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 a voter’s opinion, and biases are bound to seep through, whether intentional or not. 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 Light Heavyweights.
*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, last column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
Stats | Last | UFC | Total | |
Rank | Rank | Rank | ||
1 | 1 | 1 | Jan Blachowicz | 700 |
2 | 2 | 2 | Glover Teixeira | 396 |
3 | 4 | 3 | Aleksandar Rakic | 230 |
4 | 5 | 11 | Johnny Walker | 217 |
5 | 6 | 4 | Dominick Reyes | 208 |
6 | 3 | 7 | Anthony Smith | 206.5 |
7 | 7 | 9 | Volkan Oezdemir | 192 |
8 | 8 | 14 | Jimmy Crute | 190 |
9 | 15 | 12 | Ryan Spann | 176.5 |
10 | 10 | 15 | Paul Craig | 168 |
11 | 11 | 8 | Magomed Ankalaev | 163 |
12 | 9 | 13 | Misha Cirkunov | 133.5 |
13 | 11 | Ovince Saint Preux | 130 | |
14 | 18 | 16 | Jamahal Hill | 109 |
15 | 13 | 5 | Thiago Santos | 106 |
16 | 14 | 10 | Nikita Krylov | 105 |
17 | 16 | Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua | 101 | |
18 | 17 | Ion Cutelaba | 94 | |
19 | 23 | Alonzo Menifield | 90 | |
20 | 19 | 6 | Jiri Prochazka | 80 |
21 | NR | Da Un Jung | 78 | |
22 | 22 | Ed Herman | 70 | |
23 | 25 | Kennedy Nzechukwu | 59 | |
24 | 20 | Michal Oleksiejczuk | 56 | |
25 | 21 | Khalil Rountree Jr | 46.5 | |
26 | 26 | Dustin Jacoby | 46 | |
27 | 28 | Modestas Bukauskas | 40 | |
28 | 26 | Devin Clark | 38 | |
29 | 32 | Danilo Marques | 19 | |
30 | 33 | Aleksa Camur | 18 | |
30 | 33 | Maxim Grishin | 18 | |
30 | 31 | William Knight | 18 | |
33 | 33 | Mike Rodriguez | 13 | |
34 | 36 | Ike Villanueva | 10 | |
34 | 36 | Marcin Prachnio | 10 | |
36 | 39 | John Allan | 9 | |
37 | 40 | Andreas Michailidis | 0 | |
37 | 40 | Carlos Ulberg | 0 | |
37 | NR | Fabio Cherant | 0 | |
37 | NR | Nicolae Negumereanu | 0 |
Check back Friday for our middleweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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