UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Lightweights: Aug 23/19

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	1	3	Tony Ferguson	393
2	2	1	Khabib Nurmagomedov	371
3	3	2	Dustin Poirier	317
4	4	13	Charles Oliveira	251
5	5	7	Al Iaquinta	225
6	9	15	Dan Hooker	224
7	6	16	Islam Makhachev	191
8	8	6	Justin Gaethje	184
9	11	11	Paul Felder	169
10	12		Carlos Diego Ferreira	159.5
11	21	14	Alexander Hernandez	159
12	7		Francisco Trinaldo	157
13	10		James Vick	141
14	13	5	Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone	140
15	14	12	Gregor Gillespie	133
16	15		Beneil Dariush	132.5
17	16		Leonardo Santos	127
18	17	8	Edson Barboza	116.5
19	18		David Teymur	110
20	19		Nik Lentz	109
21	32		Scott Holtzman	101.5
22	22		Yancy Medeiros	96
23	23		Mairbek Taisumov	95
24	24		Davi Ramos	89.5
25	27		Alexander Yakovlev	86
26	36		Jim Miller	83.5
27	28		Damir Hadzovic	76
27	28		Drew Dober	76
29	30		Rustam Khabilov	75
30	25		Olivier Aubin-Mercier	73
31	31		Luis Pena	72
32	33		Magomed Mustafaev	71
33	35		Vinc Pichel	65
34	34		Clay Guida	58.5
35	38		John Makdessi	53.5
36	39		Lando Vannata	53
37	40		Desmond Green	52.5
37	59		Nasrat Haqparast	52.5
39	37		Joaquim Silva	51
40	41		Stevie Ray	49
41	42		Drakkar Klose	47.5
42	43		Devonte Smith	43
43	44		Marc Diakiese	42.5
44	NR		Khama Worthy	40
45	45		Polo Reyes	38
46	74		Arman Tsarukyan	35
47	46		Jon Tuck	34.5
48	47		Frank Camacho	33.5
49	48		Alan Patrick	32
49	48		Joseph Duffy	32
51	51		Alex White	25
51	51		Don Madge	25
53	50		Dong Hyun Ma	24.5
54	53		Jared Gordon	23.5
55	54		Devin Powell	22.5
55	54		Jalin Turner	22.5
57	57		Joel Alvarez	20
58	56		Christos Giagos	18
59	58		Josh Emmett	17
60	59		Mizuto Hirota	14
61	61		Gray Maynard	12.5
61	61		Roosevelt Roberts	12.5
63	63		Damir Ismagulov	9.5
64	65		Jason Gonzalez	8
65	74		Alex da Silva	5
65	66		Matt Frevola	5
65	66		Thiago Moises	5
68	63		Bobby Green	4.5
68	68		Jesus Pinedo	4.5
68	68		John Gunther	4.5
68	68		Matt Wiman	4.5
72	NR		Clay Collard	4
72	71		Darrell Horcher	4
72	71		Jessin Ayari	4
72	71		Thibault Gouti	4
76	74		Austin Hubbard	0
76	74		B.J. Penn	0
76	74		Callan Porter	0
76	74		Charles Jourdain	0
76	74		Dan Moret	0
76	74		Danilo Belluardo	0
76	74		Eric Wisely	0
76	74		Kurt Holobaugh	0
76	74		Marcos Mariano	0
76	74		Mike Davis	0
76	74		Rafael Fiziev	0
76	NR		Rodrigo Vargas	0
76	74		Te Edwards	0
76	74		Thomas Gifford	0

 

Check back Monday for our featherweight rankings

Performance Based Rankings:

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

 

 

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