Proposed Ranking System for UFC Fighters

It’s rather difficult to objectively determine how “good” a mixed martial artist actually is. Unlike boxing or kickboxing (wonderful sports in their own right), MMA has so many facets to its game that definitive rankings are almost impossible. The UFC ranking system is nice for casual fans to have a reference, but the muddy process of determining title shots has shown that rankings aren’t everything.

Instead, we are adopting a more holistic approach on The Nerd Punch. Rather than definitively rank fighters ahead of one another in numerical order, we will divide up fighters into “tiers” based on many factors such as strengths, weaknesses, opposition, track record, and physical attributes.

The proposed tiers would be:

God Tier – This is a tier reserved for champions with outstanding track records. Merely holding the belt isn’t enough; a fighter must do something truly special to merit their place among the gods of MMA. They must have an extraordinary winning streak, multiple title defenses, or wins in multiple weight classes.

Champion Tier – This if for fighters that hold the “real” belt (not interim, though depending on the skill of the fighter interim belt holders can be here). If a fighter has beaten the champion, proven themselves the best in the division and wears the belt then they have earned their place at the top of the heap. Fighters that don’t wear the belt in this class are very rare.

Contender Tier – Fighters who are viable challengers to the champion. Note that this does not mean most likely to beat the champion but rather the fighters whose talents and records make them a reasonable contender in relation to the rest of the division. This is the tier that will vary the most between weight classes.

Middle Tier – These are the “workhorses” of the UFC encompassing many types of fighters. They could be young guns rising up the ranks but not quite contenders, veterans who never had what it takes to become truly elite, old legends whose skills have waned (hello Shogun!) and others.

Low Tier – Don’t take the term “low” as derogatory because it doesn’t mean a fighter is necessarily bad. Most newcomers that perform on Fight Pass prelims fit into this tier. That’s not to say that fighters who may have a couple lucky wins but gaping holes in their game won’t occupy this spot.

So let’s use the UFC’s featherweight division as an example.

God Tier – Jose Aldo

A no brainer if there ever was one. Undefeated in nearly 10 years, a fantastic ground fighter and striker and virtually cleaned out his division with the exception of Conor McGregor. Only potential weakness is cardio which he seems to have improved on in recent fights.

Champion Tier – Conor McGregor, Frankie Edgar

McGregor wears the interim belt and may have earned it over an unprepared Chad Mendes, but there’s no reason to believe he isn’t the real deal. He has superb striking, knows how to conserve energy, has shown adaptability depending on the opponent he faces and always finds a home for his left straight.

As for Edgar, his only misfortune is that he got outpointed by Aldo. Otherwise there isn’t a single fighter in the division he cannot beat; Cub Swanson looked absolutely amateur against him as did Urijah Faber. And there’s a good reason Dana White matched Mendes up with McGregor rather than Edgar; there has yet to be a fighter who transitions between striking and grappling as quickly and smoothly as Frankie. He beat BJ Penn twice, that’s incredible.

Contender Tier – Chad Mendes, Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira, Cub Swanson

Sure, Mendes has been unsuccessful in three title bids but he gave his opponent some serious trouble in his last two. He’s not the best striker but has heavy hands and chains them into his takedowns.

Holloway and Oliveira are both streaking fighters who are jacks of all trades and a king of one. Holloway is a fantastic, rangy fighter with beautiful footwork and boxing while Oliveira is a functional striker with an absolutely lethal ground game.

Cub Swanson may have lost his last two fights but it’s worth remembering that it was to Frankie Edgar the aforementioned Holloway who is really coming into his own. Other than that he owns wins over Dennis Siver, Dustin Poirier, Jeremy Stephens, and Charles Oliveira.

That’s enough to keep him at contender status. Ask yourself this: if the challenger to Jose Aldo got hurt and you needed a replacement, would you complain that it was Swanson?

Middle Tier – Ricardo Lamas, Dennis Bermudez, Jeremy Stephens, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Dennis Siver, Nick Lentz

All are fighters who are talented, have some big wins and big losses, but overall I can’t see them competing for the title any time soon.

The fighter I most likely have to justify is Ricardo Lamas.

Sure he’s ranked high on the UFC rankings but who is his biggest win? A pre-resurgence Cub Swanson? Hatsu Hioki? Erik Koch? While his losses are just as much of a mismatch (Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes) it showed that Lamas can’t strike worth a damn. Hell Hacran Dias was able to hurt him on the feet and I rank him on tier lower.

Match him up against anyone in the contender class (even Swanson) and he wouldn’t stand a chance.

Low Tier – Hacran Dias, Clay Guida

Here’s a great example of the variants in the class.

Hacran Dias isn’t a bad fighter, he’s just inexperienced. It also didn’t help that his second and third fights were against Nik Lentz and Ricardo Lamas of all people. He’s got holes in his game but he’s earned two decision victories in his last two fights, so his career isn’t over yet.

I love Clay Guida but let’s admit it: even at his best, Guida wasn’t a fantastic fighter. Similar to Lamas, Guida couldn’t strike. That’s not to say he couldn’t hit with power (knockdowns against Huerta and Kawajiri prove otherwise) but he really doesn’t know how to strike on the feet. Unlike Lamas he cannot rely on his strength and instead needs “pace” which just isn’t working anymore.

Not only is Guida losing to middle tier fighters but he isn’t even looking competitive. In my opinion his win over Kawajiri was lucky as his style was tailor made to beat the aging, spacing dependent fighter but then got immediately choked out by Dennis Bermudez.

I would appreciate criticisms and commentary being directed at the system itself rather than my placement of the fighters!

Siri Karri

Siri is a mixed martial arts and video game aficionado, but only had the physique for the latter. Proudly goofy and reluctantly pudgy, he tackles writing in the same way he tackles a burger; enthusiastically but with adult supervision.