC
Last week I examined the top fighters in the UFC’s lightweight division. As mentioned, UFC has abandoned the weight class for several years, allowing other MMA organizations to step up and fill the void. Even though the lightweights are back in the UFC in a major way, it is K-1’s Dream promotion that boasts the most top fighters on their roster: four out of the Top 10, according to the latest Fightmatrix.com ranking. The other major player in the division is World Victory Road – a Japanese promotion that rose from the ashes of Pride FC.
With three major lightweight showdowns coming up in the next month (Hansen vs. Calvancante and Aoki vs. Alvarez on K-1’s year-end extravaganza, as well as Gomi vs. Kitaoka in WVR on January 4th), this is a good time to take a look at the ten top lightweights outside of the UFC.
Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)
| Thursday, December 31st 2026: Rizin FF Super Rizin 6: Shiwasu no Owarinagoya Gekokujo Matsuri | |||
 [#1 W105] Natalia Kuziutina |  [#4 W105] Saori Oshima | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 9/10/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [#18 W105] Rena Kubota Last 5: W W W W W | Last Fight Date: 7/18/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [#13 W105] Ye Ji Lee Last 5: L W L W W | ||
| Sunday, December 13th 2026: Deep - 135 Impact | |||
| [#3 SW] Sukai China | [#4 SW] Jo Arai | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 5/04/2026 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#6 SW] Sora Sugiyama Last 5: W W W W W | Last Fight Date: 9/13/2026 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#23 SW] Daichi Kitakata Last 5: L L W L W | ||
| Sunday, December 13th 2026: Deep Tokyo Impact 2026 6th Round | |||
| [#6 SW] Sora Sugiyama | [#10 SW] Goal Makino | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 9/20/2026 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [NR] Musashi Musashi Last 5: W W W L W | Last Fight Date: 9/06/2026 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#42 SW] Toshiya Takashima Last 5: W W W W W | ||
Featured Fighters
| [#18 W125] |  Lucia Szabova | [#1 WW] | Islam Makhachev | |
| [#18 LW] |  Renato Carneiro | [#1 FW] |  Alexander Volkanovski | |
| [#13 LW] | Tom Nolan | [#26 WW] |  Jacobe Smith | |
| [#102 W125] | Tainara Lisboa | [#1 LW] | Justin Gaethje | |
| [#2 LW] |  Ilia Topuria | [#23 LHW] | Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev |
December Archive Updated
Fightmatrix.com MMA rankings archive has been updated with the rankings as of December 7, 2008.
A trip in the wayback machine.. Heavyweights
Five years ago, there was a two-headed dragon at the top of the Heavyweight division, as the rating system would’ve had Fedor and Nog in a virtual tie. Fedor did have a decision win over Nog earlier in the year, but Fedor took the easy road for the remainder of 2003, while Nog knocked off Ricco Rodriguez and Mirko Filipovic. Both were top heavyweights at the time of those bouts, and still were at the end of 2003.
Heavyweights – December 20, 2003
| Rank | Fighter | Record | Points | |
| 1 |  Antonio Rodrigo NogueiraLast Fight: 11/9/2003 [PRIDE] |
21-2-1 |
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| 2 |  Fedor EmelianenkoLast Fight: 8/10/2003 [PRIDE] |
15-1-0 |
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| 3 |  Josh BarnettLast Fight: 10/13/2003 [NJPW] |
16-1-0 |
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| 4 | Tim Sylvia Last Fight: 9/26/2003 [UFC] |
18-1-0 |
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| 5 |  Mirko FilipovicLast Fight: 11/9/2003 [PRIDE] |
7-1-2 |
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| 6 | Pedro Rizzo Last Fight: 11/21/2003 [UFC] |
14-5-0 |
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| 7 | Ricco Rodriguez Last Fight: 11/21/2003 [UFC] |
14-4-0 |
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| 8 |  Andrei ArlovskiLast Fight: 9/26/2003 [UFC] |
5-3-0 |
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| 9 | Heath Herring Last Fight: 11/9/2003 [PRIDE] |
21-9-0 |
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| 10 | Mark Coleman Last Fight: 6/8/2003 [PRIDE] |
13-5-0 |
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Holiday Ranking Schedule
The next two updates will take place on Wednesday, December 24, 2008, and on Wednesday, December 31, 2008.
UFC’s Lightweight Division
To say that it has been a rough ride for the UFC’s 155 lbs division would be a bit of an understatement. The trouble began when the first champion of the weight class Jens Pulver left the organization in 2002 amidst a contract dispute. The UFC held a four-man tournament to crown a new champion, but failed to come up with a definitive winner when BJ Penn fought Caol Uno to a draw in the finals. And so the division was completely dismantled as the Zuffa-owned promotion was struggling financially at the time.
