FightMetric to Be the UFC's Official Statistics Provider

From the FightMetric blog:

FightMetric® is now the official statistics provider of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®), supplying the world's first comprehensive mixed martial arts (MMA) statistics and analysis system to the largest MMA organization in the world. The inclusion of official FightMetric data into the evaluation of both fights and fighters will, for the first time ever, provide media members and fans with a chance to track the history and performance of UFC competitors beyond simple wins and losses.

The FightMetric system utilizes a precise and scientific methodology to analyze MMA bouts across 67 statistical categories, encompassing all strikes, takedowns, submissions, and position changes. In addition to raw statistics, FightMetric is at the vanguard of advanced MMA analytics, creating a proprietary algorithm to produce an overall Effectiveness Score and pioneering the use of other metrics to foster greater understanding of how MMA bouts are fought.

"We are very proud to be the official statistics provider of the UFC, who we have worked closely with for several years," said Rami Genauer, FightMetric creator. "As the industry-leader in MMA statistics, FightMetric is poised to provide its unique brand of combat intelligence to the biggest mixed martial arts organization in the world. We are also thrilled to bring enhanced use of our statistics to the new design of their website."

This is instant wood for true fight nerds. 

It's important to note that FightMetric will NOT be providing data to judges between rounds as some had assumed.

Subo from WKR enthuses:

I have been on a soapbox for a while now insisting that FightMetric become the CompuStrike of the UFC.  Part of this is how terrible CompuStrike is (witness their statistics during Showtime combat sports events), and part of it is how thorough, dedicated and accurate Rami's site has consistently proven to be (although we still disagree over Bisping/Hamill).  This is great news for them, the UFC and MMA fans everywhere that want to see MMA make the jump from niche to mainstream.    

MMA Payout adds:

Statistics legitimize the validity of a sport. In every game, race or match, there are categories which detail who won and why. The UFC has finally partnered with a statistics provider to enhance the fan experience. Strikeforce and HD Net Fights have already caught on with MMA statistics by partnering with New York based Compustrike.

There are many fans that like numbers and having statistics will appeal to this fan base. For the analytical fans, one can look at a fighter's history and determine their strengths and weaknesses. Look for the UFC to integrate Fightmetric's comprehensive statistics in its broadcasts, live fight analysis and  fighter profiles. Perhaps we'll see fighter-type baseball cards with stats on the back in the future.