Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Lightweights

6. Eddie Alvarez

The venerable, well-traveled champion Alvarez comes in at a deserving sixth place on this list. A very good wrestler with excellent BJJ, Alvarez developed very good striking and had endless cardio. Alvarez has fought in a slew of major organizations over the years, going undefeated in Dream, losing a title fight against Shinya Aoki in K-1 Dynamite, then having a long and successful career in Bellator MMA, including a lightweight championship and an easy knockout of Aoki in their rematch. When Alvarez joined the UFC at 30 years old, he was considered a little past his prime, and lost his debut to Donald Cerrone. However, he proved the critics wrong by capturing that world title too after finishing Rafael dos Anjos with punches in the first round. Over his well-traveled career, Alvarez holds victories over multiple generations of great lightweights, including Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Katsunori Kikuno, Josh Neer, Roger Huerta, Pat Curran, Aoki , Patricky Freire, Gilbert Melendez, Anthony Pettis, dos Anjos and Justin Gaethje. Alvarez's standup defense wasn't the best and his chin wasn't the toughest, though he recovered quickly. His first fight against Michael Chandler, which he lost, is still one of the greatest fights in MMA history. He was given the decision in the rematch, though most, myself included, saw it for Chandler. In the UFC, he lost in his first title defense against Conor McGregor, who was perfectly equipped to take advantage of Alvarez's weaknesses. Alvarez continued accruing nice victories, like the stoppage of Gaethje, but he was clearly on the downward swing as he entered his mid-30s. Still, his body of work easily makes him one of the greatest 155-pounders we've ever seen.

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