UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Lightweights: Oct 15/21

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 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 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	1	1	Charles Oliveira	595
2	2	3	Justin Gaethje	576
3	3	2	Dustin Poirier	507
4	4	4	Beneil Dariush	438
5	5	6	Islam Makhachev	358
6	6	11	Gregor Gillespie	272.5
7	7		Grant Dawson	242
8	9	8	Tony Ferguson	226.5
9	10	9	Rafael dos Anjos	213
10	8	7	Dan Hooker	212
11	11		Al Iaquinta	192
11	11	10	Conor McGregor	192
13	14		Alexander Hernandez	179
14	13	12	Diego Ferreira	159.5
15	25		Jalin Turner	156
16	24	14	Arman Tsarukyan	145
17	15		Drew Dober	144.5
18	16	15	Rafael Fiziev	138
19	17		Scott Holtzman	137.5
20	18		Vinc Pichel	135
21	40		Jamie Mullarkey	134
22	19		Rick Glenn	128.5
23	20		Jim Miller	124.5
24	22	5	Michael Chandler	117
25	23	13	Brad Riddell	116
26	27		Chris Gruetzemacher	106
27	28		Khama Worthy	104
28	29		Mateusz Gamrot	100
29	49		Jared Gordon	96.5
30	31		Renato Moicano	96
31	25		Joe Solecki	92
32	21		Leonardo Santos	89
33	33		Joel Alvarez	87
34	34		Damir Hadzovic	86
35	35		Ignacio Bahamondes	80
36	38	16	Thiago Moises	67.5
37	32		Devonte Smith	64
38	39		Claudio Puelles	61
39	40		John Makdessi	60
40	43		Bobby Green	58.5
41	36		Nasrat Haqparast	55.5
42	44		Don Madge	55
42	44		Mark O. Madsen	55
44	46		Joaquim Silva	52
45	66		Zhu Rong	50
46	47		Jordan Leavitt	45
46	47		Magomed Mustafaev	45
48	50		Jeremy Stephens	42.5
49	51		Clay Guida	40
49	51		Terrance McKinney	40
51	53		Alan Patrick	38
52	54		Matt Frevola	37
53	55		Austin Hubbard	36.5
54	57		Damir Ismagulov	32
55	56		Christos Giagos	29.5
56	58		Mike Davis	28
57	NR		Paddy Pimblett	20
57	66		Steve Garcia	20
59	61		Fares Ziam	19
60	NR		Matt Sayles	18
60	60		Uros Medic	18
62	62		Luigi Vendramini	16
63	59		Michael Johnson	14
64	63		Guram Kutateladze	10
64	63		Rodrigo Vargas	10
66	66		Alexander Munoz	0
66	NR		Brandon Jenkins	0
66	66		Charlie Ontiveros	0
66	66		Dakota Bush	0
66	66		Jai Herbert	0
66	66		Mason Jones	0
66	NR		Mike Breeden	0
66	66		Rafa Garcia	0
66	66		Rafael Alves	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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