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 | Justin Gaethje | 328 |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Charles Oliveira | 327.5 |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | Dustin Poirier | 304.5 |
| 4 | 4 | 6 | Tony Ferguson | 231 |
| 5 | NR | 12 | Islam Makhachev | 226 |
| 6 | 7 | 10 | Beneil Dariush | 203.5 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | Dan Hooker | 168 |
| 8 | 9 | 7 | Conor McGregor | 166.5 |
| 9 | 11 | 8 | Rafael dos Anjos | 152 |
| 10 | 10 | 13 | Carlos Diego Ferreira | 140.5 |
| 11 | 13 | Francisco Trinaldo | 132.5 | |
| 12 | 14 | 11 | Paul Felder | 129.5 |
| 13 | 12 | Alexander Hernandez | 120 | |
| 14 | NR | 16 | Gregor Gillespie | 116.5 |
| 15 | 15 | Drew Dober | 110.5 | |
| 16 | 16 | Scott Holtzman | 109.5 | |
| 17 | 17 | Jim Miller | 89 | |
| 18 | 18 | Vinc Pichel | 87 | |
| 19 | 19 | Renato Moicano | 77.5 | |
| 20 | 20 | Leonardo Santos | 74 | |
| 21 | 21 | Yancy Medeiros | 72 | |
| 22 | 22 | Grant Dawson | 68 | |
| 22 | 22 | Khama Worthy | 68 | |
| 24 | 24 | Rafael Fiziev | 67 | |
| 25 | 25 | Damir Hadzovic | 66.5 | |
| 26 | 26 | 5 | Michael Chandler | 65 |
| 27 | 27 | Gabriel Benitez | 61 | |
| 28 | 28 | Jalin Turner | 60 | |
| 29 | 29 | Arman Tsarukyan | 56 | |
| 29 | NR | Herbert Burns | 56 | |
| 31 | 30 | Chris Gruetzemacher | 54 | |
| 32 | NR | Luis Pena | 52.5 | |
| 33 | NR | Jeremy Stephens | 52 | |
| 34 | NR | Ottman Azaitar | 49 | |
| 35 | 34 | Devonte Smith | 48 | |
| 36 | 31 | Nasrat Haqparast | 45.5 | |
| 37 | 33 | Joel Alvarez | 43.5 | |
| 38 | 32 | Clay Guida | 42.5 | |
| 39 | 35 | Drakkar Klose | 41 | |
| 40 | 36 | John Makdessi | 40.5 | |
| 40 | 51 | Thiago Moises | 40.5 | |
| 42 | 37 | Roosevelt Roberts | 39 | |
| 43 | 37 | Lando Vannata | 38 | |
| 44 | 40 | Rick Glenn | 37 | |
| 45 | 41 | Bobby Green | 36.5 | |
| 46 | 42 | Marc Diakiese | 35 | |
| 47 | 43 | Kevin Aguilar | 34 | |
| 48 | 44 | Joe Solecki | 33.5 | |
| 49 | NR | Jonathan Pearce | 30 | |
| 50 | 45 | Alan Patrick | 28 | |
| 51 | 46 | Don Madge | 27.5 | |
| 52 | 47 | Brad Riddell | 27 | |
| 53 | 48 | Frank Camacho | 26.5 | |
| 54 | 49 | Austin Hubbard | 26 | |
| 55 | 50 | Jordan Leavitt | 25 | |
| 56 | 39 | Michael Johnson | 24 | |
| 57 | 53 | Matt Frevola | 22 | |
| 58 | 54 | Christos Giagos | 20.5 | |
| 59 | 55 | Alexander Yakovlev | 20 | |
| 60 | 56 | Mike Davis | 14 | |
| 61 | 58 | Luigi Vendramini | 10 | |
| 61 | NR | Uros Medic | 10 | |
| 63 | 59 | Fares Ziam | 5 | |
| 63 | 59 | Guram Kutateladze | 5 | |
| 65 | 61 | Alex da Silva | 4.5 | |
| 66 | 62 | Brok Weaver | 4 | |
| 67 | 64 | Jessin Ayari | 3.5 | |
| 67 | 62 | Justin Jaynes | 3.5 | |
| 69 | 65 | Aalon Cruz | 0 | |
| 69 | 65 | Alexander Munoz | 0 | |
| 69 | 65 | Jai Herbert | 0 | |
| 69 | 65 | Jamie Mullarkey | 0 | |
| 69 | 65 | Mason Jones | 0 | |
| 69 | 65 | Mateusz Gamrot | 0 | |
| 69 | NR | Rafa Garcia | 0 | |
| 69 | NR | Rodrigo Vargas | 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
Pound for Pound
(The MMA Manifesto is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com)
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