Who are the top 5 LW of all time and why?

[Bend NvR Break]

My 5 in no order

BJ, Benson, Khabib, Alvarez, RDA

 

[agibmxmma]

Question says it all. Picking 5 is hard.

Here are some suggestions:
Khabib
Frankie Edgar
BJ Penn
Jens Pulver
Gray Maynard
Takanori Gomi
Kaoru Uno
Raphael dos Anjos
Dustin Poirier
Justin Gaethje
Sean Sherk
Benson Henderson
Anthony Pettis
Tony Ferguson
Conor McGregor
Nate Diaz
Gilbert Melendez
Eddie Alvarez
Melvin Guillard
Gabe Ruediger

1. Khabib: dominance, record, ability to dictate how every fight went regardless of his opponents knowing and training for what he plans to do, never busted for ped, humility as Champion, brought in another demographic and region into MMA, great teammate..

2. BJ: his skill set at the time was on a different level, won a title at a WW while not being the biggest LW, beat other elite LW's of his era in their prime, never busted for ped, obtained much of his accolades without training as much as others with similar achievements..

3. *Chandler: asterisk being I list him this high if he wins the LW title this weekend and defends it once, elite in every org he fought in, has been able to adapt to the changing skill sets in MMA while continuing to fight his way but progressing in doing so, undersized in height and seems to fight better against taller fighters, never busted for ped, big respect for him adopting a child of another color and race, great teammate..

4. Edgar/Alvarez: can't pick between the two

5. Sherk/Melendez: can't pick between the two

 

[avenue94]

Khabib, Edgar, RDA, Penn, not sure the last slot. Maybe Tony for variety's sake.

One of ? I agree but we have had so many of them including Frankie Edgar

To each their own. But Frankie's stretch between Penn and and leaving lightweight has 2 FOTN's and one KOTN. And the only reason he doesn't have a third FOTN is because the Maynard rubber match is on the same card as Garcia/Nam Phan.

You don't find many more bonus filled title reigns than that

 

[JKS]

1. Khabib
2. Bendo
3. Alverez
4. Edgar
5. RDA

 

[blaseblah]

Khabib
BJ
Gomi

Are the only ones who have stood out. I don't want to go further than 3 because no else has clearly separated themselves from everyone else.

 

[Ghostoftheville]

Khabib
Penn
Benson
Alvarez
Ferguson

 

[Hanz_Blitz]

For my money, in order I’ll go
Khabib Nurmegomedov
BJ Penn
Takanori Gomi
Frankie Edgar
Eddie Alvarez

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Khabib
Penn
Gomi
Poirier
Alvarez

Probably

EDIT - I feel like I should have Tony in there and recency bias over his latest fights is probably influencing me.

 

[Dog Gynecologist]

Question to all of you : If Dustin win the trilogy and then get the belt (i know that's a big IF), where does he go in your ranking ?
I would put him in #2

 

[MartinGibson86]

Gomi is the most overrated fighter on Sherdog.


Guida has a better LW resume.

 

[TJ Dillashank]

1. Khabib
2. Bj
3. RDA
4. Edgar
5. Benson Henderson

 

[GIBLERTBAPTISTA]

Shinya Aoki deserves to atleast be in the discussion for top 5.

47-9 with 9 top 10 wins.

DREAM champ, Shooto champ, ONE Champ. Beaten Bellator champ Alvarez, HEROs champ JZ, DEEP champ Kitaoka. And one of the best submission artists we've ever seen in MMA.

Khabib
Gomi
BJ
Aoki
Alvarez?

 

[BROWNPRIDE]

Khabib
BJ
Tony
Edgar
Melendez

 

[MCS]

1. Khabib. Only undefeated LW defending champ
2. Penn. No known weaknesses.
3. Gomi. Pride's Penn.
4. Frankie. Belts while undersized.
5. Bendo because of his LW record

 

[dildos]

BJ PENN
khabib
bendo
edgar
tony

 

[GOATtalks]

Resume wise:

Khabib
BJ
Benson
RDA
Alvarez

Best peak performance:

1. Khabib- would maul any LW that ever lived the same way he always does
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Chandler
4. Oliviera
5. Conor

Even with Khabib gone, LW is still crazy stacked. Best it has ever been

 

[LZD]

Khabib
BJ
Edgar
Benson
Alvarez or Gomi

 

[BFoe]

Question to all of you : If Dustin win the trilogy and then get the belt (i know that's a big IF), where does he go in your ranking ?
I would put him in #2

I have him at #3, and I think he’d still be #3 if did those things. He could surpass BJ on my list with a few defenses. BJ was champ with multiple defenses, so to surpass him Poirier would have to do the same. Just winning the belt or having a couple of wins over Conor doesn’t do it for me.

 

[HHJ]

As of now its just Khabib and BJ for me,but Dustin beating Conor can put him in the conversation.

Edgar honorable mention tbh iirc imo ngl

 

[Vegeta]

1. Khabib Nurmagomedov

2. Benson Henderson

3. Frankie Edgar

4. BJ Penn

5. Raphael dos Anjos

This.
The only person i would like to see in this list is Eddie.