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 UFC Light Heavyweight Rankings.
*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 the 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
![jiri prochazka career earnings](https://thesportsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/USATSI_14503420_168384702_lowres-555x369.jpg)
(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 | Glover Teixeira | 613 |
2 | 2 | 2 | Jan Blachowicz | 577.5 |
3 | 3 | 5 | Anthony Smith | 339.5 |
4 | 4 | 4 | Aleksandar Rakic | 230 |
5 | 5 | 12 | Paul Craig | 218 |
6 | 6 | 3 | Jiri Prochazka | 192 |
7 | 7 | Paulo Costa | 183.5 | |
8 | 8 | 11 | Johnny Walker | 180 |
9 | 9 | 13 | Jamahal Hill | 165 |
10 | 10 | 7 | Magomed Ankalaev | 148.5 |
11 | 12 | Da Un Jung | 139 | |
11 | 11 | 9 | Volkan Oezdemir | 139 |
13 | 13 | 14 | Ryan Spann | 138 |
14 | 14 | 8 | Dominick Reyes | 135.5 |
15 | 15 | Kennedy Nzechukwu | 117 | |
16 | NR | Brendan Allen | 116.5 | |
17 | 16 | 15 | Jimmy Crute | 116 |
18 | 17 | 6 | Thiago Santos | 113.5 |
19 | 18 | Michal Oleksiejczuk | 103 | |
20 | 19 | Alonzo Menifield | 96 | |
21 | 20 | 16 | Ion Cutelaba | 80 |
22 | 21 | 10 | Nikita Krylov | 76 |
23 | NR | Karl Roberson | 68 | |
23 | 22 | William Knight | 68 | |
25 | 23 | Dustin Jacoby | 65 | |
26 | NR | Tyson Pedro | 64 | |
27 | NR | Jailton Almeida | 60 | |
28 | 24 | Ed Herman | 54 | |
29 | 25 | Khalil Rountree Jr | 50 | |
30 | 26 | Marcin Prachnio | 29 | |
31 | 27 | Devin Clark | 28 | |
32 | 28 | Nicolae Negumereanu | 19 | |
33 | 29 | Maxim Grishin | 18 | |
33 | 29 | Tafon Nchukwi | 18 | |
35 | 32 | Aleksa Camur | 16 | |
36 | 31 | Danilo Marques | 13 | |
37 | 33 | Shamil Gamzatov | 9 | |
38 | 34 | Ike Villanueva | 8 | |
39 | NR | Sam Alvey | 6.5 | |
40 | 35 | Carlos Ulberg | 0 | |
40 | 35 | 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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