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. We’ll roll these rankings out daily for the next couple of weeks until all weight classes have been revealed. Next up: The Welterweights.
*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 official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
| Stats | UFC | Total | |
| Rank | Rank | ||
| 1 | 1 | Tyron Woodley | 431 |
| 2 | 3 | Robbie Lawler | 387 |
| 3 | Rafael dos Anjos | 321 | |
| 4 | 6 | Jorge Masvidal | 268.5 |
| 5 | 4 | Demian Maia | 256.5 |
| 6 | 9 | Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone | 223.5 |
| 7 | 2 | Stephen Thompson | 219.5 |
| 8 | 7 | Neil Magny | 178 |
| 9 | 10 | Gunnar Nelson | 170.5 |
| 10 | 5 | Carlos Condit | 148 |
| 11 | 14 | Jake Ellenberger | 133.5 |
| 12 | 15 | Santiago Ponzinibbio | 124 |
| 13 | Alex Garcia | 116.5 | |
| 14 | 8 | Dong Hyun Kim | 112.5 |
| 15 | Alex Oliveira | 111.5 | |
| 16 | 13 | Ryan LaFlare | 95.5 |
| 17 | Colby Covington | 95 | |
| 18 | Warlley Alves | 93.5 | |
| 19 | Leon Edwards | 92 | |
| 20 | 11 | Kamaru Usman | 90 |
| 21 | Sean Strickland | 89 | |
| 22 | Bryan Barberena | 86 | |
| 23 | Alberto Mina | 84.5 | |
| 24 | Tim Means | 84 | |
| 25 | 16 | Matt Brown | 83 |
| 26 | Mickey Gall | 82.5 | |
| 27 | Sergio Moraes | 80 | |
| 28 | Erick Silva | 77 | |
| 29 | Jordan Mein | 74.5 | |
| 30 | Ben Saunders | 67 | |
| 31 | Keita Nakamura | 65 | |
| 32 | Thiago Alves | 61 | |
| 32 | Omari Akhmedov | 61 | |
| 34 | Roan Carneiro | 60.5 | |
| 35 | Vicente Luque | 53 | |
| 36 | Niko Price | 49 | |
| 37 | Alan Jouban | 48.5 | |
| 37 | Zak Cummings | 48.5 | |
| 39 | Yancy Medeiros | 47 | |
| 39 | Mike Pyle | 47 | |
| 41 | Randy Brown | 45 | |
| 42 | Mike Perry | 44 | |
| 43 | Alexander Yakovlev | 43 | |
| 44 | Nordine Taleb | 42.5 | |
| 45 | Hyun Gyu Lim | 41 | |
| 45 | Siyar Bahadurzada | 41 | |
| 47 | Joe Proctor | 38.5 | |
| 48 | Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos | 37 | |
| 49 | 12 | Tarec Saffiedine | 36 |
| 49 | Belal Muhammad | 36 | |
| 51 | Abdul Razak Alhassan | 25 | |
| 51 | Shinsho Anzai | 25 | |
| 53 | Peter Sobotta | 24.5 | |
| 53 | Danny Roberts | 24.5 | |
| 55 | Tom Breese | 24 | |
| 56 | Alex Morono | 23 | |
| 57 | Alvaro Herrera | 22.5 | |
| 57 | Antonio Braga Neto | 22.5 | |
| 59 | Court McGee | 20.5 | |
| 59 | Kiichi Kunimoto | 20.5 | |
| 61 | Dominique Steele | 20 | |
| 61 | Max Griffin | 20 | |
| 63 | Chad Laprise | 17.5 | |
| 64 | Emil Meek | 10 | |
| 64 | Darren Till | 10 | |
| 64 | Sultan Aliev | 10 | |
| 67 | Nico Musoke | 8 | |
| 68 | Richard Walsh | 6.5 | |
| 69 | Sheldon Westcott | 5 | |
| 69 | Nathan Coy | 5 | |
| 69 | Jonathan Meunier | 5 | |
| 69 | Zak Ottow | 5 | |
| 69 | Jessin Ayari | 5 | |
| 74 | Bojan Velickovic | 4.5 | |
| 75 | CM Punk | 0 | |
| 75 | Luan Chagas | 0 | |
| 75 | Sabah Homasi | 0 | |
| 75 | Jim Wallhead | 0 | |
| 75 | Charlie Ward | 0 | |
| 75 | Brian Camozzi | 0 | |
| 75 | Bobby Nash | 0 | |
| 75 | Davi Ramos | 0 |
Check back tomorrow for our lightweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
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