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 | 1 | 1 | Jon Jones | 513 |
2 | NR | Luke Rockhold | 295 | |
3 | 5 | 4 | Thiago Santos | 165.5 |
4 | 2 | 5 | Anthony Smith | 155 |
5 | 3 | 13 | Ovince Saint Preux | 151.5 |
6 | 4 | 12 | Glover Teixeira | 150 |
7 | 6 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | 144 | |
8 | 7 | 15 | Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua | 124 |
9 | 8 | 9 | Corey Anderson | 120 |
10 | 9 | 10 | Ilir Latifi | 111 |
11 | 11 | 3 | Alexander Gustafsson | 110 |
11 | 20 | 14 | Johnny Walker | 110 |
13 | 11 | 6 | Dominick Reyes | 107.5 |
14 | 15 | Nikita Krylov | 101 | |
15 | 9 | 7 | Jan Blachowicz | 95.5 |
16 | 13 | 16 | Misha Cirkunov | 93 |
16 | 14 | 8 | Volkan Oezdemir | 93 |
18 | 16 | 11 | Jimi Manuwa | 92 |
19 | 17 | Jimmy Crute | 78 | |
20 | 18 | Sam Alvey | 75.5 | |
21 | 19 | Aleksandar Rakic | 73 | |
22 | 21 | Ion Cutelaba | 66 | |
23 | 24 | Paul Craig | 65 | |
24 | 22 | Gadzhimurad Antigulov | 54.5 | |
25 | 23 | Khalil Rountree Jr | 50.5 | |
26 | 25 | Tyson Pedro | 43 | |
27 | 26 | Ed Herman | 32.5 | |
28 | 27 | Gian Villante | 26 | |
29 | 30 | Alonzo Menifield | 25 | |
29 | 30 | Darko Stosic | 25 | |
31 | 32 | Justin Ledet | 24.5 | |
32 | 33 | Gokhan Saki | 22.5 | |
33 | 34 | Karl Roberson | 22 | |
34 | NR | Michal Oleksiejczuk | 20 | |
35 | 35 | Patrick Cummins | 14.5 | |
36 | 36 | Devin Clark | 14 | |
36 | 37 | Magomed Ankalaev | 14 | |
38 | 37 | Mike Rodriguez | 10 | |
39 | 39 | Rashad Coulter | 5 | |
39 | 39 | Ryan Spann | 5 | |
39 | 41 | Saparbek Safarov | 5 | |
42 | 41 | Hu Yaozong | 0 | |
42 | NR | Kennedy Nzechukwu | 0 | |
42 | NR | Klidson Abreu | 0 | |
42 | 41 | Marcin Prachnio | 0 | |
42 | NR | Nicolae Negumereanu | 0 | |
42 | 41 | Vinicius Moreira | 0 |
Check back Friday 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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