UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Lightweights: Apr 13/20

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 Lightweights.

 

*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, third column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)

 

Stats	Last	UFC		Total
Rank	Rank	Rank
1	1	1	Khabib Nurmagomedov	508.5
2	2	2	Tony Ferguson	351
3	6	9	Charles Oliveira	282
4	3	3	Dustin Poirier	270.5
5	4	5	Justin Gaethje	253
6	7	6	Dan Hooker	244
7	5	11	Kevin Lee	203
8	8	15	Islam Makhachev	195
9	9		Josh Emmett	175
10	10	13	Carlos Diego Ferreira	171
11	11	16	Alexander Hernandez	159
12	12	8	Paul Felder	155.5
13	13		Anthony Pettis	148
14	19		Beneil Dariush	141.5
15	15		Francisco Trinaldo	133.5
16	16		Scott Holtzman	127.5
17	17		Leonardo Santos	117
18	18	14	Gregor Gillespie	116.5
19	14	10	Al Iaquinta	116
20	19		David Teymur	110
21	21		Drew Dober	104.5
22	22	12	Edson Barboza	98
23	23		Renato Moicano	92
24	24		Davi Ramos	78.5
25	26		Yancy Medeiros	75
26	25		Damir Hadzovic	66.5
27	30		Joe Lauzon	66
28	31		Jim Miller	65
28	31		Vinc Pichel	65
30	34		Evan Dunham	63
31	35		Magomed Mustafaev	62.5
32	33		Luis Pena	61
33	36		Clay Guida	52.5
34	38		Joaquim Silva	51
34	38		Michael Johnson	51
36	41		Nasrat Haqparast	47
37	27		Alexander Yakovlev	46.5
38	37		John Makdessi	45.5
39	42		Jalin Turner	45
39	42		Lando Vannata	45
41	44		Stevie Ray	44
42	45		Devonte Smith	43
43	46		Marc Diakiese	41.5
44	40		Drakkar Klose	41
45	47		Khama Worthy	40
46	48		Arman Tsarukyan	35
47	49		Alan Patrick	32
48	51		Frank Camacho	30
49	52		Don Madge	27.5
50	53		Brad Riddell	24.5
50	53		Matt Frevola	24.5
52	55		Claudio Puelles	23
53	56		Alex White	21.5
54	58		Jared Gordon	20
54	58		Joel Alvarez	20
54	58		Teemu Packalen	20
57	61		Christos Giagos	18
58	62		Roosevelt Roberts	16
59	63		Joe Solecki	15
60	65		Mark Madsen	14
61	64		Damir Ismagulov	13.5
62	65		Ottman Azaitar	10
62	65		Tristan Connelly	10
64	68		Alex da Silva	5
64	68		Brok Weaver	5
64	68		Omar Morales	5
64	68		Rafael Fiziev	5
68	68		Austin Hubbard	4.5
68	73		Thiago Moises	4.5
70	74		Bobby Green	4
71	75		Fares Ziam	0
71	75		Jamie Mullarkey	0
71	75		Jonathan Pearce	0
71	75		Joshua Culibao	0
71	75		Matt Wiman	0
71	75		Rodrigo Vargas	0
71	NR		Steve Garcia	0

 

Check back Friday for our featherweight rankings

Performance Based Rankings:

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

 

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