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 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 official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
| Stats | Last | UFC | Total | |
| Ranks | Rank | Ranks | ||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Conor McGregor | 406 |
| 2 | 2 | 3 | Tony Ferguson | 287 |
| 3 | 8 | 11 | Al Iaquinta | 258 |
| 4 | 3 | 9 | Dustin Poirier | 207 |
| 5 | 4 | 6 | Michael Johnson | 205 |
| 6 | 5 | 7 | Michael Chiesa | 203 |
| 7 | 6 | 8 | Nate Diaz | 198 |
| 8 | 7 | 12 | Kevin Lee | 197.5 |
| 9 | 8 | 10 | Beneil Dariush | 180 |
| 10 | 10 | 4 | Eddie Alvarez | 171.5 |
| 11 | 11 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | 170 | |
| 12 | 14 | James Vick | 151 | |
| 13 | 12 | 5 | Edson Barboza | 144.5 |
| 14 | 13 | 16 | Francisco Trinaldo | 117 |
| 15 | 15 | Islam Makhachev | 114.5 | |
| 16 | 16 | 13 | Evan Dunham | 106.5 |
| 16 | 16 | Jim Miller | 106.5 | |
| 18 | 18 | Charles Oliveira | 106 | |
| 19 | 20 | Leonardo Santos | 101.5 | |
| 20 | 21 | Mairbek Taisumov | 101 | |
| 21 | 23 | Rustam Khabilov | 98 | |
| 22 | 25 | 15 | Rashid Magomedov | 93.5 |
| 23 | 19 | Joe Lauzon | 88.5 | |
| 24 | 24 | Abel Trujillo | 87.5 | |
| 25 | 45 | Stevie Ray | 82.5 | |
| 26 | 22 | Diego Sanchez | 81.5 | |
| 27 | 26 | Adriano Martins | 80.5 | |
| 28 | 27 | Alan Patrick | 70.5 | |
| 29 | 28 | Jake Matthews | 70 | |
| 30 | 29 | Paul Felder | 58 | |
| 31 | 30 | 14 | Gilbert Melendez | 56 |
| 32 | 31 | James Krause | 55 | |
| 33 | 33 | Olivier Aubin-Mercier | 53 | |
| 34 | 34 | Magomed Mustafaev | 52 | |
| 35 | 35 | Reza Madadi | 51.5 | |
| 36 | 36 | Jason Saggo | 49 | |
| 37 | 37 | Chris Wade | 48 | |
| 38 | 38 | David Teymur | 47.5 | |
| 39 | 39 | Michel Prazeres | 46.5 | |
| 40 | 32 | Bobby Green | 45 | |
| 41 | 40 | Gilbert Burns | 44 | |
| 42 | 41 | Joseph Duffy | 43 | |
| 43 | 42 | Johnny Case | 40.5 | |
| 44 | 43 | Marc Diakiese | 38.5 | |
| 45 | 44 | Nik Lentz | 38 | |
| 46 | 46 | Lando Vannata | 36 | |
| 47 | 47 | John Makdessi | 35.5 | |
| 47 | 47 | Mitch Clarke | 35.5 | |
| 49 | 49 | Gregor Gillespie | 34.5 | |
| 49 | 49 | Joaquim Silva | 34.5 | |
| 51 | 52 | Drew Dober | 33.5 | |
| 52 | 53 | Jon Tuck | 33 | |
| 52 | 53 | Ross Pearson | 33 | |
| 54 | 55 | Will Brooks | 32 | |
| 55 | 56 | Tony Martin | 31 | |
| 56 | 57 | Sage Northcutt | 30.5 | |
| 57 | 51 | Marco Polo Reyes | 30 | |
| 58 | 58 | Erik Koch | 29 | |
| 59 | NR | Dan Hooker | 28.5 | |
| 60 | 59 | Andrew Holbrook | 25 | |
| 60 | 59 | Martin Bravo | 25 | |
| 62 | 62 | Scott Holtzman | 24 | |
| 63 | 61 | Teemu Packalen | 22.5 | |
| 64 | 62 | Tae Hyun Bang | 22 | |
| 64 | 62 | Takanori Gomi | 22 | |
| 66 | 65 | Desmond Green | 20 | |
| 67 | 66 | Josh Emmett | 17 | |
| 68 | 67 | Nick Hein | 16.5 | |
| 69 | 68 | Damien Brown | 14 | |
| 69 | 68 | Kajan Johnson | 14 | |
| 71 | 70 | Jason Gonzalez | 10 | |
| 72 | 72 | Vinc Pichel | 9.5 | |
| 73 | 73 | Frankie Perez | 9 | |
| 74 | 74 | Alex White | 7.5 | |
| 75 | 75 | Dong Hyun Kim | 5 | |
| 75 | 75 | Drakkar Klose | 5 | |
| 75 | 75 | Felipe Silva | 5 | |
| 78 | 78 | Josh Burkman | 3.5 | |
| 79 | 79 | Alessandro Ricci | 0 | |
| 79 | 79 | Claudio Puelles | 0 | |
| 79 | 79 | Damir Hadzovic | 0 | |
| 79 | 79 | Darrell Horcher | 0 | |
| 79 | 79 | Devin Powell | 0 | |
| 79 | 79 | Jordan Rinaldi | 0 | |
| 79 | 79 | Marcin Held | 0 | |
| 79 | 79 | Michael McBride | 0 | |
| 79 | 79 | Michel Quinones | 0 | |
| 79 | NR | Thibault Gouti | 0 |
Check back Friday for our featherweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Featherweights/Bantamweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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