Bloody Elbow Rankings: A Historical Look

by CrowCrucifix on Dec 29, 2010 4:44 PM EST

Bloody Elbow began their rankings in January 2008. These rankings were a compilation of many different sources. Now, with three years worth of data, I take a look at some select fighters and trends in weight classes.

One of the hardest things to do in MMA is to stay at the top. Take a look at how the original #1 ranked fighters (minus GSP and A. Silva who remained #1) have progressed over time.

Ever wonder how the current #1 fighters arrived at their top spots? To give perspective, Georges St. Pierre was ranked the #1 Welterweight before Cain Velasquez was even a blip on the radar.

One theme that is always present in MMA, is that the most skilled fighters are in lower weight classes. If a measure of that was top10 stability, then look at the difference between Some top fighters from 2008 Heavyweight and Welterweight through 2010. (Note: Jake Shields decline in Welterweight rankings was due to him competing in the Middleweight division)

UFC contains a large percentage of the 25 ranked fighters of the 5 weight divisions. But was it always so? Below you can see the quantity of ranked fighters either in the UFC or outside (labeled "Others") per year per weight class. As you can see, even though the UFC has had a lockdown on Welterweight and Light Heavyweight talent over the last three years, it was only in this recent year they surpassed all other promotions in Lightweight and Heavyweight.

This is just a preliminary viewing of trends in rankings over the last three years using only Bloody Elbow's rankings. I'd like to do another installment analyzing other interesting trends. If anyone has other databases of interesting information or suggestions for interesting topics, post in the comments.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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Deserves more than a quick high five but Im in a rush. Great post man! Interesting stuff to look at! Rec’d!

by GeeDub on Dec 29, 2010 5:55 PM EST reply actions

Great work.

Breen just tweeted this fanpost.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
Reasoning will never make a man correct an ill opinion, which by reasoning he never acquired. -Jonathan Swift

by Scott C. Broussard on Dec 29, 2010 6:39 PM EST reply actions

That's a pretty sweet endorsement.

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by Neil Manich on Dec 30, 2010 12:07 AM EST up reply actions

very cool stuff

by ryan daut on Dec 29, 2010 6:42 PM EST reply actions

Very interesting, and very cool idea

Rec’d sir

by Shaun32887 on Dec 29, 2010 7:47 PM EST reply actions

When looking at percentage of top fighters in the UFC vs. outside it, how about actually giving rankings some significance? At the moment, #25 is worth as much as #1. If one promotion has #1 – #12, but #13-25 are outside that promotion, there are still more top-25 fighters outside than inside. If I had access to the stats you used, I’d see how the numbers would go if you gave #1 25 points, #2 24 points, and so on, all the way down to 1 point for #25. That, or something similar, would give a better picture of where the top talent is, I think.

by Simen on Dec 29, 2010 8:27 PM EST reply actions

quantity vs. quality

The above graph displays the “quantity” information. The “quality” information (doing what you described) doesn’t change the overall trend. There is a slight benefit to the UFC in the quality chart, but without looking for it you wouldn’t even be able to tell. This really speaks to the distribution of quality fighters in and out of the UFC is proportional to their skill.

by CrowCrucifix on Dec 30, 2010 2:05 PM EST up reply actions