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 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 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 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | 548 |
2 | 2 | 2 | Justin Gaethje | 328 |
3 | 5 | 4 | Charles Oliveira | 327.5 |
4 | 4 | 3 | Dustin Poirier | 287 |
5 | 3 | 5 | Tony Ferguson | 231 |
6 | 6 | 7 | Dan Hooker | 205.5 |
7 | 7 | 12 | Kevin Lee | 203 |
8 | NR | 6 | Conor McGregor | 189 |
9 | 8 | 14 | Islam Makhachev | 187.5 |
10 | 9 | 13 | Beneil Dariush | 176 |
11 | 10 | Josh Emmett | 175 | |
12 | 11 | 10 | Carlos Diego Ferreira | 171 |
13 | 14 | 8 | Rafael dos Anjos | 152 |
14 | 13 | Alexander Hernandez | 141 | |
15 | 15 | Francisco Trinaldo | 132.5 | |
16 | 16 | 16 | Drew Dober | 129.5 |
16 | 12 | 9 | Paul Felder | 129.5 |
18 | 17 | 15 | Gregor Gillespie | 116.5 |
19 | 18 | 11 | Al Iaquinta | 116 |
20 | 19 | David Teymur | 110 | |
21 | 20 | Scott Holtzman | 109.5 | |
22 | 23 | Jim Miller | 89 | |
23 | 24 | Vinc Pichel | 87 | |
24 | 22 | Renato Moicano | 77.5 | |
25 | 21 | Leonardo Santos | 74 | |
26 | 25 | Yancy Medeiros | 72 | |
27 | 26 | Khama Worthy | 68 | |
28 | 27 | Davi Ramos | 67.5 | |
29 | 56 | Rafael Fiziev | 67 | |
30 | 28 | Damir Hadzovic | 66.5 | |
31 | 29 | Magomed Mustafaev | 62.5 | |
32 | 34 | Gabriel Benitez | 61 | |
33 | 30 | Jalin Turner | 60 | |
34 | 31 | Chris Gruetzemacher | 54 | |
35 | 32 | Arman Tsarukyan | 51.5 | |
36 | 33 | Ottman Azaitar | 49 | |
37 | 35 | Nasrat Haqparast | 46.5 | |
38 | 36 | Clay Guida | 45 | |
39 | 37 | Joel Alvarez | 43.5 | |
40 | 38 | Devonte Smith | 43 | |
41 | 39 | Drakkar Klose | 41 | |
42 | 40 | John Makdessi | 40.5 | |
43 | 41 | Alexander Yakovlev | 40 | |
43 | 41 | Charles Rosa | 40 | |
45 | 43 | Lando Vannata | 38 | |
46 | 44 | Michael Johnson | 37.5 | |
47 | 45 | Rick Glenn | 37 | |
48 | 46 | Bobby Green | 36.5 | |
49 | 47 | Marc Diakiese | 35 | |
50 | 48 | Kevin Aguilar | 34 | |
50 | 48 | Roosevelt Roberts | 34 | |
52 | 50 | Joe Solecki | 33.5 | |
53 | 51 | Alan Patrick | 28 | |
54 | 52 | Don Madge | 27.5 | |
55 | 53 | Brad Riddell | 27 | |
56 | 54 | Frank Camacho | 26.5 | |
57 | 55 | Austin Hubbard | 26 | |
58 | NR | Jordan Leavitt | 25 | |
59 | 56 | Matt Frevola | 24.5 | |
60 | 58 | Claudio Puelles | 23 | |
60 | 58 | Thiago Moises | 23 | |
62 | 60 | Alex White | 21.5 | |
63 | 61 | Christos Giagos | 20.5 | |
64 | 62 | Mark Madsen | 14 | |
65 | 63 | Damir Ismagulov | 13.5 | |
66 | 64 | Joseph Duffy | 13 | |
67 | 65 | Luigi Vendramini | 10 | |
67 | 65 | Tristan Connelly | 10 | |
69 | 67 | Fares Ziam | 5 | |
69 | 67 | Guram Kutateladze | 5 | |
71 | 69 | Alex da Silva | 4.5 | |
72 | 70 | Brok Weaver | 4 | |
72 | NR | Justin Jaynes | 4 | |
74 | 70 | Jessin Ayari | 3.5 | |
75 | NR | Aalon Cruz | 0 | |
75 | 71 | Alexander Munoz | 0 | |
75 | 71 | Carlton Minus | 0 | |
75 | 71 | Jai Herbert | 0 | |
75 | 71 | Jamie Mullarkey | 0 | |
75 | 71 | Mateusz Gamrot | 0 | |
75 | 71 | Rodrigo Vargas | 0 |
Check back Friday 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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