BJ Penn not only successfully defended his UFC lightweight title against Diego Sanchez in December, he also dislodged Sanchez from three consecutive months atop the divisional buzz rankings. Sanchez had generated the most fan interest among all MMA lightweights for for several months running until his UFC 107 clash. The shift may signal that Penn has finally generated enough exposure to mainstream fans that he can be a standalone drawing power for future UFC events. Also rising up the rankings in the lightweight category in December were Clay Guida and Kenny Florian, as well as Japanese ace Shinya Aoki, who had a controversial display of emotion following his new year’s eve victory in Japan. Full Top 20 rankings are below.
Tapology’s Buzz Rankings measure fan interest in individual MMA fighters based on online searches and pageviews for information about each athlete. The rankings are not a measure of a fighter’s skill or competitive standing within their division, but rather how much activity or “buzz” surrounds them (positive or negative).
Top 20 Lightweight Buzz Rankings for recent months:
- December 2009 (#1 Rank: Diego Sanchez)
- October 2009 (#1 Rank: Diego Sanchez)
- September 2009 (#1 Rank: Diego Sanchez)
December 2009 Lightweight (155 lbs) Rankings
| December Rank |
Lightweight Fighter | November to December Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BJ Penn | Up 1 |
| 2 | Diego Sanchez | Down 1 |
| 3 | Clay Guida | Up 2 |
| 4 | Kenny Florian | No Change |
| 5 | Shinya Aoki | Up 24 |
| 6 | Josh Thomson | Up 103 |
| 7 | Joe Lauzon | Up 51 |
| 8 | Sean Sherk | Up 1 |
| 9 | Gilbert Melendez | Up 36 |
| 10 | Efrain Escudero | Down 4 |
| 11 | Mac Danzig | Up 36 |
| 12 | Joe Stevenson | Up 3 |
| 13 | Donald Cerrone | Up 50 |
| 14 | Duane Ludwig | Up 92 |
| 15 | Nate Diaz | Up 21 |
| 16 | Chris Horodecki | Up 55 |
| 17 | Roger Huerta | Down 9 |
| 18 | Jim Miller | Up 16 |
| 19 | Eddie Alvarez | Up 1 |
| 20 | Gray Maynard | Down 2 |
Dropped out of Top 20:
George Sotiropoulus (#22), Takanori Gomi (#35), Junie Browning (#43), Ross Pearson (#51), Caol Uno (#57), Andre Winner (#78), Roli Delgado (#103), Karen Darabedyan (#107), Paul Kelly (#109), Denis Siver (#121)
[...] 20 Lightweight Buzz Rankings for recent months: – December 2009 (#1 Rank: BJ Penn) – November 2009 (#1 Rank: Diego Sanchez) – October 2009 (#1 Rank: Diego Sanchez) – September 2009 [...]
[...] 20 Lightweight Buzz Rankings for recent months: – January 2010 (#1 Rank: BJ Penn) – December 2009 (#1 Rank: BJ Penn) – November 2009 (#1 Rank: Diego [...]