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 seven year time limit, so if they have fought less than 10 times in past seven 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 | 2 | Tony Ferguson | 384 |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | 311 |
| 3 | 3 | 6 | Kevin Lee | 282 |
| 4 | 4 | 12 | James Vick | 235 |
| 5 | 5 | 11 | Al Iaquinta | 226 |
| 6 | 11 | 15 | Dan Hooker | 204.5 |
| 7 | 6 | 5 | Dustin Poirier | 203 |
| 8 | 9 | 9 | Anthony Pettis | 196 |
| 9 | 7 | 4 | Eddie Alvarez | 182 |
| 9 | 7 | Islam Makhachev | 182 | |
| 11 | 12 | 16 | Francisco Trinaldo | 153.5 |
| 12 | 10 | 13 | Michael Chiesa | 151 |
| 13 | 13 | Beneil Dariush | 149 | |
| 14 | 15 | David Teymur | 124.5 | |
| 15 | 16 | Mairbek Taisumov | 119 | |
| 16 | 17 | Olivier Aubin-Mercier | 118 | |
| 17 | 24 | Charles Oliveira | 117 | |
| 18 | 18 | Gregor Gillespie | 116.5 | |
| 19 | 19 | Leonardo Santos | 101.5 | |
| 20 | 20 | 7 | Edson Barboza | 99.5 |
| 21 | 21 | Rustam Khabilov | 91.5 | |
| 22 | 22 | Carlos Diego Ferreira | 87 | |
| 23 | 25 | Evan Dunham | 85.5 | |
| 24 | 27 | Kajan Johnson | 77 | |
| 25 | 22 | Clay Guida | 76 | |
| 26 | 28 | Abel Trujillo | 73 | |
| 27 | 29 | Davi Ramos | 72.5 | |
| 27 | 29 | Joe Lauzon | 72.5 | |
| 29 | 26 | Gilbert Burns | 71 | |
| 30 | 31 | 14 | Alexander Hernandez | 70 |
| 31 | 32 | Alan Patrick | 66.5 | |
| 32 | 33 | Jim Miller | 65 | |
| 33 | 34 | Desmond Green | 64 | |
| 34 | 35 | Chris Gruetzemacher | 63.5 | |
| 34 | 35 | Stevie Ray | 63.5 | |
| 36 | 37 | John Makdessi | 57.5 | |
| 36 | 37 | Vinc Pichel | 57.5 | |
| 38 | 39 | Jon Tuck | 53 | |
| 39 | 40 | Magomed Mustafaev | 52 | |
| 40 | 41 | Polo Reyes | 51 | |
| 41 | 42 | James Krause | 49.5 | |
| 42 | 38 | Nik Lentz | 47.5 | |
| 43 | 44 | Bobby Green | 40.5 | |
| 44 | 45 | Joseph Duffy | 37.5 | |
| 45 | 43 | Gleison Tibau | 35 | |
| 46 | 50 | Drakkar Klose | 32.5 | |
| 47 | 47 | Joaquim Silva | 32 | |
| 47 | 47 | 8 | Justin Gaethje | 32 |
| 47 | 46 | Lando Vannata | 32 | |
| 50 | 49 | Dong Hyun Kim | 31.5 | |
| 51 | 52 | Marc Diakiese | 30.5 | |
| 52 | 53 | Alex White | 28 | |
| 53 | 54 | Scott Holtzman | 25.5 | |
| 54 | NR | Luis Pena | 25 | |
| 55 | 56 | Jared Gordon | 24.5 | |
| 56 | 57 | Damir Hadzovic | 22.5 | |
| 56 | 57 | Jordan Rinaldi | 22.5 | |
| 56 | 57 | Teemu Packalen | 22.5 | |
| 59 | 60 | Andrew Holbrook | 22 | |
| 60 | 61 | Alvaro Herrera | 20 | |
| 60 | 61 | Ross Pearson | 20 | |
| 62 | 63 | Erik Koch | 19 | |
| 63 | 64 | Josh Emmett | 17 | |
| 64 | 66 | Mizuto Hirota | 16 | |
| 65 | 65 | Nick Hein | 14.5 | |
| 66 | 69 | Jason Gonzalez | 9 | |
| 67 | NR | John Gunther | 5 | |
| 67 | NR | Mike Trizano | 5 | |
| 69 | 71 | Darrell Horcher | 4.5 | |
| 69 | 71 | Felipe Silva | 4.5 | |
| 69 | 71 | Thibault Gouti | 4.5 | |
| 72 | NR | Alan Zuniga | 0 | |
| 72 | 74 | Alex Reyes | 0 | |
| 72 | 74 | Claudio Puelles | 0 | |
| 72 | 74 | Dan Moret | 0 | |
| 72 | 74 | Devin Powell | 0 | |
| 72 | NR | Joe Giannetti | 0 | |
| 72 | 74 | Matt Frevola | 0 | |
| 72 | 74 | Nasrat Haqparast | 0 | |
| 72 | NR | Richie Smullen | 0 |
Check back Monday 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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