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. We’ll roll these rankings out daily for the next couple of weeks until all weight classes have been revealed. Next up: The 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 seven year time limit, so if they have fought less than 10 times in past seven 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, third column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
| Stats | Last | UFC | Total | |
| Rank | Rank | Rank | ||
| 1 | 1 | 3 | Cain Velasquez | 430.5 |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | Stipe Miocic | 387 |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | Fabricio Werdum | 345 |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | Alistair Overeem | 274 |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | Junior dos Santos | 206 |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | Francis Ngannou | 165 |
| 7 | 7 | 7 | Derrick Lewis | 149.5 |
| 8 | 8 | 8 | Mark Hunt | 140.5 |
| 9 | 9 | 12 | Stefan Struve | 106 |
| 10 | 10 | 9 | Andrei Arlovski | 101 |
| 11 | 11 | 10 | Travis Browne | 91 |
| 12 | 12 | Roy Nelson | 62 | |
| 13 | 13 | 14 | Aleksei Oleinik | 59 |
| 14 | 14 | Luis Henrique | 42.5 | |
| 15 | 15 | Todd Duffee | 42 | |
| 15 | 16 | 15 | Daniel Omielanczuk | 42 |
| 17 | 17 | 14 | Marcin Tybura | 39 |
| 18 | 18 | Walt Harris | 30 | |
| 19 | 19 | 13 | Timothy Johnson | 26 |
| 20 | 20 | Anthony Hamilton | 15 | |
| 21 | 21 | 11 | Alexander Volkov | 14 |
| 22 | 21 | Adam Milstead | 10 | |
| 22 | 21 | Cyril Asker | 10 | |
| 22 | 21 | Marcel Fortuna | 10 | |
| 25 | 25 | Curtis Blaydes | 9 | |
| 26 | 26 | Shamil Abdurakhimov | 8.5 | |
| 27 | 27 | Mark Godbeer | 5 | |
| 28 | 28 | Christian Colombo | 0 | |
| 28 | 28 | Jarjis Danho | 0 | |
| 28 | 28 | Chris De La Rocha | 0 | |
| 28 | 28 | Damian Grabowski | 0 | |
| 28 | 28 | Dmitrii Smolyakov | 0 | |
| 28 | 28 | Chase Sherman | 0 | |
| 28 | 28 | Daniel Spitz | 0 |
Check back Friday for our light heavyweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Featherweights/Bantamweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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