UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Lightweights: May 24/19

 

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 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 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	2	3	Tony Ferguson	341.5
2	6	2	Dustin Poirier	317
3	5	12	Charles Oliveira	251
4	3	7	Al Iaquinta	225
5	4	15	Islam Makhachev	191
6	7		Francisco Trinaldo	188
7	8	6	Justin Gaethje	184
8	9		Dan Hooker	178
9	13	5	Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone	172
10	10	16	James Vick	171
11	11	11	Paul Felder	169
12	12		Carlos Diego Ferreira	162.5
13	14	13	Gregor Gillespie	133
14	15		Beneil Dariush	132.5
15	17	8	Edson Barboza	116.5
16	18		David Teymur	110
17	16		Nik Lentz	109
18	21		Gilbert Burns	108
19	20	14	Alexander Hernandez	101
20	22		Yancy Medeiros	96
21	19		Mairbek Taisumov	95
22	23		Davi Ramos	89.5
23	24		Olivier Aubin-Mercier	88
23	24		Ryan Hall	88
25	NR		Alexander Yakovlev	86
26	26		Damir Hadzovic	85.5
27	27		Rustam Khabilov	75
28	29		Scott Holtzman	71.5
29	NR		Magomed Mustafaev	71
30	28		Clay Guida	68
31	31		Stevie Ray	59
32	30		Jim Miller	58.5
33	32		Joaquim Silva	58
34	35		John Makdessi	53.5
35	37		Lando Vannata	53
36	36		Desmond Green	52.5
37	33		Vinc Pichel	51
38	38		Drakkar Klose	48.5
39	39		Devonte Smith	48
40	40		Jon Tuck	44.5
40	41		Polo Reyes	44.5
42	42		Drew Dober	43.5
43	43		Marc Diakiese	42.5
44	34		Alan Patrick	32
44	44		Joseph Duffy	32
46	47		Dong Hyun Ma	28
47	46		Alex White	25
47	48		Don Madge	25
47	NR		Luis Pena	25
50	50		Devin Powell	22.5
50	48		Jalin Turner	22.5
52	51		Jared Gordon	21.5
53	53		Josh Emmett	17
54	55		Mizuto Hirota	14
54	55		Nasrat Haqparast	14
54	59		Roosevelt Roberts	14
57	52		Gray Maynard	12.5
57	57		Nick Hein	12.5
59	58		Christos Giagos	12
60	45		Bobby Green	9.5
60	60		Damir Ismagulov	9.5
62	NR		Jason Gonzalez	8
63	67		Matt Frevola	5
63	NR		Matt Wiman	5
63	67		Thiago Moises	5
66	61		Jesus Pinedo	4.5
66	61		John Gunther	4.5
68	64		Darrell Horcher	4
68	64		Jessin Ayari	4
68	64		Thibault Gouti	4
71	NR		Alex da Silva Coelho	0
71	67		Alex Gorgees	0
71	67		Allan Zuniga	0
71	NR		Arman Tsarukyan	0
71	NR		Austin Hubbard	0
71	67		B.J. Penn	0
71	67		Callan Porter	0
71	NR		Charles Jourdain	0
71	67		Dan Moret	0
71	67		Eric Wisely	0
71	67		Joel Alvarez	0
71	53		Kurt Holobaugh	0
71	67		Marcos Mariano	0
71	NR		Mike Davis	0
71	NR		Rafael Fiziev	0
71	67		Te Edwards	0
71	NR		Thomas Gifford	0

 

Check back Monday for our featherweight rankings

Performance Based Rankings:

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

 

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