UFC CEO Dana White has been critical of the UFC rankings system for years. Moving away from the traditional rankings compiled from media members, the fight promotion announced on Monday an AI generated ranking system powered by Meta.
“As of June 22, 2026, the UFC will begin the transition of its official rankings from the traditional media panel towards Meta UFC Rankings, offering an innovative new approach to rankings determined entirely by fight data. In close collaboration, the two organizations came together to develop a new methodology for an objective and clear UFC athlete ranking system that fans and athletes can understand and trust,” the fight promotion said in a press release.
“I’ve been unhappy with the rankings and always believed there had to be a better way,” said UFC President and CEO Dana White. “We’ve always been a company that runs toward technology and innovation and now we’ve worked with Meta to integrate it directly into our rankings system. I’m excited to see how this innovation can help change the sport for both the fans and the athletes.”
“I’m excited to work with Dana and the UFC to build a system that analyzes fighter performance at a much deeper level, helping create more transparent and accurate rankings,” said Meta Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
The Meta UFC Rankings will be automatically calculated and updated by Monday following every official UFC event.
UFC to keep old ranking system as well
With the new “Meta Rankings,” the UFC will have two ranking systems. The media panel rankings will continue to be update on the Tuesday after events and posted on the UFC website.
“I’m going to have both. I’m still going to do human, non-human, however you want to look at it, rankings. And I think neither will be perfect, but, you know, it will get us closer,” White said during the UFC Vegas 119 Post-Fight Press Conference over the weekend.
