Tag: FightMetric

UFC Teams With FightMetric and MMA Media to Create Sort-of-Official Fighter Rankings


(“In my unbiased opinion as an MMA journalist, Chael Sonnen is the #1-ranked fighter at *all* weight classes. In addition, he has the biggest arm and does the most harm.” Photo via Fuel TV.)

For the first time ever, the UFC will publish fighter ranking lists in each of their weight divisions. The new rankings will be generated by FightMetric, in collaboration with a wide range of media members. Here’s the scoop, via a press release on UFC.com:

FightMetric®, the official statistics provider of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®), will continue to enhance fans experience by providing UFC Fighter Rankings. UFC Fighter Rankings by FightMetric will poll opinions from sports media worldwide and will be recognized by the UFC and integrated into its broadcast and featured on UFC.com. Voting will be open to media immediately after each live event with results made available to UFC.com within 24 hours.

“We are thrilled to have UFC recognize our fighter rankings and to have them hosted on UFC.com, as well as incorporated into event broadcasts. FightMetric has worked closely with the UFC for several years as an industry-leader in MMA statistics. Sports fans are accustomed to seeing performance data and rankings on their favorite baseball, football and soccer players, and now we can engage UFC fans on a similar level,” said FightMetric creator Rami Genauer.

“UFC Fighter Rankings are a great tool for new and existing fans alike to learn and better keep up with the fast pace of the UFC,” said UFC President Dana White. “We always look for opportunities to engage fans and media, allowing them to connect and voice their opinions, and this just one more way of doing that.”


(“In my unbiased opinion as an MMA journalist, Chael Sonnen is the #1-ranked fighter at *all* weight classes. In addition, he has the biggest arm and does the most harm.” Photo via Fuel TV.)

For the first time ever, the UFC will publish fighter ranking lists in each of their weight divisions. The new rankings will be generated by FightMetric, in collaboration with a wide range of media members. Here’s the scoop, via a press release on UFC.com:

FightMetric®, the official statistics provider of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®), will continue to enhance fans experience by providing UFC Fighter Rankings. UFC Fighter Rankings by FightMetric will poll opinions from sports media worldwide and will be recognized by the UFC and integrated into its broadcast and featured on UFC.com. Voting will be open to media immediately after each live event with results made available to UFC.com within 24 hours.

“We are thrilled to have UFC recognize our fighter rankings and to have them hosted on UFC.com, as well as incorporated into event broadcasts. FightMetric has worked closely with the UFC for several years as an industry-leader in MMA statistics. Sports fans are accustomed to seeing performance data and rankings on their favorite baseball, football and soccer players, and now we can engage UFC fans on a similar level,” said FightMetric creator Rami Genauer.

“UFC Fighter Rankings are a great tool for new and existing fans alike to learn and better keep up with the fast pace of the UFC,” said UFC President Dana White. “We always look for opportunities to engage fans and media, allowing them to connect and voice their opinions, and this just one more way of doing that.”

Media members will vote for top fighters, currently active in the UFC, by weight class and pound-for-pound. A fighter can only appear in one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champions of each division are set in the first and second positions respectively and are not eligible for voting by media. However, champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings. Media voting is by invitation only and interested media members can apply at UFC.com/Rankings.

The UFC’s creation of public rankings is a smart move for two reasons: 1) The rankings will add another mark of legitimacy to a sport that is still battling for public acceptance, and 2) As Dana White mentioned in the release, they’ll help fans — and not just causal fans — keep up with the growing rosters and weight divisions under the promotion’s control. You’d have to be a die-hard fan to know which bantamweights are outside the top-five at any given moment, for example. These rankings will help keep fans clued in, especially when they’re trying to figure out who’s worth watching during the next UFC on FOX Sports 2 card.

So will these rankings have any effect on future UFC matchups, and which fighters get title shots? Not exactly. “Regardless of the rankings, I’ll put together the fights the people want to see,” White reportedly said yesterday, according to Ariel Helwani. So think of them as more of a promotional, informational tool provided by 90 journalists who are on relatively good terms with the UFC, rather than a literal, unbiased look at the pecking order in each division.

