UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Welterweights: Apr 26/21

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 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 Welterweights.

 

*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	Kamaru Usman	967
2	4	4	Leon Edwards	523.5
3	3	2	Colby Covington	455
4	5		Santiago Ponzinibbio	355
5	8	7	Vicente Luque	328
6	7	3	Gilbert Burns	321.5
7	9	6	Stephen Thompson	300
8	10	13	Li Jingliang	299.5
9	12		Muslim Salikhov	263
10	11	8	Michael Chiesa	238
11	6	5	Jorge Masvidal	230
12	14		James Krause	224.5
13	16	15	Sean Brady	215
14	15		Claudio Silva	205
15	17		Warlley Alves	202.5
16	NR		Francisco Trinaldo	200.5
17	13	10	Neil Magny	197.5
18	20		Randy Brown	193
19	NR	9	Demian Maia	180
20	18	12	Geoff Neal	175.5
21	22		Khaos Williams	168
22	47		Max Griffin	167
23	28		Miguel Baeza	149
24	24		Matt Brown	130
25	26	14	Belal Muhammad	120
25	19		Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos	120
27	26		Jake Matthews	117.5
28	22	16	Robbie Lawler	112
29	34		Shavkat Rakhmonov	110
30	36		Nicolas Dalby	108
31	31		Dwight Grant	107
32	37		Khamzat Chimaev	103
33	30		Alan Jouban	102
34	37		Peter Sobotta	101
35	34		Lyman Good	94
36	25		Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone	92
37	33		Daniel Rodriguez	91
38	29		Mike Perry	82.5
39	40		Michel Pereira	81
40	32		Song Kenan	76.5
41	42		Dhiego Lima	76
42	48		Takashi Sato	70
43	61		Impa Kasanganay	68
43	39		Ramazan Emeev	68
45	44		Tim Means	67
46	44		Diego Sanchez	64.5
47	40		Mickey Gall	59
48	43		Bryan Barberena	57
49	44		Alex Morono	56
50	50		Mounir Lazzez	54
51	52		Matthew Semelsberger	49
52	54		Christian Aguilera	45
52	53		Laureano Staropoli	45
52	51		Sasha Palatnikov	45
55	55		David Zawada	36
56	56		Carlos Condit	29
57	49		Alex Oliveira	27
58	57		Jason Witt	18
59	57		Court McGee	12
60	NR		Abubakar Nurmagomedov	10
60	59		Gabriel Green	10
60	59		Mike Jackson	10
63	NR		Nate Diaz	9
64	62		Jared Gooden	0
64	62		Louis Cosce	0
64	62		Niklas Stolze	0
64	62		Philip Rowe	0
64	62		Ramiz Brahimaj	0
64	NR		Stefan Sekulic	0

Check back Friday for our lightweight rankings

Performance Based Rankings:

Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound

 

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