Frankie Edgar causes a lightweight shake up

Frankie Edgar's upset over Sean Sherk has changed the landscape of the UFC lightweight division. 

First let's look at the current USA Today / SB Nation Consensus Rankings and their equivalent rankings inside the UFC. 

WKR predicted that Diego Sanchez would fight for the lightweight title by the end of the year. With Sherk's recent loss Sanchez appears ready to take over the role of number one contender. Of course he needs to get through Clay Guida at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale. If Guida wins there is no guarantee that he would become the number one contender. 

The critical question is whether Frankie Edgar's victory catapults him into the top four of the UFC lightweight division (assuming Sanchez takes the three spot leaving the fourth spot open). Edgar has beaten Sherk and Tyson Griffin but the loss against Maynard may hold Frankie back; forcing him into one more fight against a lower ranked lightweight (Roger Huerta or Caol Uno?). The argument in favor of Frankie would focus on the fact that he beat Sherk when he was the #4 ranked lightweight in the world.  

Frankie Edgar's upset victory may have helped Gray Maynard the most. Maynard is still unbeaten, with a perfect 5-0 record in the UFC, with notable wins over Rich Clementi and Frankie Edgar. Maynard should have to fight Tyson Griffin for a chance to be next in line after the Guida-Sanchez winner. 

Comparing Edgar and Maynard is tricky. Edgar holds the better resume but the fact that he was completely dominated by Maynard is hard to escape. Perhaps both need another fight before we can conclude which fighter should move behind Diego Sanchez. 

Another question is how far will Sean Sherk fall. Inside the UFC Sherk should fall behind Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard (maybe by extension Tyson Griffin, though Sherk defeated Griffin). Within the Consensus Rankings it is hard to see Sherk falling out of the top ten.

Whatever the future holds the UFC lightweight division appears to be in flux. The door is open for a fighter outside the Consensus top-ten to step in and move to within one fight from the title.