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 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 last rank, last column is official UFC ranking from UFC.com)
| Stats | Last | UFC | Total | |
| Rank | Rank | Rank | ||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Tyron Woodley | 553.5 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Robbie Lawler | 460 |
| 3 | 3 | 6 | Rafael dos Anjos | 319.5 |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | Jorge Masvidal | 235 |
| 5 | 5 | 4 | Demian Maia | 223.5 |
| 6 | 6 | 3 | Stephen Thompson | 219.5 |
| 7 | 7 | 7 | Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone | 183 |
| 8 | 8 | 9 | Colby Covington | 181 |
| 9 | 10 | 10 | Santiago Ponzinibbio | 177.5 |
| 10 | 11 | 15 | Alex Oliveira | 167.5 |
| 11 | 9 | 10 | Neil Magny | 148 |
| 12 | 13 | 12 | Gunnar Nelson | 147 |
| 13 | 14 | Jake Ellenberger | 109 | |
| 14 | 16 | Alex Garcia | 102 | |
| 15 | 19 | Leon Edwards | 101 | |
| 16 | 17 | 13 | Dong Hyun Kim | 94.5 |
| 17 | 40 | Niko Price | 94 | |
| 18 | 18 | Warlley Alves | 93.5 | |
| 19 | 20 | Tim Means | 91.5 | |
| 20 | 15 | Bryan Barberena | 91 | |
| 21 | 21 | 14 | Kamaru Usman | 90 |
| 22 | 22 | Sean Strickland | 89 | |
| 23 | 23 | Alberto Mina | 84.5 | |
| 24 | 24 | Matt Brown | 83 | |
| 25 | 25 | Mickey Gall | 82.5 | |
| 25 | 25 | Ryan LaFlare | 82.5 | |
| 27 | 27 | Peter Sobotta | 81.5 | |
| 28 | 28 | Sergio Moraes | 80 | |
| 29 | 29 | Mike Perry | 79 | |
| 30 | 30 | Yancy Medeiros | 70 | |
| 31 | 31 | Zak Cummings | 66 | |
| 32 | 32 | Erick Silva | 65 | |
| 32 | 32 | Keita Nakamura | 65 | |
| 34 | 34 | Jordan Mein | 64 | |
| 35 | 35 | Omari Akhmedov | 61.5 | |
| 36 | 36 | Thiago Alves | 61 | |
| 37 | 37 | Ben Saunders | 58.5 | |
| 38 | 38 | Vicente Luque | 53 | |
| 39 | 39 | James Krause | 52.5 | |
| 40 | 42 | Mike Pyle | 47 | |
| 41 | 43 | Danny Roberts | 46.5 | |
| 42 | 44 | Randy Brown | 45 | |
| 43 | 45 | Li Jingliang | 43.5 | |
| 44 | 46 | Alexander Yakovlev | 43 | |
| 44 | 46 | Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos | 43 | |
| 46 | 48 | Nordine Taleb | 42 | |
| 47 | 49 | Hyun Gyu Lim | 41 | |
| 48 | 51 | Chad Laprise | 40 | |
| 49 | 41 | Alan Jouban | 39.5 | |
| 50 | 52 | Belal Muhammad | 37 | |
| 51 | 53 | Joe Proctor | 32 | |
| 52 | 54 | 16 | Tarec Saffiedine | 31 |
| 53 | 67 | Darren Till | 27 | |
| 54 | 55 | Bojan Velickovic | 26 | |
| 55 | 56 | Galore Bofando | 25 | |
| 55 | 56 | Jesse Taylor | 25 | |
| 55 | 56 | Luan Chagas | 25 | |
| 55 | 56 | Shinsho Anzai | 25 | |
| 59 | 60 | Zak Ottow | 24.5 | |
| 60 | 61 | Tom Breese | 24 | |
| 61 | 62 | Alex Morono | 23 | |
| 62 | 63 | Abdul Razak Alhassan | 22.5 | |
| 62 | 63 | Antonio Braga Neto | 22.5 | |
| 64 | 65 | Court McGee | 20.5 | |
| 65 | 66 | Max Griffin | 20 | |
| 66 | 68 | Kiichi Kunimoto | 18 | |
| 66 | 68 | Lyman Good | 18 | |
| 68 | 70 | Dominique Steele | 17.5 | |
| 69 | 71 | Emil Meek | 10 | |
| 69 | 71 | Sultan Aliev | 10 | |
| 71 | 73 | Nico Musoke | 7 | |
| 72 | 74 | Jonathan Meunier | 5 | |
| 72 | 74 | Luke Jumeau | 5 | |
| 72 | 74 | Sheldon Westcott | 5 | |
| 75 | 77 | Jessin Ayari | 4.5 | |
| 75 | 77 | Nathan Coy | 4.5 | |
| 77 | 79 | Dhiego Lima | 3.5 | |
| 78 | 80 | Bobby Nash | 0 | |
| 78 | 80 | Brian Camozzi | 0 | |
| 78 | 80 | Charlie Ward | 0 | |
| 78 | 80 | Davi Ramos | 0 | |
| 78 | 80 | Frank Camacho | 0 | |
| 78 | 80 | Jim Wallhead | 0 | |
| 78 | 80 | Oliver Enkamp | 0 | |
| 78 | 80 | Sabah Homasi | 0 | |
| 78 | 80 | Tom Gallicchio | 0 |
Check back Monday for our lightweight rankings
Performance Based Rankings:
Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Middleweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Featherweights/Bantamweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
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