UFC Performance Based Fighter Rankings: Lightweights: Apr 30/21

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 a 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 the 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	2	Justin Gaethje	576
2	2	3	Charles Oliveira	534.5
3	3	1	Dustin Poirier	473.5
4	6	9	Beneil Dariush	371.5
5	5	11	Islam Makhachev	353
6	4	5	Tony Ferguson	350
7	8	6	Conor McGregor	273
8	22		Grant Dawson	242
9	7	8	Dan Hooker	230
10	10	12	Diego Ferreira	221
11	9	7	Rafael dos Anjos	213
12	14	14	Gregor Gillespie	196
13	15		Drew Dober	190.5
14	12	10	Paul Felder	178.5
15	13		Alexander Hernandez	159
16	18		Vinc Pichel	150
17	16		Scott Holtzman	138
18	24		Rafael Fiziev	134
19	26	4	Michael Chandler	130
20	17		Jim Miller	124.5
21	20		Leonardo Santos	119
22	25		Damir Hadzovic	112.5
23	29		Arman Tsarukyan	112
23	29		Herbert Burns	112
25	28		Jalin Turner	110
25	48		Joe Solecki	110
27	19		Renato Moicano	109.5
28	31		Chris Gruetzemacher	108
29	22		Khama Worthy	104
30	69		Mateusz Gamrot	100
31	21		Yancy Medeiros	99
32	34		Ottman Azaitar	98
33	35		Devonte Smith	88
34	37		Joel Alvarez	87
35	NR		Joaquim Silva	83
36	40		Thiago Moises	79
37	NR		Mike Grundy	72
38	42		Roosevelt Roberts	71
39	45		Bobby Green	69
40	32		Luis Pena	68
40	36		Nasrat Haqparast	68
40	44		Rick Glenn	68
43	33		Jeremy Stephens	62
43	40		John Makdessi	62
45	69		Jamie Mullarkey	60
46	46		Marc Diakiese	55.5
47	51		Don Madge	55
48	54		Austin Hubbard	54
48	52		Brad Riddell	54
50	53		Frank Camacho	50.5
51	55		Jordan Leavitt	50
51	43		Lando Vannata	50
53	38		Clay Guida	49
54	47		Kevin Aguilar	48
55	NR		Claudio Puelles	46
56	57		Matt Frevola	44
57	59		Alexander Yakovlev	40
58	50		Alan Patrick	38
59	58		Christos Giagos	35
60	60		Mike Davis	28
61	NR		Damir Ismagulov	27
62	56		Michael Johnson	25
63	61		Luigi Vendramini	20
63	61		Uros Medic	20
65	63		Fares Ziam	10
65	63		Guram Kutateladze	10
65	69		Rodrigo Vargas	10
68	65		Alex da Silva	9
69	67		Jessin Ayari	5
69	67		Justin Jaynes	5
71	69		Aalon Cruz	0
71	69		Alexander Munoz	0
71	NR		Dakota Bush	0
71	NR		Ignacio Bahamondes	0
71	69		Jai Herbert	0
71	69		Mason Jones	0
71	69		Rafa Garcia	0
71	NR		Rong Zhu	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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