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 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 | NR | Israel Adesanya | 539.5 | |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Jan Blachowicz | 277.5 |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | Glover Teixeira | 221 |
| 4 | 3 | 7 | Anthony Smith | 143 |
| 5 | 4 | 10 | Johnny Walker | 134 |
| 6 | 5 | 4 | Dominick Reyes | 131 |
| 7 | 6 | 8 | Volkan Oezdemir | 120 |
| 8 | 7 | 13 | Jimmy Crute | 111 |
| 9 | 8 | 3 | Thiago Santos | 110.5 |
| 10 | 9 | 5 | Aleksandar Rakic | 100 |
| 11 | 10 | 15 | Paul Craig | 96 |
| 12 | 11 | Ovince Saint Preux | 91 | |
| 13 | 12 | 9 | Nikita Krylov | 89 |
| 14 | 13 | 12 | Magomed Ankalaev | 80.5 |
| 15 | 15 | 14 | Ryan Spann | 68 |
| 16 | 16 | Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua | 66.5 | |
| 17 | 17 | Ion Cutelaba | 62 | |
| 18 | 18 | 16 | Jamahal Hill | 54.5 |
| 19 | 22 | 6 | Jiri Prochazka | 40 |
| 20 | 23 | Michal Oleksiejczuk | 38 | |
| 21 | 21 | Khalil Rountree Jr | 36.5 | |
| 22 | 19 | Ed Herman | 35 | |
| 23 | 24 | Alonzo Menifield | 33.5 | |
| 24 | 25 | Da Un Jung | 32.5 | |
| 25 | 26 | Devin Clark | 23 | |
| 26 | 27 | Klidson Abreu | 22.5 | |
| 26 | 27 | Modestas Bukauskas | 22.5 | |
| 28 | 30 | Dustin Jacoby | 20 | |
| 29 | 33 | Roman Dolidze | 14.5 | |
| 30 | 34 | Mike Rodriguez | 10.5 | |
| 31 | 35 | Maxim Grishin | 10 | |
| 31 | 35 | William Knight | 10 | |
| 33 | 37 | Aleksa Camur | 9 | |
| 34 | 38 | Danilo Marques | 5 | |
| 34 | 42 | Ike Villanueva | 5 | |
| 34 | 42 | Marcin Prachnio | 5 | |
| 37 | 41 | John Allan | 4.5 | |
| 38 | 42 | Andreas Michailidis | 0 | |
| 38 | 42 | Vinicius Moreira | 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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