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 The UFC light heavyweight class was turned on it’s collective head
with Forrest Griffin's victory over heavy favorite Quinton Jackson.
Anyway you look at it, the 205 lbs. weight class is the "money" division, and probably the most important division in the
UFC. There is no question, the bulk of the biggest stars in the UFC are
at light heavyweight and the landscape of contenders is
extraordinarily deep. Here is a compilation of some of
the contenders to the 205 lbs. crown that currently belongs to Forrest
Griffin.
Your Champion
Forrest Griffin
UFC president Dana White has stated publicly that he feels the most important fight in MMA history was between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar at the TUF 1 finale. Who would have thought that the man who won that very fight would become the UFC light heavyweight champion three years later?
For his efforts, Griffin can now look down at a laundry list of qualified contenders that are nipping at his heels for an opportunity to beat him up in the Octagon. What an enviable position...
 Anderson Silva – 7 wins
A real wildcard in this division. It is unclear how serious Silva is about competing in both the middleweight, and light heavyweight division, but he certainly has the skillset to compete here. The real question is, does he have the size and strength to compete with the much bigger fighters in the division? The answer to that question is still up in the air - and wasn’t answered in full - despite his impressive knockout over James Irvin.
Silva went as far as to say his experience in the 205 lbs weight class was “a good experience,” but "his responsibility is to defend the 185 pound title.” He has a close friendship with Lyoto Machida so that may hinder his desire to compete for a title in this division. All but one of his seven victories in the UFC have come at middleweight.
 Rashad Evans – 6 wins and a draw
The undefeated Rashad Evans is 13-0-1 with his lone blemish a draw with Tito Ortiz. While Evans is hardly the most popular fighter in the UFC, he does have a great record working in his favour.
While he holds victories over Brad Imes, Sam Hoger, Stephan Bonnar, Jason Lambert, Sean Salmon, and Micheal Bisping, only Bonnar, and Lambert are still currently UFC LHW fighters so his upcoming bout with Liddell will be a huge fight for him. Undefeated in the UFC with six wins and one draw, he is definately in line for a title shot, if he defeats Liddell it would be hard to deny him a shot against Griffin.
 Lyoto Machida – 5 wins
Machida is clearly at the top of the heap. With five straight victories including victories over Tito Ortiz, he should be right at the top of the contendership ladder. Working against him is his inability to finish in fights and his reputation as a boring fighter that wins fights with defense-oriented decision victories. His four decisions in five UFC bouts certainly supports that theory. He can’t be more than one fight away from a title shot, and is scheduled to fight Thiago Silva at UFC 89 in October.
Thiago Silva – 4-0
An identical 13-0 record to Lyoto Machida - and at 4-0 in the UFC - he seems like the perfect candidate to fight for the #1 contendership. An October bout with Machida may set up a clear cut contender in the division. The winner of this bout would represent the new blood in a somewhat incestuous LHW division that has seen many of the top contenders fight each other in multiple rematches. With the exodus of Randy Couture, Vitor Belfort, and Tito Ortiz all of whom fought each other there is need for some new blood in the division.
 Wanderlei Silva – 1 win
1-1 in the UFC but 1-3 in his last four fights, Silva is coming off a huge victory over Keith Jardine and could be back on the rise. Considering his loss to Liddell was one of the most watched and most entertaining bouts of the year, the popular fighter will surely have a few marquee bouts presented to him. While a fight or two away from contention, the “Axe Murderer” has expressed interested in fighting Quinton Jackson, a man he holds two victories over in Pride.
 Chuck Liddell – 1 win
Chuck Liddell is on the road back to competing for the championship belt. Whether he still has the motivation to get back to the top of the division remains to be seen, and his next bout with the hungry Rashad Evans will be a telling fight. If he can defeat Evans in impressive fashion he will have two wins in a row against Wanderlei Silva, and Rashad Evans.
Working against him is before that he had two consecutive losses, one to Keith Jardine and the other to Quinton Jackson. Even if he beats Evans that would only make him 2-2 in his last 4 fights but you would have to think that the UFC would be very interested in having Liddell become champion again or in the very least be involved in a few more marquee fights before he retires. Griffin was given a title shot on a two-fight winning streak after losing to Keith Jardine, so that exact same scenario may take place again if Liddell can get the win over Evans.
Brandon Vera – 1 win
At 5-2 in the UFC Vera’s first foray into the 205 lbs weight class was a less than impressive display but none the less he is one of the more talented fighters in the division and it is expected that he will contend and get some high profile fights. He may get a somewhat easier fighter while he acclimatizes himself to the new weight class and shakes off his previous losses. Remember, he was close to contending for the heavyweight crown before his two losses to Sylvia and Werdum. It is expected he will contend in his new division should he decide to stay there.
Thierry Sokodjou – 1 win
With a record of 1-1 in the UFC including a victory over Kazuhiro Nakamura and a loss to Lyoto Machida Sokodjou is in the mix. Before his uninspiring loss to Machida he had two big knockout wins over Ricardo Arona and Rogerio Nogueira in Pride. Sokodjou is a bit of a wildcard here and with a record of 1-1 in the UFC is a few fights from contention. He will face Luix Cane in his next bout in October and the winner of this bout will put themselves on a two-fight winning streak in the UFC.
