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 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 the 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 | 2 | 1 | Charles Oliveira | 595 |
2 | 1 | 3 | Justin Gaethje | 576 |
3 | 3 | 2 | Dustin Poirier | 473.5 |
4 | 4 | 4 | Beneil Dariush | 438 |
5 | 5 | 10 | Islam Makhachev | 353 |
6 | 12 | 11 | Gregor Gillespie | 274 |
7 | 7 | 6 | Conor McGregor | 273 |
8 | 8 | Grant Dawson | 242 | |
9 | 6 | 7 | Tony Ferguson | 234 |
10 | 9 | 9 | Dan Hooker | 230 |
11 | 11 | 8 | Rafael dos Anjos | 213 |
12 | 13 | 14 | Drew Dober | 190.5 |
13 | 10 | 13 | Diego Ferreira | 159.5 |
14 | 15 | Alexander Hernandez | 159 | |
15 | 16 | Vinc Pichel | 150 | |
16 | 17 | Scott Holtzman | 138 | |
17 | 18 | Rafael Fiziev | 134 | |
18 | 20 | Jim Miller | 124.5 | |
19 | 21 | Leonardo Santos | 119 | |
20 | 19 | 5 | Michael Chandler | 117 |
21 | NR | Damir Hadzovic | 112.5 | |
22 | 23 | 16 | Arman Tsarukyan | 112 |
23 | 25 | Jalin Turner | 110 | |
23 | 25 | Joe Solecki | 110 | |
25 | 28 | Chris Gruetzemacher | 108 | |
26 | 29 | Khama Worthy | 104 | |
27 | 27 | Renato Moicano | 103.5 | |
28 | 30 | Mateusz Gamrot | 100 | |
29 | 31 | Yancy Medeiros | 99 | |
30 | 32 | Ottman Azaitar | 98 | |
31 | 33 | Devonte Smith | 88 | |
32 | 34 | Joel Alvarez | 87 | |
33 | 35 | Joaquim Silva | 83 | |
34 | 36 | 15 | Thiago Moises | 79 |
35 | 38 | Roosevelt Roberts | 71 | |
36 | 39 | Bobby Green | 69 | |
37 | 40 | Luis Pena | 68 | |
37 | 40 | Nasrat Haqparast | 68 | |
37 | 40 | Rick Glenn | 68 | |
40 | 43 | Jeremy Stephens | 62 | |
40 | 43 | John Makdessi | 62 | |
42 | 55 | Claudio Puelles | 61 | |
43 | 45 | Jamie Mullarkey | 60 | |
44 | 46 | Marc Diakiese | 55.5 | |
45 | 47 | Don Madge | 55 | |
46 | 48 | Austin Hubbard | 54 | |
46 | 48 | Brad Riddell | 54 | |
48 | 50 | Frank Camacho | 50.5 | |
49 | 53 | Clay Guida | 49 | |
50 | 51 | Jordan Leavitt | 45 | |
51 | 56 | Matt Frevola | 44 | |
52 | NR | Jared Gordon | 43.5 | |
53 | 57 | Alexander Yakovlev | 40 | |
54 | 59 | Christos Giagos | 36 | |
55 | 61 | Damir Ismagulov | 32 | |
56 | NR | Mark O. Madsen | 28 | |
56 | 60 | Mike Davis | 28 | |
58 | 62 | Michael Johnson | 25 | |
59 | 63 | Luigi Vendramini | 20 | |
59 | 63 | Uros Medic | 20 | |
61 | 65 | Fares Ziam | 10 | |
61 | 65 | Guram Kutateladze | 10 | |
61 | 65 | Rodrigo Vargas | 10 | |
64 | 68 | Alex da Silva | 9 | |
65 | 69 | Jessin Ayari | 5 | |
66 | 71 | Alexander Munoz | 0 | |
66 | 71 | Dakota Bush | 0 | |
66 | 71 | Ignacio Bahamondes | 0 | |
66 | 71 | Jai Herbert | 0 | |
66 | 71 | Rafa Garcia | 0 | |
66 | NR | Rafael Alves | 0 | |
66 | 71 | Rong Zhu | 0 | |
66 | NR | Sean Soriano | 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
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