Hey Guys,

So thanks for everyone who gave me some feedback on the UFC fantasy league ideas. I’ve hashed out the rules with all the guys in the league, and I’ve copied them below the jump if anyone is interested. I also created a ‘draft guide’ that ranks the entire UFC roster based on 2010 results, and also includesa  column for ‘next fight’ for anyone who has their next fight scheduled…

If anyone is doing their own UFC Fantasy leagues, let me know what you’re doing, I’m curious. I’ll post periodically to give updates on how this system works, if anyone cares!

-Steve

2011 UFC Fantasy League Rules

General Rules

1. League will be 8 teams, 'season' runs from Feb 1- Jan 31st each year.
2. Each drafted team must consist of at least one fighter in each of the seven UFC weight classes.  Weight class eligibility will be determined by the weight at which a fighter has/had: most recent fight, or next scheduled fight, or presence in  SBNation most recent consenus rankings: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/rankings;
3. Some fighters will be eligible in multiple weight classes, and team owner must announce which weight class they will be representing. 
4. Aggregated score updates will be sent out by league commissioner after every UFC event
5. Draft order will be randomly selected 2 weeks prior to Draft date.

Draft Rules

1. Draft will be 13 rounds, alternating between players, and 'wrapping' at the end of each round of drafting. i.e. whoever gets eighth pick will also get the ninth pick, whoever gets first pick will get 16th and then 17th picks, etc.
2. Each player/team will have 75 seconds to make their pick.
3. At end of each year, teams will be able to keep any one fighter from their drafted team for the next season (only those selected 6th round or later).  Keeping a fighter will result in forfeit of the last round pick.  This decision must be announced immediately prior to the start of the draft.

Scoring Rules

Scoring for the league will be governed by the following system, with the goal being to:

• Compensate for 'strength of schedule' by scaling the score based on where a fight takes place.  For example, a win in a preliminary fight that's not even part of the PPV broadcast should be worth a lot less than a main event or title fight.  This way, Cody McKenzie gets fewer points for choking out Aaron Wilkinson on TUF Finale than Brock Lesnar gets for choking out Shane Carwin to win the UFC Title.
• Further reward fighters for beating a ‘ranked’ opponent
• Reward fighters for convincing wins and finishing fights - so a submission or TKO gets more points than a unanimous decision, which gets more points than a split decision.  Also gave additional bonuses for fighters who earned 'fight of the night', 'knockout of the night' or 'submission of the night' honors
• Reward fighters who are particularly active by giving them total points for the year (as opposed to points per fight)

Points per Fight = (‘Placement on card’ + ‘Ranked Win Bonus’) X (Fight Result)

Placement on Card:

Preliminary on any card             3

Main Card Free show               4 

Main Card PPV  Show             5   

Main Event Free Show             5   

Main Event PPV Show             6  

Title Fight                                 7   

Ranked Win Bonus:

Bonus Factor = (26 – (Opponent’s Ranking))  /  8

Fight Result:

Draw                                        2

Split Dec                                  3

Win by DQ                              3

Unanimous Decision                 5

KO/TKO Win                          8

Submission Win                        8

Loss                                         (-8)

Example: Knockout win in a fight that's on the main card of a PPV show, when the knocked-out opponent is ranked 10th in the consensus rankings:

 (5+((26-10)/8) *8 = 7*8 = 64 points

Additional Bonuses:

11 pts for Fight of the Night

5 pts for Knockout of the Night

5 pts for Submission of the Night

6 points for losing a title fight  ---- [I thought a fighter deserved credit for making it to the title fight even if they didn't win]

Add/Drop/Trade Fighter Rules

1. Players/Teams may choose to add/drop fighters at any time, with the following restrictions:
2. Players must wait 10 days after a fighter's most recent fight before they can be dropped.
3. Any fighter being added must not have a fight scheduled (with wikipedia being the accepted source for fight announcements/rumors) within 30 days of the add/drop
4. There is a limit of 13 total roster moves that may be made by any given team during each year of the League.
5. If there are multiple claims on the same fighter, they will be settled based on who submitted the first claim; if two claims were pending the 10 day window of fighters who fought on the same card, the team with fewer total points gets first opportunity to add/drop fighters. 
6. Any fighters may be traded between teams at any time; Trade are subject to approval by the league, where any trade can be halted if 2 or more teams veto the trade as ‘intentionally unequal' within 48 hours of notification.  Trades should only be vetoed if they are being made as the result of some agreement designed to intentionally upset the competitive balance of the league.