We’ll let you know when our application is rejected  : (

UFC Teams with FightMetric to Provide UFC Fighter Rankings

Fighter rankings are one of the most discussed topics in mixed martial arts. Fans and pundits love to compile their own rankings and vehemently argue why their rankings are correct and all others are so very wrong.  The UFC has always been reluctant to put forth its own set of official rankings, but that will […]

Fighter rankings are one of the most discussed topics in mixed martial arts. Fans and pundits love to compile their own rankings and vehemently argue why their rankings are correct and all others are so very wrong.  The UFC has always been reluctant to put forth its own set of official rankings, but that will […]

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Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez: A Look at the FightMetric Numbers

Statistics can be an effective way of manipulating an audience into thinking something that you want them to. Unless you know what you’re looking at, statistics can be deceptive enough to convince you to believe something other than what you saw with your own eyes. At UFC 155, Cain Velasquez met Junior dos Santos in […]

Statistics can be an effective way of manipulating an audience into thinking something that you want them to. Unless you know what you’re looking at, statistics can be deceptive enough to convince you to believe something other than what you saw with your own eyes. At UFC 155, Cain Velasquez met Junior dos Santos in […]

CagePotato Databomb #1: How UFC Fights End by Division


(Click chart for full-size version.)

By Reed Kuhn, @Fightnomics

Other than Kenny Florian, who finishes fights? Let’s settle it once and for all. Using data provided by FightMetric, we looked at how every UFC fight ended from 2007 through the first half of 2012 — a total of 1438 total fights, excluding three flyweight contests — and then divvy’d it up by weight class to determine percentages for each method. For the first time ever, all these stats are in one place, in the chart above. Boom — you’ve just been databombed.

The conclusion: Size matters. Stoppages increase steadily by weight class; but while striking finish rates correlate strongly with increasing weight, submissions have a weaker, negative correlation. Keep in mind that bantamweights and featherweights have a short history in the UFC so far, so expect some possible smoothing out of those division trends over the next year.

Do any of these results surprise you? Next time the local Bullshido expert tells the bar that his favorite featherweight will finish the next fight, bet him the next round of drinks that it’ll go to the cards.

For more science and stats of MMA, follow @Fightnomics on Twitter or on Facebook. See MMA analytical research at www.fightnomics.com.


(Click chart for full-size version.)

By Reed Kuhn, @Fightnomics

Other than Kenny Florian, who finishes fights? Let’s settle it once and for all. Using data provided by FightMetric, we looked at how every UFC fight ended from 2007 through the first half of 2012 — a total of 1438 total fights, excluding three flyweight contests — and then divvy’d it up by weight class to determine percentages for each method. For the first time ever, all these stats are in one place, in the chart above. Boom — you’ve just been databombed.

The conclusion: Size matters. Stoppages increase steadily by weight class; but while striking finish rates correlate strongly with increasing weight, submissions have a weaker, negative correlation. Keep in mind that bantamweights and featherweights have a short history in the UFC so far, so expect some possible smoothing out of those division trends over the next year.

Do any of these results surprise you? Next time the local Bullshido expert tells the bar that his favorite featherweight will finish the next fight, bet him the next round of drinks that it’ll go to the cards.

For more science and stats of MMA, follow @Fightnomics on Twitter or on Facebook. See MMA analytical research at www.fightnomics.com.

[VIDEO] Clay Guida and Gray Maynard Verbally Spar Backstage on Dana White’s UFC 147 Vlog


(Dan Miragliotta explains to Guida the maximum amount of miles allowed to run in the octagon without penalty.) 

After a brief hiatus, Dana White has returned with the daily dose of heartbreak that is the Danavlog to remind us all of the downsides of being a f*cking fighter. Thankfully, not all of us take the phrase as literally as Brazilians do. But the main lesson we took away from today’s episode is simple: what you don’t pay in gym fees, you will more than make up for in blood. Nick Catone, Joey Gambino, and Ross Pearson were just a few of the men to walk away from their bouts with some gruesome lacerations and another (or in Gambino’s case, a first) loss on their record. A tough day at the office indeed.

“Boring,” and “sucked” were just a couple of words that White used to describe the five round affair between Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, a sentiment that most fans seemed to agree with when all was said and done. And regardless of who you thought won that fight, you could probably understand a little bit of Gray’s frustration with the Steve Prefontainian conundrum that Guida brought to the octagon. This frustration became all the more apparent when the two met backstage, where some less than positive remarks were exchanged between the two camps. Oddly enough, it all began when Guida uncharacteristically complained about the judges decision, despite the fact that Napoleon was closer to conquering Russia than Guida ever was to finishing that fight, or even attempting to for that matter.

Video after the jump. 


(Dan Miragliotta explains to Guida the maximum amount of miles allowed to run in the octagon without penalty.) 

After a brief hiatus, Dana White has returned with the daily dose of heartbreak that is the Danavlog to remind us all of the downsides of being a f*cking fighter. Thankfully, not all of us take the phrase as literally as Brazilians do. But the main lesson we took away from today’s episode is simple: what you don’t pay in gym fees, you will more than make up for in blood. Nick Catone, Joey Gambino, and Ross Pearson were just a few of the men to walk away from their bouts with some gruesome lacerations and another (or in Gambino’s case, a first) loss on their record. A tough day at the office indeed.

