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Light Heavyweight
1. Jon Jones (26-1, 1 NC) [1]
The competition is catching up to Jones, but it hasn’t surpassed him just yet. “Bones” survived by the skin of his teeth at UFC 247, as he edged Dominick Reyes in a unanimous verdict in the evening’s headliner at the Toyota Center in Houston. In a fight that many observers scored in favor of Reyes, Jones was able to sway the judges’ scorecards with consistent forward pressure and a strong push in the championship rounds. The hard-fought triumph gives Jones 14 victories in championship fights, the most in the history of the Las Vegas-based promotion. After some public back-and-forth with the UFC and Dana White, Jones vacated his light heavyweight strap in August, signaling a new era for the division. A move to heavyweight looms, and Jones is expected to step right into a title shot in his debut.2. Jan Blachowicz (28-8) [2]
Ever the underdog, Blachowicz once again silenced the doubters at UFC 259, where he ended Israel Adesanya’s dreams of two-division dominance with a unanimous decision triumph at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on March 6. After beginning his promotional tenure with an underwhelming 2-4 mark, the Polish standout has won nine of his last 10 outings, besting the likes of Adesanya, Dominick Reyes, Corey Anderson, Ronaldo Souza, Luke Rockhold and Jared Cannonier, to name a few. A showdown with surging veteran contender Glover Teixeira appears to be on the horizon for the light heavyweight king..3. Corey Anderson (15-5) [3]
As expected, Anderson rolled through his promotional debut at Bellator 251 with ease, stopping 44-year-old Melvin Manhoef with elbows from top position in Round 2 of their headlining clash in Uncasville, Connecticut on Nov. 5. While the matchmaking for Anderson’s Bellator debut was curious, it allows “Overtime” to move past a KO loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night 167 in February. Anderson has won five of his last six professional appearances and will face Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov in the quarterfinals of the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix at Bellator 257.4. Glover Teixeira (32-7) [4]
Even at 41 years old, Teixeira keeps finding ways to win. The veteran Brazilian managed to avoid prolonged standup exchanges with Thiago Santos in the UFC on ESPN 17 main event en route to a third-round submission victory. That makes five straight victories for the rejuvenated Teixeira, who is positioned to earn his second light heavyweight title shot more than six years after falling to Jon Jones at UFC 172.5. Dominick Reyes (12-2) [5]
After a narrow loss to Jon Jones in a fight that many believed he deserved to win, Reyes believed he was already the uncrowned champion heading into his UFC 253 showdown with Jan Blachowicz. Whether that translated into overconfidence is unknown, but Reyes never pulled the trigger before falling by technical knockout to his Polish opponent in the second round of the Sept. 26 co-headlining bout. After beginning his career with 12 straight triumphs, “The Devastator” must pick up the pieces following back-to-back defeats. A proposed matchup against former Rizin champ Jiri Prochazka originally slated for Feb. 27 was postponed until May 1 due to an undisclosed injury suffered by Reyes.6. Jiri Prochazka (27-3-1) [6]
A step up in competition was no problem at all for Prochazka, who wowed in his Octagon debut with a second-round knockout of former light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 251. The former Rizin Fighting Federation champion has won his last 11 professional bouts, with all but one ending inside the distance. A proposed clash with former title challenger Dominick Reyes on Feb. 27 was postponed when Reyes suffered an undisclosed injury. The bout has been rescheduled for May 1.7. Vadim Nemkov (12-2) [7]
Nemkov brought Bellator’s light heavyweight division into a new era in emphatic fashion, as he claimed the title with a second-round head-kick knockout of Ryan Bader in the Bellator 244 headliner on Aug. 21. The 28-year-old Russian has a legitimate claim to being one of the sport’s most underrated 205-pound talents with a resume that includes victories over the likes of Bader, Rafael Carvalho, Phil Davis, Liam McGeary and Philipe Lins. The reigning champ will enter the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix with a quarterfinal matchup against Phil Davis at Bellator 257 on April 16.8. Volkan Oezdemir (17-5) [8]
Oezdemir welcomed Jiri Prochazka to the Octagon at UFC 251, but it was the former Rizin light heavyweight champion who made the statement, winning via knockout 49 seconds into Round 2 of their clash on July 11. That halted a modest two-bout winning streak for Oezdemir, who was coming off quality wins over Aleksandar Rakic and Ilir Latifi. Oezdemir was supposed to square off against Nikita Krylov in the UFC Fight Night 180 co-main event before a knee injury forced him to withdraw from the bout.9. Aleksandar Rakic (14-2) [9]
Rakic didn’t take any chances at UFC 259, but he did do just enough to capture a unanimous verdict over former title challenger Thiago Santos. “Rocket” has rebounded from a contentious split-decision defeat against Volkan Oezdemir with back-to-back wins over Santos and Anthony Smith. Rakic, who has been victorious in six of seven Octagon appearances overall, will likely need to author a more entertaining performance to move into the top tier of 205-pound contenders.10. Thiago Santos (21-9) [10]
Santos suffered his third consecutive defeat at UFC 259, as he dropped a tepid three-round verdict against Aleksandar Rakic at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on March 6. The Brazilian seems far removed from a competitive split-decision loss to then-champ Jon Jones at UFC 239, and moving forward it’s going to be an ongoing question how much the 37-year-old will be affected by the multiple knee surgeries he had to undergo after that bout.Other Contenders: Phil Davis, Anthony Smith, Magomed Ankalaev, Nikita Krylov, Johnny Walker.
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