Every #1 Lightweight in the world per year (According to fight matrix)

[Koimpact]

Gomi is pretty underrated on here. The Fireball Kid was something to behold in his prime. Dude had insane power in his hands and a great wrestling game as well. One of the most entertaining fighters to watch and at least top 5 in the LW GOAT conversation.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

Gomi is pretty underrated on here. The Fireball Kid was something to behold in his prime. Dude had insane power in his hands and a great wrestling game as well. One of the most entertaining fighters to watch and at least top 5 in the LW GOAT conversation.

His run from BJ to Diaz was so much fun.

 

[Substance Abuse]

How the hell was Eddie Alvarez #1 LW over Khabib in 2018

They assign each win a weighted point value based off of the fighter defeated and add it to the winner's total. Those points comprise the ranking. RDA was number one. Eddie knocked him out.

 

[stinkynecklace]

I’ll be posting who was consistently the number 1 lightweight ranked for the year. I’ll be using Fight matrix’s yearly historical ratings you can view here.
I’m using the Fightmatrix because it is as close you can get to an unbiased viewing of what the rankings should be. Note I’m not saying I fully agree with everything written here(hell the whole topic is subjective itself) but I feel it gives us an interesting take on this through a mostly objective bot.
Fightmatrix views the year in 4 parts. I will be taking the fighter who was number 1 in most of those 4 parts. If it is a Tie I will post both fighters.
Let’s begin.


1990-Yuichi Watanabe (2-0)
Yuji Ito ( 1-2-1)

Kazuhiro Kusayangi (3-1)

1991-Yuichi Watanabe (4-2)

1992-Tomonori Ohara (5-6-1)

1993- Yuji Ito (4-4-2)
Tomonori Ohara (5-7-1)
1994-Yuki Nakai (5-1)

1995-Yuki Nakai (7-1)

1996-Wander Braga (7-0)
Rumina Sato (6-0)


1997- Wander Braga (9-0)

1998- Joel Gerson (1-0)

1999- Caol Uno (10-2-1)


2000- Rumina Sato (17-3-1)


2001- Takanori Gomi (9-0)

2002- Jens Pulver (14-2-1)

2003- Takanori Gomi (14-0)

2004- Vitor Ribeiro (10-0)

2005- Yves Edwards (30-8-1)
2006- Takanori Gomi (25-3)

2007- Takanori Gomi (27-3)


2008- Takanori Gomi (28-3)
B.J. Penn (13-4-1)


2009- B.J. Penn (14-5-1)

2010- B.J. Penn (15-5-1)
Frankie Edgar (14-1)

2011- Frankie Edgar (14-1-1)

2012-Benson Henderson (17-2)

2013-Benson Henderson (19-2)


2014- Anthony Pettis (17-2)

2015-Rafael Dos Anjos (24-7)

2016-Rafael Dos Anjos (25-7)

2017- Connor Mcgreggor (21-3)

2018- Eddie Alvarez (29-5)

2019- Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0)

Takanori Gomi was ranked the #1 Lightweight in the world five times making him the most consistent number 1 in the history of the Lightweight according to Fight Matrix.

Is that a mix up for Conor and Eddie? Seems odd Eddie would be rated #1 the year after Conor.

 

[Koimpact]

BJ Penn is also another LW that has been underrated on here based on his last few fights. People were fans of BJ because of his willingness to scrap with the best in the world. He put on a tournament in Hawaii called Rumble on the Rock just so he could fight Gomi who was ranked #1 at LW in 2003. After he beat Gomi, he went up to challenge Hughes at WW when Hughes was widely considered the WW GOAT and strangled him for the belt. Then he goes to K1 to fight Machida at HW and loses a UD. Outside of Saku and few others, there weren't many fighters back then that were willing to take on challenges like BJ and there certainly aren't any now. Oh btw he was born into a wealthy family so he never had to fight for a paycheque. He did it just because he loves to scrap.

 

[Andre Xiong]

War Gomi!

Idk if Conor should get the honor of a year, as much as I like(d) him. He voluntarily took time away from the sport/division and was essentially 1-0 over Alvarez.

 

[Koimpact]

His run from BJ to Diaz was so much fun.

Absolutely, that was incredible to watch. It's just a shame that most UFC fans won't know who he is because by the time he came to the UFC he was way past his prime. Kinda like Kid Yamamoto but healthier

 

[BoTyson]

I’ll be posting who was consistently the number 1 lightweight ranked for the year. I’ll be using Fight matrix’s yearly historical ratings you can view here.
I’m using the Fightmatrix because it is as close you can get to an unbiased viewing of what the rankings should be. Note I’m not saying I fully agree with everything written here(hell the whole topic is subjective itself) but I feel it gives us an interesting take on this through a mostly objective bot.
Fightmatrix views the year in 4 parts. I will be taking the fighter who was number 1 in most of those 4 parts. If it is a Tie I will post both fighters.
Let’s begin.


