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 | 3 | 1 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | 416 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Tony Ferguson | 367 |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | Conor McGregor | 339 |
| 4 | 4 | 6 | Kevin Lee | 242.5 |
| 5 | 5 | 13 | James Vick | 235 |
| 6 | 6 | 10 | Al Iaquinta | 226 |
| 7 | 7 | Islam Makhachev | 211.5 | |
| 8 | 8 | 4 | Dustin Poirier | 209.5 |
| 9 | 9 | 15 | Dan Hooker | 204.5 |
| 10 | 13 | 16 | Francisco Trinaldo | 188 |
| 11 | 12 | 5 | Eddie Alvarez | 159.5 |
| 12 | 11 | 9 | Anthony Pettis | 154 |
| 13 | 14 | 12 | Michael Chiesa | 151 |
| 14 | 15 | Beneil Dariush | 149 | |
| 15 | 16 | David Teymur | 124.5 | |
| 16 | 18 | 8 | Justin Gaethje | 118 |
| 17 | 20 | Gregor Gillespie | 116.5 | |
| 18 | 21 | 14 | Alexander Hernandez | 113 |
| 19 | 42 | Nik Lentz | 109.5 | |
| 20 | 17 | Mairbek Taisumov | 109 | |
| 21 | 19 | Charles Oliveira | 103.5 | |
| 22 | 22 | Olivier Aubin-Mercier | 103 | |
| 23 | 23 | 7 | Edson Barboza | 99.5 |
| 24 | 24 | Rustam Khabilov | 94 | |
| 25 | 25 | Carlos Diego Ferreira | 87 | |
| 26 | 53 | Scott Holtzman | 81.5 | |
| 27 | 34 | Jim Miller | 76.5 | |
| 28 | 27 | Clay Guida | 76 | |
| 29 | 28 | Abel Trujillo | 73 | |
| 30 | 29 | Davi Ramos | 72.5 | |
| 30 | 29 | Joe Lauzon | 72.5 | |
| 32 | 31 | Gilbert Burns | 71 | |
| 33 | NR | Ryan Hall | 64.5 | |
| 34 | 36 | Chris Gruetzemacher | 63.5 | |
| 34 | 36 | Stevie Ray | 63.5 | |
| 36 | 38 | Vinc Pichel | 57.5 | |
| 37 | 33 | Alan Patrick | 57 | |
| 37 | 35 | Desmond Green | 57 | |
| 39 | 39 | John Makdessi | 56.5 | |
| 40 | 40 | Drew Dober | 51 | |
| 40 | 40 | Polo Reyes | 51 | |
| 42 | 43 | Jon Tuck | 45.5 | |
| 43 | 44 | Bobby Green | 40.5 | |
| 44 | 45 | Damir Hadzovic | 40 | |
| 45 | 46 | Joseph Duffy | 37.5 | |
| 46 | 47 | Drakkar Klose | 32.5 | |
| 47 | 48 | Joaquim Silva | 32 | |
| 47 | 48 | Lando Vannata | 32 | |
| 49 | 50 | Dong Hyun Kim | 31.5 | |
| 50 | 51 | Alex White | 28 | |
| 51 | 52 | Marc Diakiese | 26.5 | |
| 52 | 54 | Devin Powell | 25 | |
| 52 | 54 | Luis Pena | 25 | |
| 54 | 56 | Jared Gordon | 24.5 | |
| 55 | 57 | Gray Maynard | 18.5 | |
| 56 | 60 | Alvaro Herrera | 17.5 | |
| 57 | 61 | Josh Emmett | 17 | |
| 58 | 62 | Mizuto Hirota | 16 | |
| 59 | 63 | Ross Pearson | 14.5 | |
| 60 | 65 | Nick Hein | 12.5 | |
| 61 | 64 | Erik Koch | 11 | |
| 62 | 66 | Nasrat Haqparast | 10 | |
| 63 | 67 | Christos Giagos | 8 | |
| 64 | 69 | John Gunther | 5 | |
| 64 | 69 | Mike Trizano | 5 | |
| 66 | 71 | Darrell Horcher | 4.5 | |
| 66 | 71 | Felipe Silva | 4.5 | |
| 66 | NR | Jessin Ayari | 4.5 | |
| 66 | 71 | Thibault Gouti | 4.5 | |
| 70 | 74 | Allan Zuniga | 0 | |
| 70 | NR | B.J. Penn | 0 | |
| 70 | 74 | Claudio Puelles | 0 | |
| 70 | NR | Craig White | 0 | |
| 70 | 74 | Dan Moret | 0 | |
| 70 | 74 | Matt Frevola | 0 |
Check back Monday for our featherweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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