Sage Northcutt vs. Bryan Barberena will be the lowest ranked fight ever on Fox

Jan 29, 2016
Richard Mann

This Saturday night, the UFC’s most recent supposed wunderkind, Sage Northcutt, will fight for the first time on a Fox main card.

This event will be the 18th UFC event on the network. Northcutt, who is currently ranked #133 at lightweight, will not be the lowest ranked fighter to ever compete on the network. That distinction belongs to Bobby Voelker who came in ranked #152 for UFC on Fox 8 in 2013. However, Northcutt’s fight against Bryan Barberena (#109 at lightweight) will be the lowest ranked bout to ever be part of a UFC on Fox main card.

The following table shows the ten lowest ranked bouts to appear on the main card of a UFC on Fox show. Average rank is simply the average of the fighter’s rankings taken from that event’s Fight Matrix Program.

Fighter 1 Fighter 2 Average Rank Event Date
Bryan Barberena Sage Northcutt 121 UFC on Fox 18 1/30/2016
Akira Corassani Sam Sicilia 91.5 UFC on Fox 14 1/24/2015
Bobby Voelker Robbie Lawler 81.5 UFC on Fox 8 7/27/2013
Matt Brown Mike Swick 60.5 UFC on Fox 5 12/8/2012
Joe Lauzon Mac Danzig 60 UFC on Fox 9 12/14/2013
Lavar Johnson Pat Barry 48.5 UFC on Fox 3 5/5/2012
Joe Lauzon Takanori Gomi 35 UFC on Fox 16 7/25/2015
Felice Herrig Paige VanZant 32.5 UFC on Fox 15 4/18/2015
Jamie Varner Joe Lauzon 30.5 UFC on Fox 4 8/4/2012
Edson Barboza Paul Felder 28 UFC on Fox 16 7/25/2015

As you can see, it is not particularly close. Saturday’s fight will be the first Fox bout to feature two fighters with triple-digit rankings. In fact, Northcutt and Barberena are two of the four lowest ranked fighters to ever grace a Fox main card.

The following table shows the ten lowest ranked fighters to appear on the main card of a UFC on Fox show.

Fighter Rank Event Date
Bobby Voelker 152 UFC on Fox 8 7/27/2013
Sage Northcutt 133 UFC on Fox 18 1/30/2016
Sam Sicilia 132 UFC on Fox 14 1/24/2015
Bryan Barberena 109 UFC on Fox 18 1/30/2016
DaMarques Johnson 102 UFC on Fox 4 8/4/2012
Mac Danzig 83 UFC on Fox 9 12/14/2013
Matt Brown 64 UFC on Fox 5 12/8/2012
Mike Swick 57 UFC on Fox 5 12/8/2012
Akira Corassani 51 UFC on Fox 14 1/24/2015
Pat Barry 50 UFC on Fox 3 5/5/2012

Other UFC on Fox Notes:

This Saturday, Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader will fight for the third time on a UFC on Fox main card. Eight other fighters have fought on a UFC on Fox main card at least three times: Demetrious Johnson (3), Benson Henderson (3), Joe Lauson (3), Josh Thomson (3), Junior dos Santos (3), Matt Brown (3), Donald Cerrone (4) and Nate Diaz (5)

There have been three #1 vs. #2 match ups on Fox: Demetrious Johnson vs. Joseph Benavidez (UFC on Fox 9), Rafael dos Anjos vs. Donald Cerrone (UFC on Fox 17) and T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao (UFC on Fox 16).

The main card of UFC on Fox 18 will have the lowest average ranking per fighter on any event on the network. The highest ranked man card, outside of the first event which only featured one fight, was UFC on Fox 6. The card featured five fighters ranked in the top ten.

The following chart shows the average fanking for the main cards of UFC on Fox shows.

Average Fight Matrix Ranking for UFC on Fox Main Cards

Richard Mann currently runs the data-driven MMA blog StrikeScoreMMA.com

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