FanHouse Sean Sherk

It was a big weekend for the lightweights in MMA, with Eddie Alvarez winning the Bellator lightweight tournament on Friday night (above) and Diego Sanchez beating Clay Guida by split decision in a fight of the year candidate Saturday at the Ultimate Fighter Finale.

So what's next for Alvarez and Sanchez? Bellator will have to work hard to attract some top-notch lightweights to challenge Alvarez in their second season (I'm hoping they sign Joachim Hansen), while Sanchez thinks he's earned a shot at the UFC lightweight belt (but I think he should fight Gray Maynard first). My list of the Top 10 lightweights in MMA is below.

After a weekend in mixed martial arts that saw big lightweight fights in both the UFC and Dream, it's time to revise our list of the Top 10 lightweights in MMA. Frank Edgar is new on our list after his impressive UFC 98 win over Sean Sherk, while Gesias "JZ Calvan" Cavalcante has dropped off the list after a disappointing loss to Tatsuya Kawajiri at Dream 9. The full Top 10 is below.

How big a surprise was Frank Edgar's victory over Sean Sherk at UFC 98? So big that UFC President Dana White thought it was impossible.

The light heavyweight division is the most talented weight class in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but after watching Lyoto Machida dominate Rashad Evans for the title Saturday night at UFC 98, I'm having a very hard time seeing how anyone is going to beat him any time soon.

That might sound like a crazy thing to say, because upsets happen all the time in mixed martial arts, and the light heavyweight title has changed hands four times in the last two years. But the fundamental way to win a fight is to hurt your opponent without getting hurt yourself, and there's no one better at that than Machida.

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Welcome to the FanHouse UFC 98 live blog. This is where we'll provide, live, round-by-round updates of the three big undercard fights: Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs. Drew McFedries, Dan Miller vs. Chael Sonnen and Frank Edgar vs. Sean Sherk.

When the undercard live blog is over you'll want to head over to our live blog of the co-main event between Matt Serra and Matt Hughes, and then to our live blog of the main event between Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida. The pay-per-view broadcast and the live blog begin below at 10 PM ET.

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Former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk has always been known as a workout freak, and in the above video he goes through some amazing exercises to get himself ready for his fight with Frank Edgar at UFC 98. For anyone who's interested in either MMA or working out, it's incredible to see what Sherk puts himself through -- including cardio exercises while wearing a gas mask -- to prepare for his fights.

Former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk may be one of the most polarizing champions in MMA history. Almost two years after his steroid suspension following a successful title defense against Hermes Franca at UFC 73, Sherk (33-3-1) continues to try and prove that he is a clean fighter.

Last October, the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy fighter briefly quieted his critics by dominating rising star Tyson Griffin for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory. Next, he faces Frankie Edgar (9-1), another up-and-coming lightweight, at UFC 98 on May 23.

FanHouse spoke to Sherk about his upcoming fight against Edgar and his place in the lightweight division. The full interview is below.

Although hardly anyone in the United States saw the fights, two of the top five lightweights in MMA were in action this weekend, as Shinya Aoki lost at Dream 8 and Eddie Alvarez won in the debut of the new Bellator promotion. That means it's time to revisit our list of the Top 10 lightweights in MMA.

The first question is whether it's fair to drop Aoki on the lightweight list when he lost to a bigger opponent in the Dream Welterweight Grand Prix. I think it is fair. I'm not impressed with Aoki's performance, and I can't pretend the fight didn't happen just because it didn't happen at lightweight.

B.J. Penn was thoroughly manhandled by Georges St. Pierre when he tried to move up to welterweight at UFC 94, but he's still the best lightweight in mixed martial arts, and he has a big lightweight title fight against Kenny Florian coming up this summer.

On my list of the 10 best lightweights in MMA, Penn is first and Florian is fourth. Second on the list is Shinya Aoki, who is about to follow in Penn's footsteps and try moving up to welterweight, in Aoki's case to participate in Dream's upcoming welterweight tournament. The full lightweight Top 10 is below.

Georges St. Pierre finds himself in what is, at once, both an enviable and unenviable position. On the plus side, he has the rare chance to face a top five pound-for-pound champion in BJ Penn at UFC 94. One can only imagine what beating Penn again would do for his reputation and legacy. On the other hand, he's faced with the prospect of fighting a more focused and better-conditioned Penn who has dominated all three of his opponents since dropping down to lightweight.