Luis Cane -1 win
Cane defeated Jason Lambert in impressive fashion following a disappointing disqualification loss to James Irvin. He is on a one-fight winning streak and will be looking to make that two as he returns to action against Sokodjou in October.
 Rich Franklin - 1 win
This is a very interesting situation as Franklin will be returning to his original UFC weight class of 205 lbs when he takes on Matt Hamill in his next UFC bout. This will be a big test for the fighter who left the LHW class to become one of the bigger fighters at 185. He has two losses in the UFC, both to Anderson Silva who also sits on this list and may be better off in this division provided Anderson decides to stay at 185.
 Matt Hamill – 1 win
Hamill is coming off a victory over Tim Boetch and is 4-1 in the UFC. The frequency of his bouts have been sporadic but he has a good UFC record which will be on the line against Rich Franklin who is making a return to the light heavyweight class. This fight will go a long way in telling how far Hamill has come from his days on the Ultimate Fighter T.V. show. The talented wrestling will want a win here to keep himself on the title track.
Currently on losing streaks
 Quinton Jackson – 1 loss
You can’t talk about the belt without talking about the fighter that it was just snatched from and that man is Quinton Jackson. At 3-1 in the UFC there is no question that he is still on the verge of fighting for the title especially considering it was a close decision loss.
Working against Rampage are some legal issues stemming from an arrest following a police chase. It is unknown at this time how that will affect his ability to compete in the UFC, but timetable for a return seems far away at this point.
Keith Jardine – 1 loss
Jardine is 1-2 after his victory over Forrest Griffin, following his most recent loss to Wanderlei Silva. While Jardine has some very impressive victories on his UFC resume - including a win over the current champion – he also has some devastating first round losses. He is 5-3 in the UFC with his loss to Houston Alexander particularly damaging to his reputation. He will need to get on the winning track and if his rumoured bout with Brandon Vera comes to fruition he will need to win to stay on track.
Wilson Gouveia - 1 loss
Coming off a loss to relative unknown fighter Goran Reljic, in a bout he was winning before getting knocked out, Gouveia is somewhat of an enigma. He is 4 – 2 in the UFC now and had he won his bout with Reljic, would have been on a five fight winning streak and ready to contend for the title. As it is he is just in the mix and on the fast track to mediocrity. Gouveia is a very talented fighter and could very well be ready to contend it just seems like it might be at 185 lbs. He will be facing Jeremy Horn in his next bout.
 Mauricio Rua – 1 loss
The former Pride champion fell on hard times losing to Forrest Griffin and injuring himself in the process. One of the big Pride acquisitions the UFC secured with their purchase of Pride has only one loss on his UFC record to his name and to date is not in the title picture. The talented young light heavyweight could be only a couple fights away from contention, if he is able to recover from a serious injury to return to form. It is strange to say that the former champion and #1 ranked fighter in the division is a dark horse but his injury and a suspect performance against Griffin has relegated him to just that.
James Irvin – 1 loss
James Irvin has had an up and down career in the UFC and his 4-4 record here is proof of that. There is little shame in losing to middleweight champion Anderson Silva but Irvin has not shown the ability to compete for the title. He has show knockout power on numerous occasions and has wins over Houston Alexander and Luis Cane (via disqualification).
Tim Boetch – 1 loss
Boetch burst onto the UFC scene with an impressive victory over David Heath. Following a loss to Matt Hamill he will be facing James Lee at UFC 88.
James Lee – 1 Loss
With a loss to Alessio Sakara in his UFC debut he will probably need to defeat Tim Boetch to stay in the UFC.
Antonio Mendes – 1 loss
Mendes gave Thiago Silva all he could handle almost knocking him out, but eventually lost an entertaining bout. I would imagine that he will be back in the UFC but he is a ways from contention.
Reese Andy – 1 loss
With only one UFC fight, a losing effort to Brandon Vera, Andy is not currently in contention.
 Dan Henderson – 2 losses
Henderson has jumped between the light heavyweight division and the middleweight division. His next bout is expected to be in the 185 lbs weight class against Rousimar Palhares so his LHW future is uncertain.
Houston Alexander – 2 losses
Alexander burst onto the UFC scene with two big victories over Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara. Since then he has lost twice in a row, once to Thiago Silva and the next to James Irvin. He is on a two-fight losing streak and is scheduled to fight Eric Schafer in September. You would have to think that the loser of this fight may have to win a few to get back into the UFC.
Eric Shafer – 2 losses
Schafer lost two consecutive fights in the UFC but has two wins outside the UFC coming into his upcoming bout with Houston Alexander at UFC fight night on Sept 17.
Jason Lambert – 2 Consecutive losses
With a UFC record of 4-3 Lambert is currently on a two fight losing streak losing to Luis Cane and Wilson Gouveia. He is 1-3 in his last 4 fights with a loss to Rashad Evans and a victory over Renato Sobral mixed into his two previous losses.
Kazuhiro Nakamura - 3 consecutive losses
With three consecutive losses Nakamura is not currently in contention.
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