UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Lightweights: Jan 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	381
3	3	3	Dustin Poirier	270.5
4	4	4	Justin Gaethje	253
5	5	9	Kevin Lee	247.5
6	6	14	Charles Oliveira	244.5
7	7	8	Dan Hooker	233
8	8	16	Islam Makhachev	195
9	9		Carlos Diego Ferreira	182.5
10	10	7	Paul Felder	181.5
11	11	12	Anthony Pettis	177
12	60		Josh Emmett	175
13	12	10	Al Iaquinta	164
14	13	15	Alexander Hernandez	159
15	14		Francisco Trinaldo	131.5
16	15		Leonardo Santos	124
17	16	13	Gregor Gillespie	116.5
18	17		Beneil Dariush	110
18	17		David Teymur	110
20	19		Nik Lentz	109
21	20		Scott Holtzman	101.5
22	21	11	Edson Barboza	98
23	22		Yancy Medeiros	87
24	23		Jim Miller	83.5
25	31		Mairbek Taisumov	82.5
26	25		Davi Ramos	78.5
27	26		Damir Hadzovic	76
28	26		Drew Dober	75.5
29	28		Alexander Yakovlev	74
30	29		Olivier Aubin-Mercier	73
31	30		Magomed Mustafaev	71
32	24		Joe Lauzon	66
33	32		Vinc Pichel	65
34	33		Luis Pena	64
35	34		Clay Guida	58.5
36	35		John Makdessi	53.5
37	36		Desmond Green	52.5
37	36		Nasrat Haqparast	52.5
39	38		Joaquim Silva	51
39	38		Michael Johnson	51
41	40		Drakkar Klose	47.5
42	41		Lando Vannata	46.5
43	42		Stevie Ray	44
44	43		Devonte Smith	43
45	44		Marc Diakiese	41.5
46	45		Khama Worthy	40
47	46		Arman Tsarukyan	35
48	47		Joseph Duffy	32
49	49		Frank Camacho	30
50	50		Don Madge	27.5
51	51		Matt Frevola	24.5
52	53		Claudio Puelles	23
53	54		Jalin Turner	22.5
54	55		Alex White	21.5
55	51		Dong Hyun Ma	21
56	56		Jared Gordon	20
56	56		Joel Alvarez	20
56	56		Teemu Packalen	20
59	59		Christos Giagos	18
60	61		Roosevelt Roberts	16
61	NR		Joe Solecki	15
62	63		Damir Ismagulov	13.5
63	65		Mark Madsen	10
63	65		Mike Davis	10
63	65		Ottman Azaitar	10
66	69		Alex da Silva	5
66	69		Austin Hubbard	5
66	69		Brad Riddell	5
66	NR		Omar Morales	5
66	69		Rafael Fiziev	5
71	73		Thiago Moises	4.5
72	76		Bobby Green	4
73	79		Fares Ziam	0
73	79		Jamie Mullarkey	0
73	79		Jonathan Pearce	0
73	79		Kyle Prepolec	0
73	79		Marcos Mariano	0
73	79		Matt Wiman	0
73	79		Rodrigo Vargas	0

 

Check back Friday for our featherweight rankings

Performance Based Rankings:

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

 

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