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 Lightweights.
*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 | 2 | 2 | Tony Ferguson | 384 |
| 2 | 3 | 12 | Al Iaquinta | 258 |
| 3 | 6 | 8 | Dustin Poirier | 214 |
| 4 | 5 | 9 | Kevin Lee | 212.5 |
| 5 | 10 | 4 | Eddie Alvarez | 182 |
| 6 | 13 | 16 | James Vick | 180.5 |
| 7 | 7 | 13 | Beneil Dariush | 180 |
| 8 | 4 | 14 | Anthony Pettis | 179 |
| 9 | 8 | 15 | Francisco Trinaldo | 179 |
| 10 | 9 | 10 | Michael Chiesa | 177 |
| 11 | 11 | 11 | Michael Johnson | 171 |
| 12 | 12 | 3 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | 170 |
| 13 | 14 | 5 | Edson Barboza | 144.5 |
| 14 | 17 | Paul Felder | 141 | |
| 15 | 15 | Mairbek Taisumov | 119 | |
| 16 | 16 | Islam Makhachev | 114.5 | |
| 17 | 18 | Evan Dunham | 106.5 | |
| 18 | 20 | Leonardo Santos | 101.5 | |
| 19 | 21 | Rustam Khabilov | 91.5 | |
| 20 | 22 | Joe Lauzon | 88.5 | |
| 21 | 23 | Abel Trujillo | 87.5 | |
| 22 | 55 | Clay Guida | 87 | |
| 23 | 19 | Charles Oliveira | 86.5 | |
| 24 | 25 | Jim Miller | 78.5 | |
| 25 | 26 | Stevie Ray | 73 | |
| 26 | 27 | Alan Patrick | 70.5 | |
| 27 | 30 | Gilbert Burns | 67.5 | |
| 28 | 31 | Michel Prazeres | 65.5 | |
| 29 | 40 | David Teymur | 62 | |
| 30 | 48 | Nik Lentz | 56.5 | |
| 31 | 32 | Gregor Gillespie | 56 | |
| 31 | 32 | Olivier Aubin-Mercier | 56 | |
| 33 | NR | Gleison Tibau | 55 | |
| 34 | 34 | Drew Dober | 54.5 | |
| 35 | 35 | Dan Hooker | 54 | |
| 36 | 36 | Jon Tuck | 53 | |
| 37 | 37 | Kajan Johnson | 52.5 | |
| 38 | 38 | Magomed Mustafaev | 52 | |
| 39 | 39 | Tony Martin | 51 | |
| 40 | 41 | Chris Wade | 45.5 | |
| 41 | 42 | Bobby Green | 45 | |
| 42 | 45 | Jason Saggo | 42.5 | |
| 43 | 47 | Vinc Pichel | 38.5 | |
| 44 | 43 | Joseph Duffy | 37.5 | |
| 45 | 49 | Joaquim Silva | 36 | |
| 45 | 46 | 6 | Justin Gaethje | 36 |
| 45 | 49 | Lando Vannata | 36 | |
| 48 | 51 | John Makdessi | 35.5 | |
| 49 | 52 | Johnny Case | 35 | |
| 50 | 53 | Marc Diakiese | 34.5 | |
| 51 | 57 | Alex White | 31.5 | |
| 52 | 53 | Drakkar Klose | 31 | |
| 52 | 58 | Sage Northcutt | 31 | |
| 54 | 59 | Marco Polo Reyes | 30 | |
| 55 | 60 | Dong Hyun Kim | 29.5 | |
| 56 | 55 | Will Brooks | 28 | |
| 57 | 61 | Jared Gordon | 27.5 | |
| 58 | 64 | Scott Holtzman | 25.5 | |
| 59 | 62 | Damir Hadzovic | 25 | |
| 59 | NR | Davi Ramos | 25 | |
| 59 | 62 | Jordan Rinaldi | 25 | |
| 62 | 64 | Erik Koch | 24 | |
| 63 | 66 | Teemu Packalen | 22.5 | |
| 64 | 67 | Andrew Holbrook | 22 | |
| 65 | 69 | Alvaro Herrera | 20 | |
| 65 | 69 | Ross Pearson | 20 | |
| 67 | 71 | Desmond Green | 18 | |
| 68 | 72 | Josh Emmett | 17 | |
| 69 | NR | Damien Brown | 11 | |
| 70 | 74 | Jason Gonzalez | 9 | |
| 71 | 76 | Frankie Perez | 8 | |
| 72 | 77 | Danny Henry | 5 | |
| 72 | NR | Frank Camacho | 5 | |
| 72 | 77 | Marcin Held | 5 | |
| 72 | 77 | Thibault Gouti | 5 | |
| 76 | 77 | Darrell Horcher | 4.5 | |
| 76 | 81 | Felipe Silva | 4.5 | |
| 78 | NR | Chris Gruetzemacher | 4 | |
| 79 | 82 | Josh Burkman | 3 | |
| 80 | 83 | Claudio Puelles | 0 | |
| 80 | 83 | Daniel Teymur | 0 | |
| 80 | 83 | Devin Powell | 0 | |
| 80 | 83 | Mads Burnell | 0 | |
| 80 | NR | Michel Quinones | 0 | |
| 80 | 83 | Nasrat Haqparast | 0 |
Check back Friday for our featherweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Featherweights/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights/Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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