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 Flyweights.
*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 | 2 | Deiveson Figueiredo | 600 |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | Brandon Moreno | 483.5 |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | Askar Askarov | 190 |
| 4 | NR | 7 | Cody Garbrandt | 153 |
| 5 | 5 | 4 | Alexandre Pantoja | 145.5 |
| 6 | 4 | 5 | Alex Perez | 138.5 |
| 7 | 6 | 6 | Joseph Benavidez | 128 |
| 8 | 8 | 10 | Matt Schnell | 88 |
| 9 | 7 | 7 | Brandon Royval | 85 |
| 9 | 9 | 16 | Tyson Nam | 85 |
| 11 | 10 | 8 | Kai Kara-France | 76.5 |
| 12 | 11 | 12 | David Dvorak | 67 |
| 13 | 12 | Bruno Silva | 65 | |
| 14 | 13 | 15 | Amir Albazi | 55 |
| 15 | 25 | Manel Kape | 40 | |
| 16 | 14 | 14 | Su Mudaerji | 36 |
| 17 | 15 | 11 | Tim Elliott | 31 |
| 18 | 16 | 13 | Matheus Nicolau | 26 |
| 19 | 18 | Malcolm Gordon | 20 | |
| 20 | 19 | Jeffrey Molina | 10 | |
| 20 | 19 | Tagir Ulanbekov | 10 | |
| 20 | 19 | Zarrukh Adashev | 10 | |
| 20 | 19 | Zhalgas Zhumagulov | 10 | |
| 24 | 24 | Francisco Figueiredo | 9 | |
| 24 | 19 | Ode Osbourne | 9 | |
| 26 | 25 | Cody Durden | 0 | |
| 26 | 25 | JP Buys | 0 | |
| 26 | 25 | Qileng Aori | 0 | |
| 26 | 25 | Victor Rodriguez | 0 |
Check back Friday for our women’s featherweight/bantamweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
