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 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 (Rothwell & Barnett were included back in the rankings because neither is officially suspended yet)
- 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, second column is last ranking, third column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
| Stats | Last | UFC | Total | |
| Rank | Rank | Rank | ||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Stipe Miocic | 475 |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Cain Velasquez | 390.5 |
| 3 | 4 | 2 | Alistair Overeem | 293 |
| 4 | 3 | 3 | Fabricio Werdum | 268 |
| 5 | 5 | 6 | Mark Hunt | 201 |
| 6 | 6 | 5 | Francis Ngannou | 165 |
| 7 | 7 | Junior dos Santos | 159 | |
| 8 | 8 | 7 | Derrick Lewis | 127 |
| 9 | 9 | 9 | Marcin Tybura | 105 |
| 10 | 10 | 10 | Aleksei Oleinik | 101.5 |
| 11 | 11 | 8 | Alexander Volkov | 92.5 |
| 12 | 12 | 11 | Stefan Struve | 85 |
| 13 | 13 | 13 | Andrei Arlovski | 80.5 |
| 14 | 14 | 15 | Travis Browne | 70 |
| 15 | 15 | Walt Harris | 45.5 | |
| 16 | 16 | Luis Henrique | 37.5 | |
| 17 | 19 | Justin Ledet | 31.5 | |
| 18 | 18 | 12 | Junior Albini | 30 |
| 19 | 20 | Chase Sherman | 27.5 | |
| 20 | 29 | Daniel Spitz | 25 | |
| 21 | 21 | 16 | Timothy Johnson | 22.5 |
| 22 | 23 | 13 | Curtis Blaydes | 13 |
| 23 | 24 | Adam Milstead | 10 | |
| 24 | 25 | Cyril Asker | 9 | |
| 25 | 26 | Shamil Abdurakhimov | 8.5 | |
| 26 | NR | Arjun Bhullar | 5 | |
| 26 | 27 | Justin Willis | 5 | |
| 26 | 27 | Mark Godbeer | 5 | |
| 29 | 29 | Chris De La Rocha | 0 | |
| 29 | 29 | Christian Colombo | 0 | |
| 29 | 29 | Damian Grabowski | 0 | |
| 29 | 29 | Dmitrii Smolyakov | 0 | |
| 29 | 29 | James Mulheron | 0 | |
| 29 | 29 | Jarjis Danho | 0 | |
| 29 | 29 | Rashad Coulter | 0 | |
| 29 | NR | Zu Anyanwu | 0 |
Check back Friday for our light heavyweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Featherweights/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights/Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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