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 Middleweights.
*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 five year time limit, so if they have fought less than 10 times in past five 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 | 1 | 1 | Robert Whittaker | 404 |
2 | 4 | 2 | Israel Adesanya | 343.5 |
3 | 3 | 5 | Kelvin Gastelum | 264 |
4 | 5 | 3 | Yoel Romero | 224 |
5 | 6 | 7 | Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza | 200 |
6 | 2 | 8 | Chris Weidman | 198 |
7 | 7 | 10 | Derek Brunson | 184 |
8 | 9 | 6 | Jack Hermansson | 180.5 |
9 | 8 | 12 | Brad Tavares | 153 |
10 | 10 | Tim Boetsch | 135 | |
11 | 11 | 9 | Paulo Costa | 120.5 |
12 | 25 | 11 | Jared Cannonier | 115.5 |
13 | 12 | 13 | Antonio Carlos Junior | 109 |
14 | 13 | 14 | Uriah Hall | 99 |
15 | 15 | Dan Kelly | 96 | |
16 | 14 | 16 | David Branch | 86 |
17 | 16 | 15 | Elias Theodorou | 73.5 |
18 | 19 | Tom Breese | 71 | |
19 | 18 | Omari Akhmedov | 70 | |
20 | 20 | Gerald Meerschaert | 68.5 | |
21 | 21 | Cezar Ferreira | 66.5 | |
22 | 21 | Krzysztof Jotko | 60.5 | |
23 | 27 | Ian Heinisch | 50 | |
23 | 27 | Khalild Murtazaliev | 50 | |
25 | NR | Trevin Giles | 47.5 | |
26 | 29 | Darren Stewart | 47 | |
26 | 26 | Zak Cummings | 47 | |
28 | 30 | Markus Perez | 45 | |
29 | 23 | C.B. Dollaway | 40.5 | |
30 | 17 | Anderson Silva | 40 | |
31 | 31 | Alessio Di Chirico | 36 | |
32 | 33 | Jack Marshman | 33.5 | |
33 | 34 | Andrew Sanchez | 31.5 | |
34 | 35 | Edmen Shahbazyan | 29.5 | |
35 | 36 | Kevin Holland | 29 | |
36 | 37 | Oskar Piechota | 26.5 | |
37 | 38 | Julian Marquez | 22.5 | |
38 | 39 | Charles Byrd | 20 | |
39 | 40 | Marvin Vettori | 16 | |
40 | 41 | Trevor Smith | 11 | |
41 | 42 | Abu Azaitar | 5 | |
42 | 43 | Adam Yandiev | 0 | |
42 | NR | Alen Amedovski | 0 | |
42 | 43 | Anthony Hernandez | 0 | |
42 | 43 | Bevon Lewis | 0 | |
42 | 32 | Hector Lombard | 0 | |
42 | 43 | John Phillips | 0 | |
42 | NR | Marc-Andre Barriault | 0 | |
42 | 43 | Tim Williams | 0 |
Check back Monday for our welterweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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