Honorable Mention

Dominick Reyes

Organization: UFC

Dominick Reyes is an American MMA fighter, and a former college football player as well. He fights for the UFC with the number 5 rank and a record of 12 wins and 3 losses.

Reyes has notable wins over Jared Cannonier, Ovince Saint Preux, Volkan Oezdemir, and Chriss Wideman. However, he has had a rough patch in his career and is currently on a 3 fight losing streak. He lost his most recent fight against Jiří Procházka, and as of now, there is no official announcement about his next fight. 

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Top 10 Light Heavyweights

10. Anthony Johnson

Organization: Bellator

Starting off the list we have the American fighter, Anthony Johnson. With a record of 23 wins and 6 losses, Anthony Johnson had an impressive run in the UFC and recently made a comeback to the sport, now fighting for Bellator.

Johnson challenged for the UFC light-heavyweight title twice but was defeated both times by Daniel Cormier. However, he has wins over some big names in the division including Alexander Gustafsson, Phil Davis, Ryan Badar, Glover Teixeira, and Jimi Manuwa.

His last fight was earlier this year, after more than three years of retirement, however, he defeated José Augusto in the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix Quarterfinal. He was supposed to be facing Vadim Nedkov in the semi-finals on 16th October but became ill. No word on when he’ll be back.

9. Anthony Smith

Organization: Bellator

Anthony Smith is an incredible MMA fighter competing in the UFC light heavyweight division. He has a fight record of 36-16 and won his last fight against Ryan Spann in amazing fashion at UFC Fight Night, finishing him in the first round via TKO. 

He is now on a 3 fight win streak finishing both Jim Crute and Devin Clark by TKO and Submission respectively. Though not official yet, the former title challenger wants a rematch against Aleksandar Rakić and it is looking highly likely that the fight will happen.

8. Aleksandar Rakić

Organization: UFC

The Austrian mixed martial artist has a professional record of 14 wins and 2 losses, and he currently competes in the light heavyweight division of the UFC. 

Rakić has won six out of his seven fights in the UFC and has impressive wins over Jimi Manuwa, Anthony Smith, and Thiago Santos in his most recent fight, which he won via a unanimous decision.

As of now, there is no official announcement about his next fight but he was called out by Anthony Smith after his win where Rakić quickly said he’ll be ready in December via Twitter.

Aleksandar Rakic (-200) finishes Jimi Manuwa (+160) in the very first round via devastating head kick ?pic.twitter.com/7JFhQKbvF0

— Action Combat (@ActionFights) June 1, 2019

7. Phil Davis

Organization: Bellator

Davis is an American mixed martial artist with a record of 23-6, and an extensive career both in the UFC and currently in Bellator. 

Most notably, he won the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Championship in 2015, and a year later, in November of 1026, he also won the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship.

He has notable wins over Alexander Gustafsson, Lyoto Machida, Glover Teixeira, Muhammed Lawal, and during the Grand Prix tournament Yoel Romero as well. Davis was able to impressively control the olympic medalist on the ground which rarely anybody has ever done. 

There is no official announcement about his next fight as of yet but he wants back in the Bellator World Grand Prix.

6. Ryan Bader

Organization: Bellator

Title(s): Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion

Ryan Bader is an American mixed martial artist, and with a record of 28 wins and 7 losses, he is one of the most experienced fighters in the division. 

Bader has fought for the UFC and he won the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship after beating Phil Davis in 2017. After defending the title once, he fought in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix, which he won, along with the Bellator Heavyweight World Championship, becoming a two-division champion. 

He lost the light heavyweight title to Vadim Nemkov, however, he bounced back and defeated Lyoto Machida in the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix. 

When he faced Corey Anderson in the Bellator World Light Heavyweight Grand Prix semi finals  he suffered a vicious knockout which eliminated his chances in the finals. 

5. Corey Anderson

Organization: Bellator

Corey Anderson is another talented American MMA fighter who had a career in the UFC and now fights for Bellator. He has a record of 16 wins and 5 losses. 

Most notably, Anderson has wins over Patrick Cummins, Glover Teixeira, Ilir Latifi, and Johnny Walker. He won his opening bout in the Bellator Grand Prix against Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov.

In the semi finals of the Grand Prix he faced Ryan Bader and in spectacular fashion finished him by KO. Corey Anderson now moves on to the finals of the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix to face Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Vadim Nedkov.

4. Vadim Nedkov

Organization: Bellator

Title: Bellator Champion

Vadim Nedkov is a professional MMA fighter from Russia, and he has a record of 15 wins and 2 losses. He is also a 4-time combat sambo world champion. 

Nedkov fights in Bellator, and he is the current Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion. He also has notable wins over Phil Davis, Ryan Bader, and Rafael Carvalho.

In his recent fight, he was supposed to be facing Anthony Johnson but unfortunately Johnson became ill and had to withdraw from the tournament. Nedkov faced Julius Anglickas instead and beat him by submission in the fourth round in a mostly one-sided fight.

Nedkov will now be facing Corey Anderson in the finals of the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix later this year or early next year of 2022.

3. Jiri Prochazka

Organization: UFC

Prochazka is a professional mixed martial artist from the Czech Republic. He is also a former amateur Muay Thai kickboxer and currently competes in the light heavyweight division of the UFC promotion. 

With a record of 28 wins and 3 losses, he has had a lot of success in his career and is currently on a 10 fight win streak. He has notable wins over Vadim Nemkov, Muhammed Lawal and recent fights against Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes. He is also the former Rizin Light Heavyweight Champion. 

He won his last fight against Dominick Reyes and also got the performance of the night bonus. He is currently the #1 contender, #2 in the UFC Rankings, and will be facing new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Glover Teixeira.

2. Jan Blachowicz

Organization: UFC

With a record of 28 wins and 9 losses, we now have the former UFC Light Heavyweight World Champion 

Blachowicz has wins over some big names, including Jared Cannonier, Jimi Manuwa, Nikita Krylov, Luke Rockhold, Corey Anderson, and Dominick Reyes. In his most notable fight, he defeated the current UFC Middleweight Champion, Israel Adesanya. 

In his most recent fight, he faced Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 where he lost his UFC Light Heavyweight title and his #1 spot in the MMA rankings. Jan Blachowicz could not handle the takedowns of Glover Teixeira and eventually lost via submission in round two.

1. Glover Teixeira

Organization: UFC

Title: UFC Champion

Glover Teixeira is from Brazil, one of the most experienced fighters in the UFC Light Heavyweight division, and he used that experience to capture the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. 

With a professional record of 34 wins and 7 losses, currently on a 6 fight winning streak in the UFC, and is now the current champion. Glover Teixeira has notable wins over Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, Nikita Krylov, Misha Cirkunov, Rashad Evans, Ovince Saint Preux, Ryan Badar and Jan Blachowicz.

At UFC 267, Glover Teixeira was able to rock Jan Blachowicz during the fight and took him down multiple times. His last takedown resulted in a submission win and becoming the new UFC Champion. His next fight is against #1 contender Jiri Prochazka.

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