“Boring,” and “sucked” were just a couple of words that White used to describe the five round affair between Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, a sentiment that most fans seemed to agree with when all was said and done. And regardless of who you thought won that fight, you could probably understand a little bit of Gray’s frustration with the Steve Prefontainian conundrum that Guida brought to the octagon. This frustration became all the more apparent when the two met backstage, where some less than positive remarks were exchanged between the two camps. Oddly enough, it all began when Guida uncharacteristically complained about the judges decision, despite the fact that Napoleon was closer to conquering Russia than Guida ever was to finishing that fight, or even attempting to for that matter.


(Things start to get interesting around the 8:26 mark.) 

I know this will earn me a lot of hate (then again, what doesn’t), but when you want to jab and jog your way to victory, as was obviously Guida’s plan going into last Friday’s fight, I can’t really empathize when the judges bite you in the ass for doing so. Relying on the judges to determine the correct outcome of a fight (especially one that was that close) is akin to career suicide in MMA considering their time-tested incompetence, so Guida has no one to blame but himself (and maybe Greg Jackson) for the inevitable result of doing so. I say this as a Guida fan.

Just check out the Fightmetric stats if you want to see how close of a fight this truly was.

Granted, Fightmetric results don’t often tell the whole story, but my God, talk about an abysmal efficiency rate. All of the rounds were decided by such a small difference that it would be hard to make the case that either fighter was clearly deserving of the judges nod. So basically, who you feel won the fight likely comes down to your view of the terms “aggression” and “octagon control.” I’ll give Guida this, he implemented a frustrating gameplan that Maynard had little to no answer for the first couple of rounds. As things progressed, however, Guida just fell short in terms of effectiveness. Let the cries of “TUF noob” and “incompetent jackass” begin.

–J. Jones

Body Shots Don’t Win Fights: Fabio Maldonado Outstrikes Igor Pokrajac 166-64, Still Loses


(Brazilian boy can’t get no love? / Props: enlapelea.com)

Fabio Maldonado should have learned his lesson in his fight against Kyle Kingsbury last June — if the judges refuse to count body punches as “effective damage,” you might as well just start head-hunting and grunting and hope for the best. Once again, the Brazilian light-heavyweight put on a body-shot clinic in his bout against Igor Pokrajac at last night’s UFC event, and once again he wound up with a unanimous decision loss, with one judge inexplicably handing all three rounds to the Croatian. Many observers called this one a robbery, and you can understand why if you look a little closer at the striking totals. According to FightMetric…

– Round 1: Maldonado out-landed Pokrajac 36-6 in significant strikes, 47-16 overall.

– Round 2: Maldonado out-landed Pokrajac 26-13 in significant strikes, 60-18 overall.

– Round 3: Maldonado out-landed Pokrajac 36-17 in significant strikes, 59-30 overall.

– Overall: Maldonado’s success-rate for significant strikes was 72% (98 of 137), compared to 45% for Pokrajac (36 of 80). The final overall striking total was 166-64 in Maldonado’s favor.


(Brazilian boy can’t get no love? / Props: enlapelea.com)

Fabio Maldonado should have learned his lesson in his fight against Kyle Kingsbury last June — if the judges refuse to count body punches as “effective damage,” you might as well just start head-hunting and grunting and hope for the best. Once again, the Brazilian light-heavyweight put on a body-shot clinic in his bout against Igor Pokrajac at last night’s UFC event, and once again he wound up with a unanimous decision loss, with one judge inexplicably handing all three rounds to the Croatian. Many observers called this one a robbery, and you can understand why if you look a little closer at the striking totals. According to FightMetric…

– Round 1: Maldonado out-landed Pokrajac 36-6 in significant strikes, 47-16 overall.

– Round 2: Maldonado out-landed Pokrajac 26-13 in significant strikes, 60-18 overall.

– Round 3: Maldonado out-landed Pokrajac 36-17 in significant strikes, 59-30 overall.

– Overall: Maldonado’s success-rate for significant strikes was 72% (98 of 137), compared to 45% for Pokrajac (36 of 80). The final overall striking total was 166-64 in Maldonado’s favor.

Of course, some of Pokrajac’s shots ranked among the most effective of the match, and he did score a takedown in round 1, but was Pokrajac’s strike-quality really enough to overcome Maldonado’s overwhelming advantage in quantity? And are body-shots the new leg-kicks, in terms of MMA judges not giving them enough credit?

Sketchy decision aside, Maldonado vs. Pokrajac was a highly entertaining scrap that was a clear front-runner for UFC on FUEL 3‘s Fight of the Night award — until Zombie vs. Poirier came along and snatched the bonuses away at the buzzer. Tough break(s), Fabio…