UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Light Heavyweights: Jan 3/20

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 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 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	Jon Jones	322.5
2	2	4	Anthony Smith	176
3	11		Luke Rockhold	175
4	3	5	Dominick Reyes	174
5	5	6	Corey Anderson	154.5
6	6		Ovince Saint Preux	145
7	10	9	Volkan Oezdemir	143.5
8	7	2	Thiago Santos	138
9	8	10	Glover Teixeira	133
10	9	7	Jan Blachowicz	132
11	11		Chris Weidman	120
12	13	14	Misha Cirkunov	116.5
13	20	15	Nikita Krylov	103
14	14	12	Johnny Walker	98
15	16		Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua	88
16	18		Antonio Rogerio Nogueira	84
17	19		Ion Cutelaba	82
18	17	11	Aleksandar Rakic	75
19	21		Jimmy Crute	70
20	22		Sam Alvey	59
21	23		Paul Craig	52
21	24		Ryan Spann	52
23	25		Gadzhimurad Antigulov	48
24	26		Ed Herman	43
24	26		Khalil Rountree Jr	43
24	26		Michal Oleksiejczuk	43
27	30		Alonzo Menifield	42.5
27	30		Magomed Ankalaev	42.5
29	33		Da Un Jung	32.5
30	32		Gian Villante	26
31	34		Justin Ledet	24.5
32	35		Gokhan Saki	22.5
32	35		Klidson Abreu	22.5
34	37		Darko Stosic	20
35	38		Devin Clark	19
36	39		Dalcha Lungiambula	18
37	42		Mike Rodriguez	8
38	43		Kennedy Nzechukwu	5
38	43		Saparbek Safarov	5
38	43		Shamil Gamzatov	5
41	47		Khadis Ibragimov	0
41	47		Nicolae Negumereanu	0
41	47		Vinicius Moreira	0

 

Check back Monday 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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