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 | Justin Gaethje | 373 |
3 | 3 | 4 | Tony Ferguson | 303.5 |
4 | 4 | 3 | Dustin Poirier | 287 |
5 | 5 | 7 | Charles Oliveira | 282 |
6 | 6 | 5 | Dan Hooker | 205.5 |
7 | 7 | 11 | Kevin Lee | 203 |
8 | 8 | 13 | Islam Makhachev | 187.5 |
9 | 9 | 12 | Beneil Dariush | 176 |
10 | 10 | Josh Emmett | 175 | |
11 | 11 | 9 | Carlos Diego Ferreira | 171 |
12 | 12 | 8 | Paul Felder | 155.5 |
13 | 13 | Alexander Hernandez | 140 | |
14 | NR | Rafael dos Anjos | 137.5 | |
15 | 14 | Francisco Trinaldo | 132.5 | |
16 | 15 | 15 | Drew Dober | 129.5 |
17 | 16 | 14 | Gregor Gillespie | 116.5 |
18 | 17 | 10 | Al Iaquinta | 116 |
19 | 18 | David Teymur | 110 | |
20 | 19 | Scott Holtzman | 109.5 | |
21 | 20 | Leonardo Santos | 109 | |
22 | 21 | Renato Moicano | 92 | |
23 | 22 | Jim Miller | 89 | |
24 | 23 | Vinc Pichel | 87 | |
25 | 25 | Yancy Medeiros | 75 | |
26 | 24 | Khama Worthy | 68 | |
27 | 26 | Davi Ramos | 67.5 | |
28 | 27 | Damir Hadzovic | 66.5 | |
29 | 28 | Joe Lauzon | 64 | |
30 | 29 | Magomed Mustafaev | 62.5 | |
31 | 36 | Jalin Turner | 60 | |
32 | 31 | Arman Tsarukyan | 51.5 | |
33 | 66 | Ottman Azaitar | 49 | |
34 | 33 | Gabriel Benitez | 48 | |
35 | 34 | Alexander Yakovlev | 46.5 | |
35 | 34 | Nasrat Haqparast | 46.5 | |
37 | 36 | Clay Guida | 45 | |
38 | 38 | Devonte Smith | 43 | |
38 | 38 | Joel Alvarez | 43 | |
40 | 65 | Bobby Green | 41 | |
40 | 41 | Drakkar Klose | 41 | |
42 | 42 | John Makdessi | 40.5 | |
43 | 43 | Charles Rosa | 40 | |
44 | 45 | Lando Vannata | 38 | |
45 | 46 | Michael Johnson | 37.5 | |
46 | 47 | Marc Diakiese | 35 | |
47 | 48 | Kevin Aguilar | 34 | |
47 | 44 | Roosevelt Roberts | 34 | |
49 | 61 | Joe Solecki | 33.5 | |
50 | 49 | Alan Patrick | 28 | |
51 | 51 | Don Madge | 27.5 | |
52 | 53 | Brad Riddell | 27 | |
53 | 52 | Frank Camacho | 26.5 | |
54 | 50 | Austin Hubbard | 26 | |
55 | 53 | Matt Frevola | 24.5 | |
55 | 53 | Omar Morales | 24.5 | |
55 | 53 | Rafael Fiziev | 24.5 | |
58 | 57 | Claudio Puelles | 23 | |
59 | 58 | Alex White | 21.5 | |
60 | NR | Kevin Croom | 20 | |
61 | 60 | Christos Giagos | 18 | |
62 | 62 | Mark Madsen | 14 | |
63 | 63 | Damir Ismagulov | 13.5 | |
64 | 64 | Joseph Duffy | 13 | |
65 | 66 | Tristan Connelly | 10 | |
66 | 68 | Thiago Moises | 9 | |
67 | 69 | Alex da Silva | 4.5 | |
68 | 70 | Brok Weaver | 4 | |
68 | NR | Jessin Ayari | 4 | |
70 | 71 | Alexander Munoz | 0 | |
70 | 71 | Fares Ziam | 0 | |
70 | 71 | Jai Herbert | 0 | |
70 | 71 | Jamie Mullarkey | 0 | |
70 | 71 | Jonathan Pearce | 0 | |
70 | 71 | Joshua Culibao | 0 | |
70 | NR | Luigi Vendramini | 0 | |
70 | 71 | Matt Wiman | 0 | |
70 | 71 | 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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