Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Lightweight
1. B.J. Penn (14-5-1)
The world has always wanted B.J. Penn to reign as a lightweight, and reign he did at UFC 101. After nullifying top contender Kenny Florian for 15 minutes, Penn turned on the heat in the fourth round and notched a beautiful rear-naked choke. Up next, "The Prodigy" figures to tame Diego Sanchez in the coming months.

2. Shinya Aoki (21-4, 1 NC)
Shinya Aoki drew criticism for pot-shotting his way to a unanimous decision win over Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro on July 20. However, the win set up a high-stakes rubber match for the rubbery grappler, as he's slated to meet Joachim Hansen for the Dream lightweight title on Oct. 6.

3. Eddie Alvarez (18-2)
Alvarez ended the Cinderella run of likely "Submission of the Year" winner Toby Imada on June 19, choking him out in the second round. A rumored bout against Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante didn't come to fruition, but Bellator's lightweight champion will have the luxury of courting high-quality opponents from both Bellator and Dream in the near future.

4. Kenny Florian (11-4)
Kenny Florian was game, but could mount little offense against lightweight ruler B.J. Penn in their Aug. 8 showdown. The loss was Florian's second in UFC lightweight title fights, and now he'll take his spot at the back of the line in an ultra-deep division.

5. Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2)
Tatsuya Kawajiri showed the MMA world he still has a pulse when he took a unanimous verdict over Gesias Cavalcante in May. Unfortunately for the "Crusher," he was unable to make good on his promise of defeating superstar striker Masato under K-1 rules, and was knocked out in one-and-a-half lopsided rounds on July 13.

6. Gray Maynard (7-0, 1 NC)
Maynard has continued to rack up one-sided wins inside the UFC, but talk of a title shot has been elusive for the former Michigan State Spartan. Maynard's next chance at impressing fans and UFC brass alike will come Sept. 16 in Oklahoma City, when he meets returning Roger Huerta on a Spike TV telecast.

7. Frankie Edgar (10-1)
Not wanting to hear any more discussion about him cutting to 145 pounds, Edgar made a strong statement that he can hang against elite lightweights, staying a step ahead of former UFC champ Sean Sherk for the full 15 minutes of their May 23 bout.

8. Sean Sherk (33-4-1)
A deflating loss to Frank Edgar in May left Sherk with no clear place in the UFC's lightweight division. In order to stay afloat and remain relevant, the former UFC 155-pound champion will need to knock off tough Brazilian Gleison Tibau, a fighter who shares his predicament, at UFC 104 on Oct. 24.

9. Mizuto Hirota (12-3-1)
In their Aug. 2 encounter, Mizuto Hirota withstood Satoru Kitaoka's early submission storm and wore down the Sengoku champ. Hirota smashed Kitaoka with a barrage of knees in the fourth round to claim Sengoku's lightweight crown.

10. Satoru Kitaoka (25-9-9)
In the first defense of his Sengoku lightweight title, Kitaoka was outlasted by the hard-hitting Mizuto Hirota, who battered him with knees to take his title in the fourth round. The defeat was Kitaoka's first as a lightweight.

Other contenders: Gesias Cavalcante, Gilbert Melendez, Eiji Mitsuoka, Diego Sanchez, Josh Thomson.

*Though he is scheduled for a rubber match with Shinya Aoki on Oct. 6, formerly fourth-ranked Joachim Hansen is removed from the rankings following 365 days of inactivity with no scheduled bout within 30 days.