There is constant debate about the “official” UFC fighter rankings, which are based on voting from a panel of journalists. Such is the case with something as subjective as voting – it’s totally based on voter’s opinion, and biases are bound to seep through, whether intentional or no. So to try to put a fresh, objective, data-driven spin on rankings, The MMA Manifesto has come up with a performance based ranking system, solely based on how a fighter has performed in the cage. Next up: The Middleweights.
*stipulations: 1) any fighter currently suspended or 2) inactive for at least 12 months (without an upcoming fight scheduled) are excluded from the rankings
- Scoring based on a fighter’s past 10 UFC performances (we use a seven year time limit, so if they have fought less than 10 times in past seven years, only the fights within that time frame are counted)
- Points based on a fighter’s opponent’s UFC win/loss record (ie strength of schedule – the more successful a vanquished opponent is, the more points awarded), extra points given for finishes, extra points given for title fight wins.
- Points are weighed so most recent fights are worth more (ie most recent fight counts the most, 10th most recent fight the least)
- No points awarded for a loss
(first column performance based ranking, second column is last ranking, third column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
| Stats | Last | UFC | Total | |
| Rank | Rank | Rank | ||
| 1 | 1 | Georges St-Pierre | 445 | |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Chris Weidman | 411 |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | Robert Whittaker | 373.5 |
| 4 | 5 | 5 | Kelvin Gastelum | 312 |
| 5 | 4 | 2 | Yoel Romero | 308 |
| 6 | 6 | 3 | Luke Rockhold | 295 |
| 7 | 7 | 7 | Michael Bisping | 262 |
| 8 | 8 | 6 | Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza | 194 |
| 9 | 10 | Anderson Silva | 185 | |
| 10 | 11 | 8 | Derek Brunson | 184.5 |
| 11 | 13 | 10 | Brad Tavares | 177 |
| 12 | 9 | Tim Boetsch | 161 | |
| 13 | 12 | 13 | Thiago Santos | 140.5 |
| 14 | 20 | 10 | Lyoto Machida | 135 |
| 15 | 25 | 9 | David Branch | 127 |
| 16 | 36 | Jack Hermansson | 110 | |
| 16 | 16 | 12 | Uriah Hall | 110 |
| 18 | 21 | 13 | Antonio Carlos Junior | 109 |
| 19 | 18 | 15 | Paulo Costa | 106.5 |
| 20 | 15 | Dan Kelly | 96 | |
| 21 | 19 | 16 | Elias Theodorou | 94.5 |
| 22 | 14 | Vitor Belfort | 86.5 | |
| 23 | 17 | Thales Leites | 85 | |
| 24 | 30 | Cezar Ferreira | 76.5 | |
| 25 | 23 | Vitor Miranda | 74 | |
| 26 | 46 | Tom Breese | 71 | |
| 27 | 24 | C.B. Dollaway | 69.5 | |
| 28 | 22 | 14 | Krzysztof Jotko | 66.5 |
| 29 | 26 | Anthony Smith | 64 | |
| 30 | 27 | Eryk Anders | 62.5 | |
| 31 | 28 | Omari Akhmedov | 61.5 | |
| 32 | 29 | Gerald Meerschaert | 56 | |
| 33 | 31 | Rashad Evans | 52 | |
| 34 | 32 | Hector Lombard | 50 | |
| 35 | 33 | Trevin Giles | 47.5 | |
| 36 | 34 | Johny Hendricks | 46 | |
| 36 | 34 | Magnus Cedenblad | 46 | |
| 38 | 37 | Eric Spicely | 38 | |
| 39 | 39 | Ryan Janes | 33.5 | |
| 40 | 42 | Israel Adesanya | 32.5 | |
| 41 | 40 | Oskar Piechota | 29.5 | |
| 42 | 41 | Alessio Di Chirico | 29 | |
| 43 | 42 | Charles Byrd | 25 | |
| 43 | 53 | Darren Stewart | 25 | |
| 43 | 42 | Julian Marquez | 25 | |
| 43 | 53 | Markus Perez | 25 | |
| 47 | 42 | Karl Roberson | 22.5 | |
| 48 | 47 | Antonio Braga Neto | 20 | |
| 49 | 48 | Marvin Vettori | 16 | |
| 50 | 50 | Jonathan Wilson | 14 | |
| 50 | 49 | Trevor Smith | 14 | |
| 52 | 51 | Andrew Sanchez | 11.5 | |
| 53 | 52 | Marcelo Guimaraes | 8 | |
| 54 | NR | James Bochnovic | 0 | |
| 54 | 53 | John Phillips | 0 | |
| 54 | 53 | Keith Berish | 0 | |
| 54 | 53 | Rob Wilkinson | 0 | |
| 54 | 53 | Tim Williams | 0 |
Check back Friday for our welterweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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