The Most Underrated MMA Fighters of All-Time: Part 1

For those of you who do not know, in addition to our Current MMA Rankings, we also feature an All-Time MMA Rankings that is updated every month (usually on the 2nd).

In an effort to mix it up heading into the new year, I’ve decided to compare our All-Time Absolute list to an average of a few other lists that I’ve found on the Internet, in order to bring attention to fighters who I believe are the most underrated in the history of MMA.

I feel an analysis of underrated fighters is more objective than an analysis of overrated fighters, as many fighters are given lofty positions in subjective lists due to an over-friendliness bestowed upon pioneer fighters, especially those who were under-sized.  As you probably know, our lists are based on actual results and it goes without saying that being the #1 Welterweight in 2014 means much more than being the #1 Welterweight in 2004 (for example).

Not surprisingly, it was tough to find (seemingly) reputable lists:

Crowd-sourcing Representative: Tapology Top 100 (2014-12-18)

“Peak” Mathematical Representative: MMA-ELO Top 25 (2014-11-01)

“Cumulative” Mathematical Representative: Sports-Ratings Top 250 (2014-03-31)

I would have loved to have added an “Expert” representative, but I could not find one readily available.

Methodology

– I am taking the average of a fighter’s ranks in the above three lists.  If a fighter is not in one of the lists, that rank is the maximum + 1.

– I am then subtracting the above average from the Fight Matrix ranking as of the last run.  A positive result = underrated.

– Finally, I am valuing “higher” ranks more than “lower” ranks.  Example:  A fighter with a representative average of #40 that we rank at #15, is a slightly more underrated fighter than one with a representative average of #230 that we rank at #90.  The break-even point is close to this though.

Value Formula: (519.83 / AvgOfTwoRanks) * DiffOfTwoRanks
519.83 = Max Sum of Two Averages seen in all fighters considered
AvgOfTwoRanks is rounded up
DiffOfTwoRanks is rounded down

#25 – #15

#25 – Junior dos Santos (Rep Avg: #28 | Fight Matrix: #20)

#24 – Jon Fitch (Rep Avg: #44.7 | Fight Matrix: #30)

Spending all of those years as #3 in one of the strongest divisions in the sport, sees you rack up the points.  Though, it is safe to say it is only downhill from here.

#23 – Mike Thomas Brown (Rep Avg: #84.3 | Fight Matrix: #56)

#22 – Dan Henderson (Rep Avg: #11.3 | Fight Matrix: #7)

With such a small difference, it becomes plain to see that I am clearly valuing discrepancies toward the top of the lists, much more so than lower in the lists.

#21 – Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Rep Avg: #14.7 | Fight Matrix: #9)

#20 – Randy Couture (Rep Avg: #16.3 | Fight Matrix: #10)

#19 – Vitor Ribeiro (Rep Avg: #64 | Fight Matrix: #41)

#18 – Joseph Benavidez (Rep Avg: #120.3 | Fight Matrix: #76)

#17 – Sean Sherk (Rep Avg: #46.7 | Fight Matrix: #29)

#16 – Renan Barao (Rep Avg: #100.7 | Fight Matrix: #63)

I was quite shocked to see Barao not ranked AT ALL in the Sports-Ratings list.  That fact alone essentially put his rep. average into the dumpster.  BTW, Benavidez was not ranked by Sports-Ratings either.  It seems their list has a huge bias against the smaller fighters.

#15 – Fabricio Werdum (Rep Avg: #35.3 | Fight Matrix: #21)

Oddly enough, Sports-Ratings has Werdum at #10.