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 | 3 | 2 | Alistair Overeem | 293 |
| 3 | 4 | 3 | Fabricio Werdum | 234.5 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | Mark Hunt | 201 |
| 5 | 6 | 5 | Francis Ngannou | 165 |
| 6 | 7 | Junior dos Santos | 159 | |
| 7 | 8 | 7 | Derrick Lewis | 127 |
| 8 | 9 | 9 | Marcin Tybura | 94 |
| 9 | 11 | 8 | Alexander Volkov | 92.5 |
| 10 | 10 | 12 | Aleksei Oleinik | 89 |
| 11 | 12 | 11 | Stefan Struve | 85 |
| 12 | 13 | 13 | Andrei Arlovski | 70 |
| 12 | 14 | 15 | Travis Browne | 70 |
| 14 | 22 | 10 | Curtis Blaydes | 61.5 |
| 15 | 15 | Walt Harris | 39.5 | |
| 16 | 16 | Luis Henrique | 37.5 | |
| 17 | 24 | Cyril Asker | 33 | |
| 18 | 25 | Shamil Abdurakhimov | 32.5 | |
| 19 | 17 | Justin Ledet | 31.5 | |
| 20 | 18 | 14 | Junior Albini | 27 |
| 21 | 20 | Daniel Spitz | 25 | |
| 21 | NR | Marcelo Golm | 25 | |
| 21 | NR | Tai Tuivasa | 25 | |
| 24 | 19 | Chase Sherman | 24.5 | |
| 25 | 21 | 16 | Timothy Johnson | 22.5 |
| 26 | 23 | Adam Milstead | 10 | |
| 26 | 22 | Anthony Hamilton | 10 | |
| 28 | 26 | Mark Godbeer | 9.5 | |
| 29 | NR | Adam Wieczorek | 5 | |
| 29 | 26 | Arjun Bhullar | 5 | |
| 29 | 26 | Justin Willis | 5 | |
| 32 | 29 | Chris De La Rocha | 0 | |
| 32 | 29 | Christian Colombo | 0 | |
| 32 | 29 | Damian Grabowski | 0 | |
| 32 | 29 | Dmitrii Smolyakov | 0 | |
| 32 | NR | Hu Yaozong | 0 | |
| 32 | 29 | James Mulheron | 0 | |
| 32 | 29 | Jarjis Danho | 0 | |
| 32 | 29 | Rashad Coulter | 0 | |
| 32 | 29 | 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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