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 | 1 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | 508.5 |
2 | 2 | 2 | Tony Ferguson | 351 |
3 | 3 | 3 | Dustin Poirier | 270.5 |
4 | 4 | 5 | Justin Gaethje | 253 |
5 | 5 | 9 | Kevin Lee | 247.5 |
6 | 6 | 14 | Charles Oliveira | 244.5 |
7 | 7 | 6 | Dan Hooker | 244 |
8 | 8 | 15 | Islam Makhachev | 195 |
9 | 12 | Josh Emmett | 175 | |
10 | 9 | 12 | Carlos Diego Ferreira | 171 |
11 | 14 | 16 | Alexander Hernandez | 159 |
12 | 10 | 8 | Paul Felder | 155.5 |
13 | 11 | Anthony Pettis | 148 | |
14 | 13 | 10 | Al Iaquinta | 136 |
15 | 15 | Francisco Trinaldo | 131.5 | |
16 | 21 | Scott Holtzman | 127.5 | |
17 | 16 | Leonardo Santos | 124 | |
18 | 17 | 13 | Gregor Gillespie | 116.5 |
19 | 18 | Beneil Dariush | 110 | |
19 | 18 | David Teymur | 110 | |
21 | 28 | Drew Dober | 104.5 | |
22 | 22 | 11 | Edson Barboza | 98 |
23 | NR | Renato Moicano | 84.5 | |
24 | 26 | Davi Ramos | 78.5 | |
25 | 27 | Damir Hadzovic | 76 | |
26 | 23 | Yancy Medeiros | 75 | |
27 | 29 | Alexander Yakovlev | 74 | |
28 | 30 | Olivier Aubin-Mercier | 73 | |
29 | 25 | Mairbek Taisumov | 70 | |
30 | 32 | Joe Lauzon | 66 | |
31 | 24 | Jim Miller | 65 | |
31 | 33 | Vinc Pichel | 65 | |
33 | NR | Luis Pena | 64 | |
34 | NR | Evan Dunham | 63 | |
35 | 31 | Magomed Mustafaev | 62.5 | |
36 | 35 | Clay Guida | 58.5 | |
37 | 36 | John Makdessi | 53.5 | |
38 | 39 | Joaquim Silva | 51 | |
38 | 39 | Michael Johnson | 51 | |
40 | 41 | Drakkar Klose | 47.5 | |
41 | 37 | Nasrat Haqparast | 47 | |
42 | 53 | Jalin Turner | 45 | |
42 | 42 | Lando Vannata | 45 | |
44 | 43 | Stevie Ray | 44 | |
45 | 44 | Devonte Smith | 43 | |
46 | 45 | Marc Diakiese | 41.5 | |
47 | 46 | Khama Worthy | 40 | |
48 | 47 | Arman Tsarukyan | 35 | |
49 | NR | Alan Patrick | 32 | |
49 | 48 | Joseph Duffy | 32 | |
51 | 49 | Frank Camacho | 30 | |
52 | 50 | Don Madge | 27.5 | |
53 | 66 | Brad Riddell | 24.5 | |
53 | 51 | Matt Frevola | 24.5 | |
55 | 52 | Claudio Puelles | 23 | |
56 | 54 | Alex White | 21.5 | |
57 | 55 | Dong Hyun Ma | 21 | |
58 | 56 | Jared Gordon | 20 | |
58 | 56 | Joel Alvarez | 20 | |
58 | 56 | Teemu Packalen | 20 | |
61 | 59 | Christos Giagos | 18 | |
62 | 60 | Roosevelt Roberts | 16 | |
63 | 61 | Joe Solecki | 15 | |
64 | 62 | Damir Ismagulov | 13.5 | |
65 | 63 | Mark Madsen | 10 | |
65 | 63 | Ottman Azaitar | 10 | |
65 | NR | Tristan Connelly | 10 | |
68 | 66 | Alex da Silva | 5 | |
68 | 66 | Austin Hubbard | 5 | |
68 | NR | Brok Weaver | 5 | |
68 | 66 | Omar Morales | 5 | |
68 | 66 | Rafael Fiziev | 5 | |
73 | 71 | Thiago Moises | 4.5 | |
74 | 72 | Bobby Green | 4 | |
75 | 73 | Fares Ziam | 0 | |
75 | 73 | Jamie Mullarkey | 0 | |
75 | 73 | Jonathan Pearce | 0 | |
75 | NR | Joshua Culibao | 0 | |
75 | 73 | Kyle Prepolec | 0 | |
75 | 73 | Marcos Mariano | 0 | |
75 | 73 | Matt Wiman | 0 | |
75 | 73 | Rodrigo Vargas | 0 |
Check back Friday 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
Pound for Pound
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