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 | |
| Ranks | Rank | Ranks | ||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Conor McGregor | 406 |
| 2 | 2 | 3 | Tony Ferguson | 287 |
| 3 | 3 | 12 | Al Iaquinta | 258 |
| 4 | 4 | 8 | Kevin Lee | 243.5 |
| 5 | NR | 14 | Anthony Pettis | 229 |
| 6 | 5 | 9 | Dustin Poirier | 207 |
| 7 | 7 | 7 | Nate Diaz | 198 |
| 8 | 8 | 13 | Beneil Dariush | 180 |
| 9 | 9 | 11 | Michael Chiesa | 177 |
| 10 | 10 | 4 | Eddie Alvarez | 171.5 |
| 11 | 6 | 10 | Michael Johnson | 171 |
| 12 | 11 | 2 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | 170 |
| 13 | 12 | James Vick | 151 | |
| 14 | 13 | 5 | Edson Barboza | 144.5 |
| 15 | 14 | Francisco Trinaldo | 117 | |
| 16 | 15 | Islam Makhachev | 114.5 | |
| 17 | 30 | Paul Felder | 107.5 | |
| 18 | 16 | 15 | Evan Dunham | 106.5 |
| 19 | 18 | Charles Oliveira | 106 | |
| 20 | 19 | Leonardo Santos | 101.5 | |
| 21 | 20 | Mairbek Taisumov | 101 | |
| 22 | 21 | Rustam Khabilov | 98 | |
| 23 | 22 | Rashid Magomedov | 93.5 | |
| 24 | 16 | Jim Miller | 92 | |
| 25 | 23 | Joe Lauzon | 88.5 | |
| 26 | 24 | Abel Trujillo | 87.5 | |
| 27 | 26 | Diego Sanchez | 81.5 | |
| 28 | 27 | Adriano Martins | 80.5 | |
| 29 | 25 | Stevie Ray | 73 | |
| 30 | 28 | Alan Patrick | 70.5 | |
| 31 | 29 | Jake Matthews | 70 | |
| 32 | 31 | Tony Martin | 57.5 | |
| 33 | 32 | 16 | Gilbert Melendez | 56 |
| 34 | 55 | Drew Dober | 54.5 | |
| 35 | 34 | Dan Hooker | 54 | |
| 36 | 35 | Jon Tuck | 53 | |
| 36 | 35 | Olivier Aubin-Mercier | 53 | |
| 38 | 37 | Magomed Mustafaev | 52 | |
| 39 | 38 | Jason Saggo | 49 | |
| 40 | 40 | David Teymur | 47.5 | |
| 41 | 41 | Michel Prazeres | 46.5 | |
| 42 | 39 | Chris Wade | 45.5 | |
| 43 | 42 | Bobby Green | 45 | |
| 44 | 43 | Gilbert Burns | 44 | |
| 45 | NR | Joseph Duffy | 43 | |
| 46 | NR | 6 | Justin Gaethje | 40 |
| 47 | 46 | Vinc Pichel | 38.5 | |
| 48 | 48 | Nik Lentz | 38 | |
| 49 | 49 | Joaquim Silva | 36 | |
| 49 | 49 | Lando Vannata | 36 | |
| 51 | 51 | John Makdessi | 35.5 | |
| 51 | 51 | Mitch Clarke | 35.5 | |
| 53 | 53 | Johnny Case | 35 | |
| 54 | 77 | Drakkar Klose | 34.5 | |
| 54 | 54 | Gregor Gillespie | 34.5 | |
| 54 | 46 | Marc Diakiese | 34.5 | |
| 57 | 56 | Clay Guida | 32 | |
| 57 | 56 | Will Brooks | 32 | |
| 59 | 58 | Sage Northcutt | 30.5 | |
| 60 | 59 | Marco Polo Reyes | 30 | |
| 61 | 60 | Andrew Holbrook | 25 | |
| 61 | 60 | Damir Hadzovic | 25 | |
| 61 | 82 | Jordan Rinaldi | 25 | |
| 64 | 63 | Erik Koch | 24 | |
| 64 | 63 | Scott Holtzman | 24 | |
| 66 | 65 | Teemu Packalen | 22.5 | |
| 67 | 66 | Tae Hyun Bang | 22 | |
| 68 | NR | Alvaro Herrera | 20 | |
| 68 | 67 | Desmond Green | 20 | |
| 68 | 67 | Ross Pearson | 20 | |
| 71 | 69 | Josh Emmett | 17 | |
| 72 | 70 | Nick Hein | 16.5 | |
| 73 | 71 | Kajan Johnson | 14 | |
| 74 | 72 | Damien Brown | 12.5 | |
| 74 | 72 | Takanori Gomi | 12.5 | |
| 76 | 74 | Jason Gonzalez | 10 | |
| 77 | 75 | Frankie Perez | 8 | |
| 78 | 76 | Alex White | 7.5 | |
| 79 | NR | Danny Henry | 5 | |
| 79 | 77 | Darrell Horcher | 5 | |
| 79 | 77 | Dong Hyun Kim | 5 | |
| 79 | 77 | Felipe Silva | 5 | |
| 83 | 81 | Josh Burkman | 3 | |
| 84 | 82 | Claudio Puelles | 0 | |
| 84 | NR | Daniel Teymur | 0 | |
| 84 | 82 | Devin Powell | 0 | |
| 84 | 82 | Marcin Held | 0 | |
| 84 | 82 | Michael McBride | 0 | |
| 84 | 82 | Thibault Gouti | 0 |
Check back Friday for our featherweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Welterweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Featherweights/Bantamweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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