Fast forward to 2006: after the success of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ reality series boosted UFC’s popularity and momentum, the organization decided to reinstate the lightweight division and crowned a new champion with a matchup between Kenny Florian and Sean Sherk. But the troubles were not over – after Sherk’s very first title defense, Sean as well as the challenger Hermes Franca both tested positive for banned anabolics and were suspended by the California State Athletic Commission. With the title once again vacated, BJ Penn defeated Joe Stevenson then Sean Sherk in back-to-back bouts, staking his claim as the new lightweight king. However with Penn now set to challenge Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title, the lightweight championship may once again be placed on hold if Penn wins.
All these tribulations left the division weakened: according to the latest Fightmatrix.com rankings, only 4 of the Top 10 and 8 of the Top 20 lightweights in the world compete in the UFC’s Octagon. But don’t let the lack of top-ranked fighters fool you; this is a very deep division beyond the Top 20, with over 30 ranked fighters competing in UFC at 155 lbs. Here is a closer look at the UFC’s 20 highest ranked lightweights.
Ratings Redo.
I noticed we had some incomplete and missing results from the weekend, so I decided to re-run the ratings update!
‘The Ultimate Fighter 8’ Finale Review
Another season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ passed by. This one was a bit painful to watch at times, what with the urination in the fruit salad and ejaculation in the sushi. Was the finale worthy of the buildup? Let’s take a look:
Junie Browning vs. Dave Kaplan (155 lbs)
TUF back-story: Both men stood out more for their drinking problems than their fighting abilities. While Junie was the unanimously despised, throwing glasses and fits – drunk, Kaplan was more of a happy, ‘punch-me-in-the-jaw-I-can’t-be-knocked-out’ drunk. It was only fitting that these two met in the finale.
A few glimpses of skill managed to shine through Junie’s bad attitude, and he controlled the bout from the beginning. While Kaplan was somewhat competitive in the first, Browning handily won the round then completely took over in the second, quickly taking down Kaplan then achieving dominant position and securing an armbar. Kaplan had no choice but to tap out. The fast-paced bout took the ‘Fight of the Night’ award.
Fight grade: 4/5
Aftermath: It is usually the case that the winners of all TUF finale fights get to stay in the UFC, while the losers are shown the door. In this case, ‘Fight of the Night’ may have earned Kaplan another fight in the Octagon (or perhaps a smaller version of it in the WEC).
MMA Rankings Updated: 12/14/08
Notable Info
- New rankings reflect changes due to shows from the previous week and weekend, including those from Shooto, UFC, KOTC, Adrenaline, and many others.
Other interesting notes…
- More action on the Flyweight list, as the two winners of the 114 and 123lb Shooto rookie tournament enter at #16, and #17 respectively.
- The UFC’s Jim Miller, winner of 8 straight, makes a surprising entry into the Lightweight Top 10 at #8.
- Pat Miletich pulled off a mild upset over fellow veteran Thomas Denny. However, Miletich is still far away from being ranked.
- Wilson Gouveia’s impressive win over Jason MacDonald propels him 13 spots, up to #16 in the Middleweight division. Can he actually make 185 again?
- Justin McCully re-enters the Top 40 of the Heavyweight division with a win over Eddie Sanchez.
- Jeff Monson took a unanimous decision over Ricco Rodriguez on Saturday. He is now the #17 ranked Heavyweight.
UFC ‘Fight for the Troops’ Review
UFC ‘Fight for the Troops’ was a charitable event, held to benefit the Intrepid Center – a medical center which helps U.S. veterans who suffered a traumatic brain injury. Ironically, several matches on the card ended with brutal concussion-inducing knockouts, along with other injuries.
Jim Miller vs. Matt Wiman (155 lbs)
This fight had a last-minute substitution: Wiman was originally slated to face Frankie Edgar, who pulled out with an injury only a week prior to the fight. Jim Miller stepped in on short notice, and performed admirably. After getting the better of Wiman in early exchanges, Miller pulled guard as Wiman was going to a takedown, and secured a very tight guillotine. Miller rolled over into mount as he attempted to finish the choke; Wiman held on to Miller’s trunks despite repeated warnings from the referee Mario Yamasaki. As Mario finally detached Wiman’s hand from Miller’s shorts, Matt was able to slip out of the guillotine. After briefly achieving the top position Wiman let Miller up and Jim finished the round strong on the feet.
The pace slowed down a bit in the remaining two rounds, but Miller thoroughly dominated Wiman both standing and on the ground for the rest of the match. Wiman hung in there but was never able to get an advantage, and lost all three rounds in a unanimous decision.
Fight Grade: 4.5/5
Aftermath: A dominant performance from Miller in his second UFC bout should earn him a spot in the lightweight Top 10. Wiman’s win streak is over with what has to be a very disappointing loss after his last performance. Both fighters earned an additional $30,000 for the official ‘Fight of the Night’.