Honorable Mention

Arman Tsarukyan

Promotion: UFC

Arman Tsarukyan deserves an honorable mention. He is an excellent fighter from Russia with a record of 18 wins and 2 losses. He is currently on a 5 fight winning streak and ranked 12 by the UFC.

Conor McGregor

Promotion: UFC

Conor McGregor is the most popular MMA fighter in the world. He has a record of 22 wins and 6 losses and became the first simultaneous two-division UFC champion. 

In his most recent fight, he lost to Dustin Poirier via doctor stoppage, after he snapped his shin bone in the second round. Though he doesn’t make it in our rankings, he deserves an honorable mention.

Top 10 MMA Lightweights

10. Tony Ferguson

Promotion: UFC

Tony is an American MMA fighter of Mexican descent. He has a record of 25 wins and 7 losses

Tony Ferguson is the former interim UFC lightweight champion and has wins over some of the best fighters in the division. However, he has been in quite a rough patch recently, losing his last three fights. 

Last weekend, he got knocked out in his fight against Micheal Chandler, and there is no information about when he will be fighting next.

9. Rafael Fiziev

Promotion: UFC

Rafael Fiziev is a professional MMA fighter from Kyrgyzstan. He has a record of 11 wins and 1 loss. 

Fiziev is currently on a 5 fight winning streak, and he has won post-fight bonuses in his past 4 fights. Fiziev is currently ranked #11 in the UFC lightweight rankings. 

In his most recent fight, he defeated Brad Riddell via spinning kick knockout, and his next fight has not been announced yet.

8. Gregor Gillespie

Promotion: UFC

Gregor Gillespie is an American fighter with a record of 14 wins and 1 loss.

Gillespie is currently ranked #8 in the official UFC rankings, and with his exceptional wrestling, he could be a top contender in the near future. However, he has been quite inactive. 

In his most recent fight, he defeated Carlos Diego Ferreira and there is no announcement about his next fight yet.

7. Rafael dos Anjos

Promotion: UFC

Rafael dos Anjos is a Brazilian fighter, with a record of 31 wins and 13 losses. 

RDA is the former UFC lightweight champion and has had an impressive career at welterweight as well, challenging for the interim title. 

In his last fight, he returned to lightweight and defeated Renato Carneiro via unanimous decision, and his next fight has not been announced yet.

6. Beneil Dariush

Promotion: UFC

Dariush is an American MMA fighter of Iranian descent and he has a professional MMA record of 21 wins and 4 losses and 1 draw. 

Dariush is currently on a 7 fight winning streak at lightweight, with 4 post-fight bonuses. He defeated the former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision in his most recent fight. He was scheduled to fight Islam Makhachev but had to pull out of the fight. There is no announcement about his next fight yet.

5. Michael Chandler

Promotion: UFC

Michael Chandler is an American MMA fighter with a record of 23 wins and 7 losses. He only joined the UFC last year, and before that competed in Bellator. 

He is a former three-time Bellator lightweight champion and also won the Bellator season 4 lightweight tournament. Last weekend, Chandler fought Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 and won via front kick knockout. 

As of now, there is no official announcement about his next bout.

4. Justin Gaethje

Promotion: UFC

Justin Gaethje is an American fighter with a record of 26 wins and 4 losses.

Gaethje is currently ranked #3 in the UFC rankings and is the former UFC interim lightweight champion. Gaethje is a very exciting fighter, and last weekend he challenged Charles Oliveira with the UFC title on the line. 

Gaethje lost the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the first round. Now, there is no announcement about his next fight.

3. Dustin Poirier

Promotion: UFC

Porier is an American UFC fighter, and he has a record of 28 wins and 7 losses. He is currently ranked #2 in the UFC lightweight rankings and is the former interim UFC lightweight champion of the world. 

Poirier has challenged for the lightweight title twice, however, he lost both times. In his most recent fight, at UFC 274, he lost to Charles Olivera via submission, and his next fight has not been announced yet.

2. Islam Makhachev

Promotion: UFC

Islam Makhachev is a Russian fighter, fighting out of Daghestan. He has a record of 22 wins and only 1 loss. 

Makhachev is ranked #4 in the official UFC rankings, and he is currently on a 10-fight winning streak. He has had difficulty in getting fights against top opponents, perhaps because of his dominant fighting style, reminiscent of his training partner Khabib Nurmagomedov, however, he has some solid wins over talented fighters like Arman Tsarukyan, Davi Ramos, and Dan Hooker. 

He was supposed to fight Beniel Dariush in his most recent fight, however, after he pulled out, he fought Bobby Greene and won via first-round TKO.

1. Charles Oliveira

Promotion: UFC

Oliveira is a professional MMA fighter from Brazil, and he has a record of 33 wins and 8 losses. 

Oliveira is the former UFC lightweight champion. He also holds the record for most submission wins and most finishes in the UFC. Oliveira was champion until last weekend. He was scheduled to defend his title against Justin Gaetghe, however, he missed weight and was stripped of the title. 

Oliveira won the fight via submission, however, he lost the title. Now, he is the #1 contender, and will probably fight someone for the vacant title.

Where do you rank these Contenders and Champions? Rank below to be added in the Power Rankings 

Related Links:

• MMA UFC Top 10 Pound For Pound Rankings – December 2021
• MMA UFC Top 10 Lightweight Rankings – December 2021
• MMA UFC Top 10 Women’s Pound For Pound Rankings – December 2021
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• MMA UFC Top 10 Heavyweight Rankings – January 2022
• MMA UFC Top 10 Flyweight Rankings – January 2022
• MMA UFC Top 10 Middleweight Rankings – February 2022
• MMA UFC Top 10 Welterweight Rankings – April 2022
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