MMA Fighting's survey of the 130 fights since UFC 100 finds some alarming indicators:
According to the numbers, UFC fights these days are most likely to go to the judges' scorecards. Sixty of the 130 bouts did so, with 41 unanimous decisions, 16 split decisions, one majority decision and two draws.
Combining knockouts and TKOs is the next most common fight finish, with 41 of 130 bouts (31.5 percent) concluding in such a manner (15 KOs, 26 TKOs).
Submissions closed out 28 of the bouts (21.5 percent), while there was only one disqualification.
The 46% decision rate MMA Fighting has found breaks from the historic 30.9% of fights that went to the judges from UFC 1 to UFC 100. Mike Chiappetta finds this to be cause for alarm:
According to Sherdog.com's historical stat archives, only 17 percent of all fights in MMA history have ended via decision. While UFC has always had a slightly higher rate of decisions, the rise to nearly half of all matches is alarming.
Our own Mike Fagan has deconstructed previous statistical claims that the sky was falling in the past but there seems to be a bit more data behind this trend.