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 | 1 | 1 | Max Holloway | 445.5 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Brian Ortega | 339 |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | Jose Aldo | 335 |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | Frankie Edgar | 214 |
| 5 | 5 | 8 | Ricardo Lamas | 170.5 |
| 6 | 6 | 9 | Chan Sung Jung | 160 |
| 7 | 7 | 11 | Darren Elkins | 159.5 |
| 8 | NR | Chad Mendes | 156.5 | |
| 9 | 8 | 5 | Jeremy Stephens | 141 |
| 10 | 9 | Michael Johnson | 137 | |
| 11 | 10 | Charles Oliveira | 120 | |
| 12 | 11 | 14 | Myles Jury | 100 |
| 13 | 12 | Chas Skelly | 96 | |
| 14 | 13 | 7 | Josh Emmett | 91 |
| 15 | 14 | Yair Rodriguez | 82.5 | |
| 16 | 15 | 15 | Doo Ho Choi | 75 |
| 17 | 21 | Gabriel Benitez | 74.5 | |
| 18 | 16 | Andre Fili | 71.5 | |
| 19 | 29 | Arnold Allen | 63 | |
| 20 | 17 | Jason Knight | 61 | |
| 21 | 18 | 12 | Mirsad Bektic | 59.5 |
| 22 | 19 | 16 | Calvin Kattar | 53 |
| 22 | 19 | Dennis Bermudez | 53 | |
| 24 | 22 | 10 | Renato Moicano | 51 |
| 25 | 23 | Gilbert Melendez | 48 | |
| 26 | 24 | 13 | Zabit Magomedsharipov | 47.5 |
| 27 | 25 | 6 | Cub Swanson | 47 |
| 28 | 26 | Felipe Arantes | 46.5 | |
| 29 | 27 | Alex Caceres | 46 | |
| 30 | 28 | Alexander Volkanovski | 45.5 | |
| 31 | 30 | Makwan Amirkhani | 42 | |
| 32 | 31 | Shane Burgos | 36 | |
| 33 | 32 | Enrique Barzola | 31.5 | |
| 34 | 34 | Danny Henry | 29.5 | |
| 34 | 46 | Julio Arce | 29.5 | |
| 36 | 35 | Jimy Hettes | 28 | |
| 37 | 32 | Humberto Bandenay | 27 | |
| 38 | 36 | Cory Sandhagen | 25 | |
| 38 | 36 | Jared Gordon | 25 | |
| 38 | 36 | Song Yadong | 25 | |
| 41 | 39 | Gray Maynard | 23 | |
| 42 | 40 | Martin Bravo | 22.5 | |
| 43 | 41 | Artem Lobov | 19.5 | |
| 44 | 42 | Jeremy Kennedy | 16 | |
| 45 | 43 | Rick Glenn | 13 | |
| 46 | 44 | Kyle Bochniak | 11.5 | |
| 47 | 45 | Charles Rosa | 8 | |
| 48 | 46 | Rolando Dy | 5 | |
| 48 | 46 | Wang Guan | 5 | |
| 50 | 46 | Brandon Davis | 4.5 | |
| 50 | 51 | Gavin Tucker | 4.5 | |
| 50 | 46 | Mads Burnell | 4.5 | |
| 53 | 52 | Austin Arnett | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | B.J. Penn | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | Bharat Kandare | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | Dan Ige | 0 | |
| 53 | NR | Daniel Teymur | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | Hakeem Dawodu | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | Matt Bessette | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | Mike Santiago | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | Shane Young | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | Sheymon Moraes | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | Steven Peterson | 0 | |
| 53 | 52 | Wuliji Buren | 0 |
Check back Monday for our bantamweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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