The Best Lightweights in MMA History: All-Time Rankings (Updated)
In response to this article posted at Sherdog today, I thought I’d show All-Time MMA Rankings for the Lightweight division in detail and how it has trended in the past 3 years (using current version):
| 3 Years Ago | Today | Diff | |
| BJ Penn | 2790 | 2944 | 5.5% |
| Frankie Edgar | 2300 | 2845 | 23.7% |
| Takanori Gomi | 3249 | 2714 | -16.5% |
| Ben Henderson | 263 | 2709 | 930.0% |
| Gilbert Melendez | 1470 | 2141 | 45.6% |
| Shinya Aoki | 2061 | 2136 | 3.6% |
| Anthony Pettis | 48 | 1795 | 3639.6% |
| Joachim Hansen | 1509 | 1521 | 0.8% |
| Vitor Ribeiro | 1463 | 1460 | -0.2% |
| Eddie Alvarez | 860 | 1340 | 55.8% |
Everyone that stayed steady or increased slightly only saw fluctuations based on changes in ratings of key opposition or additional points earned between then and the end of their Lightweight runs.
Gomi got hit hard, because the system thought he was basically done three years ago. On today’s run, it re-considered and suggested he was still at or near his prime when it saw him under-perform once hitting the UFC; essentially proving that he wasn’t all he was cracked up to be at one time. Note: I try to disqualify post-prime failures, but it is not completely preventable.
In the past month, we’ve worked on some tweaks for the All-Time Rankings. As fighter careers last longer (time-wise) we’ve seen the need to put more weight on quality and less weight on quantity. Honestly, this is pretty subjective, but there’s no great way to do All-Time Rankings unless you look at sums or peaks and neither works great on its own. Nevertheless, the same version was used in both sets provided above.
EDIT: Re-posted and re-explained. Today values were incorrect.
Current MMA Rankings Updated (01-11-2015)
Notable Info
- This will be the last set of current rankings featuring Cain Velasquez until he fights again. He will surpass the 450 day inactivity threshold this week.
Current MMA Rankings Updated (12-31-2014)
Notable Info
- End-of-the-year ranking update.
The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 6 (Final)
The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 1 | #25 – #15
The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 2 | #14 – #10
The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 3 | #9 – #5
The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 4 | #4 – #3
The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 5 | #2
If you missed the first parts, you can visit w/ the links above.
#1…
The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 5
#25 – #15: The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 1
#14 – #10: The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 2
#9 – #5: The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 3
#4 – #3: The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 4
If you missed the first parts, you can visit w/ the links above.
#2…
The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 4
#25 – #15: The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 1
#14 – #10: The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 2
#9 – #5: The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 3
If you missed the first parts, you can visit w/ the links above.
#4 – Chad Mendes (Rep Avg: #121.3 | Fight Matrix: #48)
Mendes is taking the Jon Fitch road, but at 145. Practically glued to the Top 5, tons of top-quality fights and wins while fighting for the UFC, but just can’t get over the hump to win the gold. Having him outside of the Top 100 is absolutely ridiculous.