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 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, last column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
| Stats | Last | UFC | Total | |
| Rank | Rank | Rank | ||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Glover Teixeira | 613 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Jan Blachowicz | 577.5 |
| 3 | 3 | 5 | Anthony Smith | 339.5 |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | Aleksandar Rakic | 230 |
| 5 | 5 | 12 | Paul Craig | 218 |
| 6 | 6 | 3 | Jiri Prochazka | 192 |
| 7 | 7 | Paulo Costa | 183.5 | |
| 8 | 8 | 11 | Johnny Walker | 180 |
| 9 | 19 | 13 | Jamahal Hill | 165 |
| 10 | 10 | 7 | Magomed Ankalaev | 148.5 |
| 11 | 11 | 9 | Volkan Oezdemir | 142 |
| 12 | 12 | Da Un Jung | 139 | |
| 13 | 13 | 14 | Ryan Spann | 138 |
| 14 | 14 | 8 | Dominick Reyes | 135.5 |
| 15 | 15 | Kennedy Nzechukwu | 117 | |
| 16 | 9 | 15 | Jimmy Crute | 116 |
| 17 | 16 | 6 | Thiago Santos | 113.5 |
| 18 | 18 | Michal Oleksiejczuk | 103 | |
| 19 | 16 | Alonzo Menifield | 96 | |
| 20 | 21 | 16 | Ion Cutelaba | 80 |
| 21 | 22 | 10 | Nikita Krylov | 76 |
| 22 | 26 | William Knight | 68 | |
| 23 | 23 | Dustin Jacoby | 65 | |
| 24 | 24 | Ed Herman | 54 | |
| 25 | 25 | Khalil Rountree Jr | 51.5 | |
| 26 | 27 | Marcin Prachnio | 29 | |
| 27 | 28 | Devin Clark | 28 | |
| 28 | 29 | Nicolae Negumereanu | 19 | |
| 29 | 30 | Maxim Grishin | 18 | |
| 29 | 30 | Tafon Nchukwi | 18 | |
| 31 | 32 | Danilo Marques | 17 | |
| 32 | 33 | Aleksa Camur | 16 | |
| 33 | 34 | Shamil Gamzatov | 9 | |
| 34 | 35 | Ike Villanueva | 8 | |
| 35 | 37 | Carlos Ulberg | 0 | |
| 35 | 37 | Fabio Cherant | 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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