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 Featherweights.
*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 last rankings, third column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
| Stats | Last | UFC | Total | |
| Rank | Rank | Rank | ||
| 1 | 2 | 1 | Max Holloway | 445.5 |
| 2 | 1 | 2 | Jose Aldo | 335 |
| 3 | 5 | 5 | Brian Ortega | 238 |
| 4 | 3 | 3 | Frankie Edgar | 224 |
| 5 | 4 | 4 | Ricardo Lamas | 203 |
| 6 | 6 | 7 | Chan Sung Jung | 160 |
| 7 | 7 | 10 | Darren Elkins | 148 |
| 8 | 8 | Renan Barao | 127.5 | |
| 9 | 9 | Charles Oliveira | 120 | |
| 10 | 10 | 15 | Myles Jury | 110.5 |
| 11 | 11 | 9 | Jeremy Stephens | 97 |
| 12 | 12 | Chas Skelly | 96 | |
| 13 | 14 | 13 | Doo Ho Choi | 85 |
| 14 | 15 | 8 | Yair Rodriguez | 82.5 |
| 15 | 18 | 12 | Dennis Bermudez | 74 |
| 16 | 16 | Jason Knight | 70.5 | |
| 17 | 13 | 6 | Cub Swanson | 65.5 |
| 18 | 20 | Godofredo Pepey | 58.5 | |
| 19 | 29 | Gabriel Benitez | 51.5 | |
| 20 | 22 | Gilbert Melendez | 48 | |
| 21 | 36 | Zabit Magomedsharipov | 47.5 | |
| 22 | 23 | Felipe Arantes | 46.5 | |
| 23 | 21 | Alex Caceres | 46 | |
| 24 | 24 | Dennis Siver | 45 | |
| 25 | 25 | Arnold Allen | 42.5 | |
| 26 | 26 | Shane Burgos | 40.5 | |
| 27 | 27 | 14 | Mirsad Bektic | 39.5 |
| 28 | 28 | Andre Fili | 38 | |
| 29 | 29 | Makwan Amirkhani | 36.5 | |
| 30 | 31 | 11 | Renato Moicano | 35.5 |
| 31 | 32 | Humberto Bandenay | 30 | |
| 31 | 32 | Teruto Ishihara | 30 | |
| 33 | 34 | Enrique Barzola | 28 | |
| 33 | 34 | Jimy Hettes | 28 | |
| 35 | 36 | Jared Gordon | 25 | |
| 35 | 36 | Josh Emmett | 25 | |
| 35 | NR | Song Yadong | 25 | |
| 38 | 39 | Gray Maynard | 23 | |
| 39 | 40 | Martin Bravo | 22.5 | |
| 40 | 41 | Artem Lobov | 19.5 | |
| 41 | 42 | Jeremy Kennedy | 18 | |
| 41 | 42 | Mizuto Hirota | 18 | |
| 43 | 46 | Alexander Volkanovski | 17.5 | |
| 44 | 44 | Nick Hein | 16.5 | |
| 45 | 45 | Rick Glenn | 14.5 | |
| 46 | 47 | 16 | Calvin Kattar | 10 |
| 47 | 48 | Kyle Bochniak | 9 | |
| 48 | 49 | Charles Rosa | 8 | |
| 49 | 52 | Rolando Dy | 5 | |
| 49 | NR | Wang Guan | 5 | |
| 51 | 50 | Gavin Tucker | 4.5 | |
| 52 | 17 | B.J. Penn | 0 | |
| 52 | NR | Bharat Kandare | 0 | |
| 52 | 52 | Mike Santiago | 0 | |
| 52 | NR | Shane Young | 0 | |
| 52 | NR | Sheymon Moraes | 0 | |
| 52 | 52 | Terrion Ware | 0 | |
| 52 | NR | Wuliji Buren | 0 |
Check back Monday for our bantamweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Lightweigthts
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Featherweights/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights/Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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