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 not. 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 Light Heavyweights.
*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, last column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
| Stats | Last | UFC | Total | |
| Rank | Rank | Rank | ||
| 1 | 2 | 2 | Jon Jones | 529 |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | Anthony Smith | 179 |
| 3 | 5 | 12 | Ovince Saint Preux | 151.5 |
| 4 | 6 | 13 | Glover Teixeira | 149 |
| 4 | 8 | 8 | Thiago Santos | 149 |
| 6 | 4 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | 144 | |
| 7 | 10 | 14 | Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua | 124 |
| 8 | 18 | 11 | Corey Anderson | 120 |
| 9 | 9 | 6 | Ilir Latifi | 111 |
| 9 | 12 | 5 | Jan Blachowicz | 111 |
| 11 | 7 | 3 | Alexander Gustafsson | 110 |
| 11 | 13 | 9 | Dominick Reyes | 110 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | Misha Cirkunov | 109.5 |
| 14 | 15 | 7 | Volkan Oezdemir | 108 |
| 15 | 16 | 16 | Nikita Krylov | 101 |
| 16 | 17 | Sam Alvey | 94.5 | |
| 17 | 11 | 10 | Jimi Manuwa | 92 |
| 18 | 25 | Aleksandar Rakic | 73 | |
| 19 | 19 | Ion Cutelaba | 66 | |
| 20 | 22 | Gadzhimurad Antigulov | 54.5 | |
| 21 | 21 | Khalil Rountree Jr | 50.5 | |
| 22 | 23 | Paul Craig | 46.5 | |
| 23 | 24 | Tyson Pedro | 43 | |
| 24 | 26 | Ed Herman | 38.5 | |
| 25 | 27 | Gian Villante | 35 | |
| 26 | 28 | Luis Henrique | 32.5 | |
| 27 | NR | Johnny Walker | 30 | |
| 28 | 29 | Justin Ledet | 28 | |
| 29 | 30 | Jake Collier | 27 | |
| 30 | 31 | Darko Stosic | 25 | |
| 31 | 32 | Gokhan Saki | 22.5 | |
| 32 | NR | Jimmy Crute | 20 | |
| 33 | 34 | Patrick Cummins | 14.5 | |
| 34 | 33 | Devin Clark | 14 | |
| 35 | 35 | Magomed Ankalaev | 10 | |
| 35 | 38 | Mike Rodriguez | 10 | |
| 37 | NR | Rashad Coulter | 5 | |
| 37 | 37 | Ryan Spann | 5 | |
| 39 | NR | Hu Yaozong | 0 | |
| 39 | 38 | Marcin Prachnio | 0 | |
| 39 | 38 | Saparbek Safarov | 0 |
Check back Monday for our middleweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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