Use of Heatmaps and Motion tracking in UFC

[So Fresh]

Why didn't Michael Johnson defeat Beniel Dariush at UFC Fight Night 73? The question isn't meant to evaluate whether we personally agree with the judges awarding Dariush the split decision victory, but rather, why there was controversy in the first place? The judges themselves were not unanimous and neither was the audience watching. If there's smoke, is there also verifiable fire?

It turns out, we might be able to tap into what drives the belief among some that Johnson deserved the nod if we look at more than just the aggregate striking totals. After all, those numbers are very close and while important, don't settle the debate in and of themselves.

For most observers, there is general agreement Johnson's striking was more effective in the first while Dariush the clear winner of the third, leaving the second round the epicenter of the dispute. Johnson outlanded Dariush numerically in that frame, but it was perhaps spatially that tells us the most about what happened in that round with the help of Fightmetric's new 'heatmaps', a new data visualization tool that displays the movement of each fighter over the course of a round in the UFC:

http://www.mmafighting.com/2015/8/16/9161835/heat-maps-and-the-next-frontier-in-fight-data

This is kinda interessting. I'm not sure it would really help in judging, but it's good information.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

Or the Judges could just, you know, watch the fight? lol

Interesting tho.

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

thats some cool data. dont think it aids at all in judging who won a fight, but it is interesting to look at, especially since that stupid 'octagon control' line is still spewed out in UFC 'rules'.

 

[SnowBlynd]

That heat map seems kind of gimmicky. And fightmetric is terrible at calculating significant strikes. I don't use that as a reference even when it supports my argument.

 

[Post 2 Decision]

I hate when close fights have idiots screaming robbery

Pearson vs Sanchez
Spencer vs Pendred

real robberies

 

[MilesAbove]

There is no correlation to movement and winning a fight. Depending upon your strategy and style, you may be stationary, actively attacking, or actively baiting to counter. Each of these have subsets of movement that require different types of footwork.

Judges need to score the fight as a whole and ACTUALLY WATCH THE FIGHT. The judgement should be "If I was a participant in this fight, who would I rather be at the close?" THe winner is the fighter you would rather be. All these stats and philosophies is ridiculous.


However, just based on pure statistics and random general knowledge, I love the heatmaps. But it shouldn't be involved in judgement of any type.

 

[So Fresh]

There is no correlation to movement and winning a fight. Depending upon your strategy and style, you may be stationary, actively attacking, or actively baiting to counter. Each of these have subsets of movement that require different types of footwork.

Judges need to score the fight as a whole and ACTUALLY WATCH THE FIGHT. The judgement should be "If I was a participant in this fight, who would I rather be at the close?" THe winner is the fighter you would rather be. All these stats and philosophies is ridiculous.


However, just based on pure statistics and random general knowledge, I love the heatmaps. But it shouldn't be involved in judgement of any type.

My thoughts exactly

 

[Wadtucket]

Just stop having rounds and let them fight until either one gives up, goes unconscious or dies

Let Dana Caesar White decide after the fight whether the loser fought hard enough to be spared

 

[Moral Victory]

It's really nice, 189 had alot of nice new stuff i'd like to see again, but i guess every expense makes it a little harder for Dana to sleep at night.

 

[So Fresh]

It's really nice, 189 had alot of nice new stuff i'd like to see again, but i guess every expense makes it a little harder for Dana to sleep at night.

what else?

 

[CPH]

I'd like to see motion tracking used to see where fans are looking during weigh ins, at any given point it time. I think that the results would be hilarious.

 

[gameoverman]

Gloves with sensors would be a better idea

They already exist and would give a lot more data.

its probably better than this archaic system of just haveing a few judges spread around watching a fast paced fight and being expected to remember everything and scoring a fight.

 

[Toco]

Gloves with sensors would be a better idea

They already exist and would give a lot more data.

its probably better than this archaic system of just haveing a few judges spread around watching a fast paced fight and being expected to remember everything and scoring a fight.

this is pretty interesting

but i believe theyre costly, no?

 

[sggatecl]

this is pretty interesting

but i believe theyre costly, no?

Thankfully UFC has that Reebok money. :icon_lol:

 

[Sgt Smith]

I think they should just let sherdoggers judge all the fights. Canner could get KO'd and still win the fight. :icon_lol:

 

[gameoverman]

this is pretty interesting

but i believe theyre costly, no?

I'm not sure how costly or how safe they really are,I just know they exist.I doubt it would be that difficult to implement,especially for big fights.

Kicks and grappling would still need to be scored somehow as well so I guess we're stuck with this system for now

 

[Toco]

I'm not sure how costly or how safe they really are,I just know they exist.I doubt it would be that difficult to implement,especially for big fights.

Kicks and grappling would still need to be scored somehow as well so I guess we're stuck with this system for now

oh yeah the kicks

but would definitely help

 

[ocfightfan]

Interesting but I'm not sure what it does for us. It would be better to have a heat map of where the judges were looking during the fight. In fact I would like to see video of the action from the judges perspective for more insight into what they were looking at.