UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Lightweights: Feb 28/20

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	3	3	Dustin Poirier	270.5
4	4	5	Justin Gaethje	253
5	5	9	Kevin Lee	247.5
6	6	14	Charles Oliveira	244.5
7	7	6	Dan Hooker	244
8	8	15	Islam Makhachev	195
9	12		Josh Emmett	175
10	9	12	Carlos Diego Ferreira	171
11	14	16	Alexander Hernandez	159
12	10	8	Paul Felder	155.5
13	11		Anthony Pettis	148
14	13	10	Al Iaquinta	136
15	15		Francisco Trinaldo	131.5
16	21		Scott Holtzman	127.5
17	16		Leonardo Santos	124
18	17	13	Gregor Gillespie	116.5
19	18		Beneil Dariush	110
19	18		David Teymur	110
21	28		Drew Dober	104.5
22	22	11	Edson Barboza	98
23	NR		Renato Moicano	84.5
24	26		Davi Ramos	78.5
25	27		Damir Hadzovic	76
26	23		Yancy Medeiros	75
27	29		Alexander Yakovlev	74
28	30		Olivier Aubin-Mercier	73
29	25		Mairbek Taisumov	70
30	32		Joe Lauzon	66
31	24		Jim Miller	65
31	33		Vinc Pichel	65
33	NR		Luis Pena	64
34	NR		Evan Dunham	63
35	31		Magomed Mustafaev	62.5
36	35		Clay Guida	58.5
37	36		John Makdessi	53.5
38	39		Joaquim Silva	51
38	39		Michael Johnson	51
40	41		Drakkar Klose	47.5
41	37		Nasrat Haqparast	47
42	53		Jalin Turner	45
42	42		Lando Vannata	45
44	43		Stevie Ray	44
45	44		Devonte Smith	43
46	45		Marc Diakiese	41.5
47	46		Khama Worthy	40
48	47		Arman Tsarukyan	35
49	NR		Alan Patrick	32
49	48		Joseph Duffy	32
51	49		Frank Camacho	30
52	50		Don Madge	27.5
53	66		Brad Riddell	24.5
53	51		Matt Frevola	24.5
55	52		Claudio Puelles	23
56	54		Alex White	21.5
57	55		Dong Hyun Ma	21
58	56		Jared Gordon	20
58	56		Joel Alvarez	20
58	56		Teemu Packalen	20
61	59		Christos Giagos	18
62	60		Roosevelt Roberts	16
63	61		Joe Solecki	15
64	62		Damir Ismagulov	13.5
65	63		Mark Madsen	10
65	63		Ottman Azaitar	10
65	NR		Tristan Connelly	10
68	66		Alex da Silva	5
68	66		Austin Hubbard	5
68	NR		Brok Weaver	5
68	66		Omar Morales	5
68	66		Rafael Fiziev	5
73	71		Thiago Moises	4.5
74	72		Bobby Green	4
75	73		Fares Ziam	0
75	73		Jamie Mullarkey	0
75	73		Jonathan Pearce	0
75	NR		Joshua Culibao	0
75	73		Kyle Prepolec	0
75	73		Marcos Mariano	0
75	73		Matt Wiman	0
75	73		Rodrigo Vargas	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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