While the main purpose of this blog is to explore business concepts as they relate to the MMA Industry, I'm still a hugely opinionated MMA fan who rarely agrees with published rankings. One format that I do respect, is the US Today Consensus rankings. Here is a quote from Bloodyelbow.com which further explains the Consensus methodology:
"We collect and average the rankings of the top MMA websites to produce our consensus rankings. We compile the top MMA rankings from each of our sources and award 25 points for a first place ranking, 16 for a 10th place ranking, 1 for a 25th place ranking. A formula is used to “normalize” the data so all fighters are awarded points from those lists that do not include a full 25 fighters. This formula ensures that each ranking site awards the same number of total points regardless of how many fighters they choose to rank. Each fighter’s total is divided by the number of possible points to determine their standing in the Consensus Rankings."
I really like this method because it pulls from reputable sources and does a great job of smoothing out the results without too much reliance on any one person's opinion. Therefore, I've decided to use these rankings as a starting point each month with a few adjustments based on head-to-head match-ups, record against the top 25, and a little bit of common sense. My stance regarding rankings is that, rather than awarding points for past achievements, they should capture a moment in time in which every fighter ranked above another would be favored to win in a match taking place on that very day.
I will update these rankings at least once per month and will always welcome a healthy debate. Complete rankings by weight class after the jump.
