UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Light Heavyweights: May 13/19

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	481
2	2		Luke Rockhold	295
3	3	4	Thiago Santos	165.5
4	4	5	Anthony Smith	155
5	6	11	Glover Teixeira	148
6	5		Ovince Saint Preux	128
7	14	16	Nikita Krylov	125
8	7		Antonio Rogerio Nogueira	124
8	8	14	Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua	124
10	9	9	Corey Anderson	120
11	10	10	Ilir Latifi	111
12	11	13	Johnny Walker	110
13	13	6	Dominick Reyes	107.5
14	11	3	Alexander Gustafsson	104
15	15	7	Jan Blachowicz	95.5
16	16	15	Misha Cirkunov	93
16	16	8	Volkan Oezdemir	93
18	18	12	Jimi Manuwa	92
19	19		Jimmy Crute	78
20	20		Sam Alvey	75.5
21	21		Aleksandar Rakic	73
22	23		Paul Craig	65
23	22		Ion Cutelaba	59
24	25		Khalil Rountree Jr	49.5
25	24		Gadzhimurad Antigulov	48
25	34		Michal Oleksiejczuk	48
27	NR		Eryk Anders	46.5
28	26		Tyson Pedro	43
29	27		Ed Herman	32.5
30	28		Gian Villante	26
31	29		Alonzo Menifield	25
31	29		Darko Stosic	25
33	31		Justin Ledet	24.5
33	39		Ryan Spann	24.5
35	32		Gokhan Saki	22.5
36	33		Karl Roberson	22
37	35		Patrick Cummins	14.5
38	36		Devin Clark	14
38	36		Magomed Ankalaev	14
40	38		Mike Rodriguez	10
41	39		Rashad Coulter	5
41	39		Saparbek Safarov	5
43	42		Hu Yaozong	0
43	42		Kennedy Nzechukwu	0
43	42		Klidson Abreu	0
43	42		Marcin Prachnio	0
43	42		Nicolae Negumereanu	0
43	42		Vinicius Moreira	0

Check back Friday for our middleweight rankings

Performance Based Rankings:

Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound

 

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