UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Light Heavyweights: Aug 23/21

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 a voter’s opinion, and biases are bound to seep through, whether intentional or not.  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 Light 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 

• Scoring based on a fighter’s past 10 UFC performances (we use a five year time limit, so if they have fought less than 10 times in past five 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, last column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)

Stats	Last	UFC		Total
Rank	Rank	Rank
1	1	1	Jan Blachowicz	700
2	2	2	Glover Teixeira	396
3	3	7	Anthony Smith	269
4	4	4	Aleksandar Rakic	230
5	5	13	Paul Craig	218
6	6	11	Johnny Walker	217
7	7	3	Jiri Prochazka	192
7	7	9	Volkan Oezdemir	192
9	9	12	Ryan Spann	176.5
10	10	8	Magomed Ankalaev	163
11	11	15	Jimmy Crute	160
12	12	6	Dominick Reyes	135.5
13	13		Kennedy Nzechukwu	133
14	14	14	Misha Cirkunov	126
15	19		Alonzo Menifield	113.5
16	15	5	Thiago Santos	106
17	16	16	Jamahal Hill	98
18	18		Ion Cutelaba	94
19	21		Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua	81
20	22		Da Un Jung	78
21	17	10	Nikita Krylov	76
22	24		Darren Stewart	65.5
23	25		Eryk Anders	60.5
24	26		Michal Oleksiejczuk	56
25	23		Ed Herman	54
26	27		Khalil Rountree Jr	46.5
27	28		Dustin Jacoby	46
28	29		Modestas Bukauskas	40
29	30		Devin Clark	38
30	32		William Knight	36
31	31		Marcin Prachnio	29
32	32		Maxim Grishin	18
33	34		Danilo Marques	17
34	35		Aleksa Camur	16
35	36		Mike Rodriguez	13
36	37		Nicolae Negumereanu	10
36	NR		Shamil Gamzatov	10
38	38		Ike Villanueva	9
38	38		John Allan	9
38	38		Tafon Nchukwi	9
41	41		Carlos Ulberg	0
41	41		Fabio Cherant	0

Check back Friday for our middleweight rankings

Performance Based Rankings:

Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Feather/Bantamweights
Women’s Flyweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound

 

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