8 Best UFC Lightweights of all-time

#1 BJ Penn (16-12-2)

The Prodigy.

Don’t let Penn’s record and recent form mislead you as 'The Prodigy' was absolutely unstoppable in his prime and a principle chunk of it was from his supremacy in the Lightweight Division.

Penn became a household name in MMA circles after he ended Matt Hughes’ 820-day Welterweight Championship reign at UFC 46 with a rear-naked choke in the very first round. He would be stripped off the title after making the jump to K1, however, Penn would return to UFC’s Welterweight division after four fights with the Hong Kong-based promotion.

Penn would lose both his return fights against GSP and Hughes at Welterweight and made the right call of dropping down to Lightweight. He went on a five-fight streak in the 155lb division while becoming the second multi-divisional champion in UFC history.

He destroyed Sean Sherk, Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson, Jens Pulver, and Kenny Florian before coming face-to-face with his Achilles heel in Frankie Edgar -- who he lost against in two consecutive title fights. Penn won just 1 of his next seven fights and is expected to announce his retirement unless he isn’t over his obsession of winning his third title.

He may have partly wrecked his legacy with his recent slump but it’s tough to debate against Penn being the greatest Lightweight ever. He built the 155lb division and made it a mainstream success. One of the greatest of all time.