Power Ranking the 50 Best Fighters in MMA and UFC History | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Sophia Edwards Wins: Just like it sounds. The raw number of wins the fighter earned in his career. Top 5 among fighters considered:
- Dan Severn (100)
- Jeremy Horn (89)
- Igor Vovchancyn (55)
- Matt Hughes (45)
- Dave Menne (45)
Winning Percentage: What percentage of a fighter's bouts did he win during his career? This includes all bouts, whether taking on the world champion or a local scrub. Top 5 among fighters considered:
- Jose Aldo (.95)
- Dominick Cruz (.95)
- Jon Jones (.94)
- Junior dos Santos (.93)
- Georges St-Pierre (.92)
Winning Percentage Against Quality Opponents: This separates the men from the boys. When you matched up with a top 20 caliber opponent, how did you do? Top 5 among fighters considered:
- Jose Aldo (1.00)
- Junior dos Santos (1.00)
- Anderson Silva (.888)
- Jon Jones (.888)
- Georges St-Pierre (.875)
Quality Wins: Number of wins in your career against a top 20 caliber opponent. An opponent's current ranking is taken into consideration. For example, beating Dan Severn in 1995 is considered a quality win. Beating Dan Severn tonight is not. Top 5 among fighters considered:
- Dan Henderson (19)
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (17)
- Anderson Silva (16)
- Matt Hughes (16)
- Wanderlei Silva; Chuck Liddell (15)
Finishing Percentage: Calculates the percentage of your wins that come by way of knockout or submission. Top 5 among fighters considered:
- Masakatsu Funaki (.97)
- Alistair Overeem (.94)
- Andrei Arlovski (.94)
- Carlos Condit (.93)
- Evan Tanner (.91)
Wins in Title Fights/Tournaments: Winning or defending a title that can seriously make you a claimant as "best in the world. Winning a UFC, Pride, or other major world level tournament. Top 5 among fighters considered:
- Anderson Silva (12)
- Randy Couture (9)
- Matt Hughes (9)
- Georges St-Pierre (9)
- Fedor Emelianenko (7)
Statistical Ranking: A combination of the above factors.
Expert Ranking: The average ranking of our expert panel.
With the categories explained, let's move on to the list. Special thanks to Rob Tatum for his help conceptualizing the statistical methods used in these tabulations.
