The light heavyweight division has been one of the most competitive and unpredictable division over the span of mma. In my opinion these are the best LHW fighters of all time.
1. Wanderlei "the Axe Murderer" Silva
Notable Victories:
Dan Henderson
Sakuraba X2
Mezger
Rampage X2
Arona
2. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Notable Victories:
Lyoto Machida (arguably twice)
Overeem X2
Nakamura
Rampage
Arona
Lil Nog
3. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Notable victories:
Igor
Liddell X2
Arona
Linland
Henderson
Silva
Machida
4. Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell
Notable Victories:
Silva
Ortiz X2
Babalu X2
Couture X2
Vitor
Overeem
5. Dan Henderson
He has moved up and down from LHW and MW, but overall has victories over
Big nog
Babalu X2
Renzo
Ninja
Misaki
Wand
Vitor
Franklin
Who's your top 5 lhw of all time?
I've only been following MMA for 3 and a half years or so. But that list looks pretty solid to me
ttt
Randys wins over Sylvia and gonzaga shouldn't affect his LHW ranking 
Gotta remember with these rankings that only wins at that weight count for where the guy stands at 205.
good list! should also add that shogun has beaten liddel!
Of all time? And no Frank or Tito ? Come on.
Naughty Gorilla - Of all time? And no Frank or Tito ? Come on.
Frank, Tito, and Randy were all great LHW that dominated the division. But in my opinion their all just out of the top 5
Tito is not top 5 his wins when he was champion weren't against the best of the best such as shogun, hedo, and definitely not chuck
Cant really argue that list..
Maybe you could argue the order, but I think those are the top 5.
Couture is up there, but not top 5 based on his 2 KO losses to Chuck. Before that his LHW status was based on his wins over Tito and Chuck. Well, Chuck KO'd him 2x, and Tito could never beat Chuck. Although, you could argue for Couture among the top 5 fighters regardless of weight class.. but thats a different subject. And even then... I'm not sure he makes the cut, but it is very debatable.
You could argue Frank. He is of a different era, and subject to different criteria because of this. IMO he is top 10, But top 5?... Against the others on this list, thats a stretch.
The only major fighter overlooked here is Sak. But he fought at different weights, so its hard to pin his WC down. However, he is without a doubt top 10, and very arguably top 5 greatest MMA fighters of all time!
IMO its hard to put anybody above Wand. Although Shogun is right there, and by the time hes done, may surpass Wandy. He already has in the eyes of many.
Opinions will very on this. But most of the fighters listed so far belong in the argument.
How can anyone have anybody other than Wandy at 1. He cleaned out Pride's 205 division.
Wandy
Rampage over Shogun via better victories
Shogun
Chack
Tito.
I still have Chuck as number one all time. I think Shogun and Rampage might be getting a little too much credit based on recent success, but in my opinion nobody has done enough to unseat Chuck as the greatest LHW of all time.
Over a 6 year time period, from 2000-2006, Chuck went 16-2 in the LHW division at a time when the division wasTHE premier division in MMA.
His 16 wins included Jeff Monson, Guy Mezger, Overeem, Belfort, Randleman, Bustamante, Tito, Randy, Babalu, Jeremy Horn, and Vernon White. Only three of those wins were decisions, the rest were stoppages.
Wandy had a very impressive record during that time period as well, but a lot of his wins were aginst completely sub par opponents. Chuck never really had an "easy" fight during that stretch.
After Chuck at number one and Wandy at number two, its Shogun at number three. He is the lone man that can potentially overtake Chuck and Wandy but like I pointed out above he doesn't have the same 6 year period of dominance that Chuck and Wand do.
Then Rampage is fourth. No need repeating but wins over Wandy, Chuck, Machida, Henderson, Arona, Randleman, and Igor put him right there.
Then I agree with Hendo at fifth.
Great list by all.
Frank Shamrock and Tito both owned that division in their day. It seems most agree on top 7.
ChrisChronic - I still have Chuck as number one all time. I think Shogun and Rampage might be getting a little too much credit based on recent success, but in my opinion nobody has done enough to unseat Chuck as the greatest LHW of all time.
Over a 6 year time period, from 2000-2006, Chuck went 16-2 in the LHW division at a time when the division wasTHE premier division in MMA.
His 16 wins included Jeff Monson, Guy Mezger, Overeem, Belfort, Randleman, Bustamante, Tito, Randy, Babalu, Jeremy Horn, and Vernon White. Only three of those wins were decisions, the rest were stoppages.
Wandy had a very impressive record during that time period as well, but a lot of his wins were aginst completely sub par opponents. Chuck never really had an "easy" fight during that stretch.
After Chuck at number one and Wandy at number two, its Shogun at number three. He is the lone man that can potentially overtake Chuck and Wandy but like I pointed out above he doesn't have the same 6 year period of dominance that Chuck and Wand do.
Then Rampage is fourth. No need repeating but wins over Wandy, Chuck, Machida, Henderson, Arona, Randleman, and Igor put him right there.
Then I agree with Hendo at fifth.
OK..
But Wand beat Rampage 2x brutally.. and Rampage beat Chuck 2x brutally. Wand fought HW's, which although is not part of this argument, is still impressive. Sure Chuck beat Wand.. but that was really more of a draw than anything. Who knows what would happen in a 4th round!? And Wand KO'd Jardine, while Chuck lost to him...
I know alot of this doesnt mean much, styles make fights..
But Wand has just as strong an argument as Chuck IMO.
It's interesting that we're all somewhat agreeing here.
I think it's a tossup between Tito and Henderson for #5, but the OP's list works for me.
Italians Copy Greeks - 1- Rampage (By virtue of beating the best)
Except the other 2 in the list that owned his soul.
(Ok Rampage KO'd Wandy much later but had nothing for him during Pride and got WORKED by Shogun in their only meeting)
rockwell -Italians Copy Greeks - 1- Rampage (By virtue of beating the best)
Except the other 2 in the list that owned his soul.
(Ok Rampage KO'd Wandy much later but had nothing for him during Pride and got WORKED by Shogun in their only meeting)
The shogun v Rampage fight was an absolute beatdown. I hope it somehow works out to where we see a rematch between them to see how they both have progressed as fighters over the years. I'd say that shogun would take the rematch, but not nearly as easily as he did the first time
Yeah but most of the time he wasn't fighting the best of that division
ChrisChronic -
Over a 6 year time period, from 2000-2006, Chuck went 16-2 in the LHW division at a time when the division wasTHE premier division in MMA.
^ i agree, the majority of top LHW were in pride at the time, and i don't understand how you could put chuck ahead of rampage when rampage has not just one, but two dominant wins over him in what was considered his prime
Rampage
Chuck
Wandy
Hendo
Shogun
Doesn't matter what order but they're you're five right there.