Michael Hutchinson takes things back to 2013 to see how the Lightweight division has changed.
The UFC Lightweight division went through some weird changes in 2017. New fighters jumped to into the Top 10 rankings while others completely left the division.
The division was ruled by Conor McGregor while Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson mowed down the competition. Khabib eventually ended up with the crown, but the true claim of king at lightweight is still up in the air.
The lightweight division has always been one of the most chaotic and competitive divisions in UFC history. With the creation of the UFC rankings in 2013, we are able to track just how much the division has changed. Even though the rankings aren’t perfect (and I’ll detail some faults in the video) they do give us an outline of how much the division has changed in five years.
Fighters who were once on top of the division (Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis, Rafael dos Anjos) are now long gone. One fighter with a particularly refined skill set was able to stand the test of time. Follow along on this magical journey through time, and maybe learn a thing or two about the recent history of the UFC Lightweight division.
*Editors Note* There are a couple of errors in the video above. At 3:03 it should say Cerrone def. Alvarez, at 3:49 it should say Cerrone def. Henderson, Ferguson fought Vannata after Chiesa pulled out and Nurmagomedov def. Barboza Dec 30, 2017.