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 | 2 | 4 | Leon Edwards | 522 |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | Colby Covington | 455 |
| 4 | 4 | Santiago Ponzinibbio | 349 | |
| 5 | 9 | Muslim Salikhov | 344 | |
| 6 | 5 | 6 | Vicente Luque | 328 |
| 7 | 6 | 3 | Gilbert Burns | 321.5 |
| 8 | 7 | 5 | Stephen Thompson | 300 |
| 9 | 8 | 12 | Li Jingliang | 299.5 |
| 10 | NR | Kevin Lee | 295 | |
| 11 | 10 | 7 | Michael Chiesa | 238 |
| 12 | 11 | 8 | Jorge Masvidal | 230 |
| 13 | 12 | James Krause | 224.5 | |
| 14 | 17 | 9 | Neil Magny | 222 |
| 15 | 13 | 14 | Sean Brady | 215 |
| 16 | NR | Niko Price | 207 | |
| 17 | 15 | Warlley Alves | 202.5 | |
| 18 | 18 | Randy Brown | 193 | |
| 19 | 19 | 10 | Demian Maia | 172 |
| 20 | 49 | Alex Morono | 170 | |
| 21 | 21 | Khaos Williams | 168 | |
| 22 | 22 | Max Griffin | 167 | |
| 23 | 16 | Francisco Trinaldo | 156 | |
| 24 | 14 | Claudio Silva | 154 | |
| 25 | 23 | Miguel Baeza | 131 | |
| 26 | 24 | Matt Brown | 130 | |
| 27 | 20 | 11 | Geoff Neal | 129 |
| 28 | 25 | 13 | Belal Muhammad | 120 |
| 28 | 25 | Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos | 120 | |
| 30 | 27 | Jake Matthews | 117.5 | |
| 31 | 28 | 15 | Robbie Lawler | 112 |
| 32 | 29 | Shavkat Rakhmonov | 110 | |
| 33 | 30 | Nicolas Dalby | 108 | |
| 34 | 31 | Dwight Grant | 107 | |
| 35 | 32 | 16 | Khamzat Chimaev | 103 |
| 36 | 34 | Peter Sobotta | 101 | |
| 37 | 35 | Lyman Good | 94 | |
| 38 | 37 | Daniel Rodriguez | 91 | |
| 39 | 59 | Court McGee | 89.5 | |
| 40 | 38 | Mike Perry | 82.5 | |
| 41 | 39 | Michel Pereira | 81 | |
| 42 | 40 | Song Kenan | 76.5 | |
| 43 | 41 | Dhiego Lima | 76 | |
| 44 | 42 | Takashi Sato | 70 | |
| 45 | 43 | Impa Kasanganay | 68 | |
| 45 | 43 | Ramazan Emeev | 68 | |
| 47 | 45 | Tim Means | 67 | |
| 48 | 36 | Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone | 62 | |
| 49 | 47 | Mickey Gall | 59 | |
| 50 | NR | Danny Roberts | 55 | |
| 51 | 50 | Mounir Lazzez | 54 | |
| 52 | 51 | Matthew Semelsberger | 49 | |
| 53 | 48 | Bryan Barberena | 45 | |
| 53 | 52 | Sasha Palatnikov | 45 | |
| 55 | NR | Carlston Harris | 40 | |
| 55 | 52 | Christian Aguilera | 40 | |
| 57 | NR | Alan Patrick | 38 | |
| 58 | 55 | David Zawada | 36 | |
| 59 | 56 | Carlos Condit | 29 | |
| 60 | 57 | Alex Oliveira | 27 | |
| 61 | 58 | Jason Witt | 18 | |
| 62 | 60 | Abubakar Nurmagomedov | 10 | |
| 62 | 60 | Gabriel Green | 10 | |
| 62 | 60 | Mike Jackson | 10 | |
| 65 | 63 | Nate Diaz | 9 | |
| 65 | NR | Sergey Khandozhko | 9 | |
| 67 | 64 | Jared Gooden | 0 | |
| 67 | NR | Jordan Williams | 0 | |
| 67 | 64 | Louis Cosce | 0 | |
| 67 | NR | Mason Jones | 0 | |
| 67 | 64 | Niklas Stolze | 0 | |
| 67 | 64 | Philip Rowe | 0 | |
| 67 | 64 | Ramiz Brahimaj | 0 | |
| 67 | 64 | 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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