With all the craziness that is going on in the UFC’s Lightweight division these days, it’s easy to forget that this division is still the most talent stacked division in the UFC. Don’t believe me? Why else would they need to have 3 champions? All jokes aside, if any division could use multiple championships, it would be the Lightweight division. Even from the early days the Lightweight division put on some of the best fights that stand the test of time. With that said, here are the Top 5 Lightweight Fights of all time.
No. 5. B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez
In a career building fight, we got to see an all-out war as Diego Sanchez hoped to be a “Nightmare” for B.J. Penn. That night would belong to “The Prodigy” himself, B.J. Penn, as he dashed Sanchez’s hopes early in the fight, and put on a masterclass performance inside the cage.
Throughout most of the fight Penn found success on the feet, whether it be inside the clinch or landing some heavy shots on Sanchez. However, Sanchez proved his toughness as he weathered the storm that is B.J. Penn for 4 grueling rounds. The 5th round had a very different outcome from the first 4 for Diego. A head kick from Penn would be the undoing of the “Nightmare” as Sanchez would find himself with a huge gash above his eye that would ultimately end the fight.
No. 4. Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson
Branching out of the UFC for a bit we look at one of their sister promotions some of you may remember, WEC. WEC was the more exciting place to watch some of the lighter weight fighters, and many of today’s greats such as Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo, Benson Henderson, and Anthony Pettis got their early break into stardom from this promotion. One of those fights that can turn fighters into stars of the sport was none other than the showdown between Benson Henderson and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
This is a fight that all fight fans should check out at some time or another, just to see two athletes at the earliest point of their peaks. Benson’s wrestling was second to none through this fight, but he would continually find himself defending off Cerrone’s submission attempts.
The crowd could not have been more appreciative of technical bout they were witnessing. Benson mixed up his ground and pound like he has been known to do, but the more impressive of the two would be Cowboy as his defense in every situation was incredible. This fight was close between both men, but Benson was given the unanimous decision victory over Cerrone in a somewhat controversial decision. The pair would meet up a few more times in the octagon, trading off victories in their illustrious careers.
No. 3. Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez
Making his second appearance on the list is none other than Diego Sanchez. It’s hard to find many other fights in UFC history that capture such raw intensity of the sport like the fight between these two did. These two men have an entirely different set of genetics than the rest of the human population. That’s the only way to explain how they were able to withstand the amount of punishment they dished out to each other.
During the fight, each man would have their areas to shine, but one moment that comes to mind when talking about this epic clash is when Clay Guida had his back against the octagon and was trading devastating shots with Diego. These were shots that would knock another fighter out cold, but both men kept swinging through until the bell. The next two rounds were ultra-competitive as the fight went to the ground and everywhere else. While Diego would walk away with his hand raised in an unanimous decision victory, much like the Griffin-Bonnar TUF fight, there wasn’t a real “loser” to this fight. Just two warriors that graced us with an amazing performance.
No. 2. Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez
Diego Sanchez is quite possibly the most entertaining fighter to watch, as you might have gathered from reading this list. Now, not all his fights are the epic barn burning wars that you might come looking for, but when Diego comes to fight there is always a chance of another instant classic. That was exactly what we got when “The Nightmare” stepped into the octagon opposite Gilbert Melendez. Gilbert was well known in the sport of mixed martial arts, before stepping in against Diego, as one of the greatest fighters on the planet in the 155lb division.
In his first bout in the UFC, Melendez would come up ever so short against the reigning Lightweight Champion and fellow list member Benson Henderson. To get himself another shot at the gold around Benson’s waist, Melendez would be paired up against Diego Sanchez. When the two men finally entered the octagon, it didn’t take long at all for fans to know that they were witnessing something special. The first round ended with an incredible flurry between both Sanchez and Melendez that set the pace for the rest of the fight.
Gilbert would find a lot of success on the feet, landing more strikes than Sanchez, and managing to drop Sanchez a few times. The stand out moment in the fight is the incredible toughness of Sanchez. Every time Melendez would land some good shots, Sanchez would taunt him to keep them coming. Sanchez would begin to walk Gilbert down, taking strikes and pushing forward until finally Sanchez dropped Melendez with some very heavy shots. The last few minute flurry from Sanchez wouldn’t be enough to get the win in the judge’s eyes, as Melendez walked away with the decision victory. Even though this would be a loss for Sanchez, it would cement him as a certain future hall of famer in the sport.
No. 1. Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 2 and 3.
This wouldn’t be a proper Lightweight list without mentioning two of the greatest to ever compete in the division, Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar. These two men are forever linked to each other thanks to the amazing rivalry in the octagon that spread three fights. It’ll be the last of the two fights that we look at in their story, as these fights are possibly the best fights in the Lightweight division.
The first of these bouts would happen at UFC 125 and the stakes couldn’t be higher for either Edgar or Maynard, as they were fighting for the UFC Lightweight Championship. The beginning of the round started off with fireworks, as the much larger Gray Maynard landed heavy shots on Edgar that almost one him the fight early on. Edgar was in serious trouble during the first and seemed to do all he could to just survive to the second around. The Edgar that stepped off the stool for the second round was a different beast altogether and he brought the fight to Maynard by out striking Gray and landing a devastating slam. With one round a piece, both men became super focused and fought so evenly that when the bell rang to signal the end of the fight, something shocking would happen.
The judges were so split between who they thought won the fight, that the fight was declared a draw. It is probably one of the only times a fight could be declared such, and many viewers would agree it was the right call. This however meant that the two would meet in the octagon again, to hopefully bring an end and decisive victor to their storied rivalry.
The two stepped into the octagon against each other for the 3rd time at UFC 136 and right from the 1st round things were off to an amazing start. Maynard managed to repeat much of what he did in their second fight, by staggering Edgar with a series of well-timed shots. Edgar managed to survive the round and in the next 3 rounds began to push a pace that would overwhelm the larger Maynard. Maynard found himself on the receiving end of a hard shot from Edgar that would ultimately lead to a KO victory for Edgar, who finally managed to end the rivalry. In the end, both men not only earned each other’s respect, but the respect from all the MMA community for putting on their classic showdowns inside the octagon.