1990-Yuichi Watanabe (2-0)
Yuji Ito ( 1-2-1)

Kazuhiro Kusayangi (3-1)

1991-Yuichi Watanabe (4-2)

1992-Tomonori Ohara (5-6-1)

1993- Yuji Ito (4-4-2)
Tomonori Ohara (5-7-1)
1994-Yuki Nakai (5-1)

1995-Yuki Nakai (7-1)

1996-Wander Braga (7-0)
Rumina Sato (6-0)


1997- Wander Braga (9-0)

1998- Joel Gerson (1-0)

1999- Caol Uno (10-2-1)


2000- Rumina Sato (17-3-1)


2001- Takanori Gomi (9-0)

2002- Jens Pulver (14-2-1)

2003- Takanori Gomi (14-0)

2004- Vitor Ribeiro (10-0)

2005- Yves Edwards (30-8-1)
2006- Takanori Gomi (25-3)

2007- Takanori Gomi (27-3)


2008- Takanori Gomi (28-3)
B.J. Penn (13-4-1)


2009- B.J. Penn (14-5-1)

2010- B.J. Penn (15-5-1)
Frankie Edgar (14-1)

2011- Frankie Edgar (14-1-1)

2012-Benson Henderson (17-2)

2013-Benson Henderson (19-2)


2014- Anthony Pettis (17-2)

2015-Rafael Dos Anjos (24-7)

2016-Rafael Dos Anjos (25-7)

2017- Connor Mcgreggor (21-3)

2018- Eddie Alvarez (29-5)

2019- Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0)

Takanori Gomi was ranked the #1 Lightweight in the world five times making him the most consistent number 1 in the history of the Lightweight according to Fight Matrix.

How the hell is Eddie over Conor in 2018 after Conor clowned and slaughtered him Anderson Silva style then went on to lose in One Championships??

How would either them be over Doner Kebab Nurmagochillsaucesalad?

 

[Substance Abuse]

BJ Penn is also another LW that has been underrated on here based on his last few fights. People were fans of BJ because of his willingness to scrap with the best in the world. He put on a tournament in Hawaii called Rumble on the Rock just so he could fight Gomi who was ranked #1 at LW in 2003. After he beat Gomi, he went up to challenge Hughes at WW when Hughes was widely considered the WW GOAT and strangled him for the belt. Then he goes to K1 to fight Machida at HW and loses a UD. Outside of Saku and few others, there weren't many fighters back then that were willing to take on challenges like BJ and there certainly aren't any now.

Everyone sucks. Prepare to be hit with gifs. Those are more important than facts.

 

[Roljo]

Lol at eddie 2018, something is wrong here

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Gomi is pretty underrated on here. The Fireball Kid was something to behold in his prime. Dude had insane power in his hands and a great wrestling game as well. One of the most entertaining fighters to watch and at least top 5 in the LW GOAT conversation.

it's because by the time he came to the UFC he was a shell of himself and a lot of his earlier skills had completely dropped off, like his wrestling. but you're right, he was an absolute animal in Shooto/Pride.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Fight Matrix is a flawed system to a degree but it really isn't incredibly far off if you delve into each year.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

BJ Penn is also another LW that has been underrated on here based on his last few fights. People were fans of BJ because of his willingness to scrap with the best in the world. He put on a tournament in Hawaii called Rumble on the Rock just so he could fight Gomi who was ranked #1 at LW in 2003. After he beat Gomi, he went up to challenge Hughes at WW when Hughes was widely considered the WW GOAT and strangled him for the belt. Then he goes to K1 to fight Machida at HW and loses a UD. Outside of Saku and few others, there weren't many fighters back then that were willing to take on challenges like BJ and there certainly aren't any now.

because the new generation miss out on all the details. they just see "BJ Penn win rear naked choked over Takanori Gomi". they don't realize that BJ left the UFC because they wouldn't allow him to fight anyone he wanted, completely created Rumble on the Rock JUST so he could fight the best guys on his own terms.

had BJ stayed with UFC during that time his career probably would be remembered much differently. he took a huge risk and it paid off big time.

 

[Substance Abuse]

it's because by the time he came to the UFC he was a shell of himself and a lot of his earlier skills had completely dropped off, like his wrestling. but you're right, he was an absolute animal in Shooto/Pride.

So was Jens. Pulver did get knocked out by Gomi but he was bringing it early on. That win is a testament to Gomi's power. Dude should've stopped drinking.

 

[JCS_FM]

McGregor was "inactive" by our standards for most of 2018... therefore, not ranked. Had he remained active and performed, he would've been #1 until Khabib beat him.

 

[Sure Dawg]

How the hell was Eddie Alvarez #1 LW over Khabib in 2018

how was conor over khabib, tony, and anyone else with a winstreak higher than 2 at lightweight in 2017?

 

[Sure Dawg]

McGregor was "inactive" by our standards for most of 2018... therefore, not ranked. Had he remained active and performed, he would've been #1 until Khabib beat him.

Conor number 1 with 2 wins, while Khabib and Tony were at what, 9 wins straight?

 

[JCS_FM]

Conor number 1 with 2 wins, while Khabib and Tony were at what, 9 wins straight?

Rankings are division-adjusted, not division-specific.

Khabib up until recently, has been a nightmare for software to rate.. all wins, but spotty opponent quality.. multiple periods of inactivity..

 

[Gambit MMA]

gomi is still top 5 in my eyes but hes close to falling off the list

 

[Pakman]

The more I look into the history of the division (I started watching around 08) I think BJ’s earlier part of his career is underrated and his later streak at LW overrated.

its not at LW, but the win over Hughes the first time is legitimately one of the greatest wins in the history of the sport.

His run at LW until he ran into Frankie after he returned is absurd as well, he faced really good competition and managed to finish everyone (which was the most impressive part). Diego, Kenny, Joe Daddy may not be TOP tier, but, Sherk most certainly is. He's one of the most underrated fighters in MMA history.