Honorable Mention

Anthony Smith

Organization: Bellator

Anthony Smith is an incredible MMA fighter competing in the UFC light heavyweight division. He won his last fight against Ryan Spann in amazing fashion, finishing him in the first round via TKO. The man is also a former title challenger. Though he didn’t make the rankings he deserves an honorable mention.

 

Magomed Ankalaev

Organization: UFC

Magomed Ankalaev is another talented fidget in the UFC with a record of 15 and 1. He is currently on a 7 fight win streak and is ranked 7 by the UFC.

 

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, Phill 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.

Anthony Johnson’s 2nd round ko? #Bellator pic.twitter.com/rKYRouPVQx

— Combat Sports Insider (@combat_insider) May 8, 2021

 

9. 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

 

8. 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. 

 

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 as of last weekend 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. 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 15 wins and 5 losses. 

Most notably, Anderson has wins over Patrick Cummins, Glover Teixeira, Ilir Latifi, and Johnny Walker. He won his most recent fight in Bellator against Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov.

For his next bout, he will be facing Ryan Bader on the 16th of October.

 

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5. Ryan Bader

Organization: Bellator

Ryan Bader is an American mixed martial artist, and with a record of 28 wins and 6 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, in the last fight, he defeated Lyoto Machida in the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix. 

He will be facing Corey Anderson in his next fight in the Bellator World Heavyweight Grand Prix.

 

4. Glover Teixeira

Organization: UFC

Glover Teixeira is from Brazil, and he is one of the most experienced fighters in the UFC light heavyweight division. He has a professional record of 32 wins and 7 losses.  

He is currently on a 5 fight winning streak in the UFC, which has also earned him the title shot in his next fight when he will face the current champion Jan Blachowicz. Glover Teixeira also has notable wins over Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, Nikita Krylov, Misha Cirkunov, Rashad Evans, Ovince Saint Preux, and Ryan Badar.

 

3. Vadim Nedkov

Organization: Bellator

Title: Bellator Champion

Vadim Nedkov is a professional MMA fighter from Russia, and he has a record of 14 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 Championship. He also has notable wins over Phil Davis, Ryan Bader, and Rafael Carvalho. He won his last fight against Phill Davis, defending his title and winning the Bellator Grand Prix quarter-final. 

For his next fight, he was supposed to be facing Anthony Johnson on 16th October but unfortunately Johnson became ill and had to withdraw from the tournament. Nedkov will now be facing Julius Anglickas.

 

2.  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. 

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, 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.

This vicious spinning elbow KO by Jiri Prochazka should be Knock Out of the Year! #UFCVegas25 pic.twitter.com/B7FxEMnLFn

— ⚜ WHO DAT Cool Breesy ⚜ (@Steve2duhO) May 2, 2021

 

1. Jan Blachowicz

Organization: UFC

Title: UFC Champion

At the top of the list, we have Jan Blachowicz from Poland. With a record of 28 wins and 8 losses, he is the current 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 recent fight, he defeated the current UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya. 

For his next fight, he will be defending his title against Glover Teixeira

 

Where do you rank Phil Davis and Anthony Smith after their exciting wins in the division? Rank below to be added in the Power Rankings and to have a chance to win a gift card to LAZADA, Amazon, Fanatics.com, or more that is specific to you. Join the contest by ranking below.

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