A CROSS-SECTIONAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS AND PROJECTION OF THE UFC ATHLETE VOLUME ONE TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 8 INTRODUCTION 10 CHAPTER ONE: WINNING IN TODAY’S UFC 20 CHAPTER TWO: MAINTAINING HEALTHY ATHLETES AND REDUCING INJURIES 30 CHAPTER THREE: OPTIMIZING THE TRAINING PROCESS 36 CHAPTER FOUR: MANAGING THE TRAINING PROCESS 44 CHAPTER FIVE: PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS OF THE UFC ATHLETE 60 CHAPTER SIX: METABOLIC HEALTH THROUGH PERIODIZED PERFORMANCE NUTRITION 74 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE UFC PERFORMANCE PARADIGM 80 SUMMARY 4 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The creation of this journal, and further, the conceptualiza- tion and operation of the UFC Performance Institute, could not have been possible without the support of many key individuals along the way. On behalf of the UFC Performance Institute team, I’d like to thank former UFC Chief Executive Officer Lorenzo Fertitta, Endeavor Chief Executive Officer Ari Emanuel, UFC President Dana White, UFC Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein, UFC Chief Financial Officer Andrew Schleimer, former UFC Chief Global Brand Officer Garry Cook and Ardent Sports Managing Director Nick Smith. To the athletes, coaches, support staff, fans and media that comprise the MMA community, thank you for affording us the opportunity and the platform to serve you and to play a role in the evolution of the greatest sport on earth. JAMES KIMBALL VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS UFC PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE 6 7 INTRODUCTION FORREST GRIFFIN VICE PRESIDENT OF ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT Forrest Griffi n serves as Vice President of Athlete Development for UFC. Griffi n joined UFC’s front offi ce following a Hall of Fame career that included winning the inaugural season of the groundbreaking reality show The Ultimate Fighter® and capturing the light heavy- weight championship. In his current role, Griffi n is responsible for developing and executing key athlete-based initiatives, as well as supporting the conception, expansion, and implementation of the UFC Performance Institute. aving come to mixed martial arts from other Our team at the UFC Performance Institute does sports, I was surprised by the lack of an not have all of the answers. Yet. But we do have Hestablished, clear and concise method for the most comprehensive approach to asking how to physically prepare for MMA. Later in my the right questions and access to data to obtain career, when I could afford to, I attempted to de- the answers. velop a holistic training approach incorporating MMA skill training, strength and conditioning (led We’ve looked at historical fi ght trends to deter- by a coach with more than an online certifi cation), mine what it takes to win across every weight physical therapy and nutrition. This system, how- class in each gender. We’ve examined injuries ever, was not as effective as I had hoped. The that have occurred, when they occurred and ways reason was simple: lack of integration. There was to prevent them from happening again. We’ve no collaboration between coaches. Each coach worked to identify effective strategies for strength would ask 100% of me for every training session, and conditioning programming and periodization, irrespective of what training I had just completed in addition to the key physical attributes of the or what I was doing next. I knew I had all the right UFC athlete. We’ve analyzed statistics around pieces, but I was unable to structure them in a weight management, making weight and its effect cohesive manner that allowed me to perform at on performance. And most important, we’ve built an optimal level on fi ght night, rather than one or a performance paradigm refl ecting all of this in- two weeks before. formation, attempting to answer the very question that has eluded us all—simply put: how to train I was left, like most athletes and coaches at for MMA. the time, with more questions than answers. How does strength training integrate with MMA “Sharing best practices for performance optimiza- skill training? How many times do you have to tion with athletes and coaches around the world.” drill a skill before it is locked into your muscle memory? Is muscle memory a thing? How do That was our ambition for the UFC Performance fi ghters know what physical traits to work on out Institute when it was conceptualized three years of camp based on their individual fi ghting style? ago, and it remains our primary objective after our How long should a camp be? Where do babies fi rst year of operation. Working with hundreds of come from? You get the idea. Nobody could ever UFC athletes since we opened our doors has give me evidence-based answers that wholly allowed us to collect and analyze over 30,000 satisfi ed these questions. And that is because the various performance metrics and data points. canon of training for modern MMA had not yet This journal represents our fi ndings and beliefs. been defi ned. All of this to say I have an unhealthy obsession with fi nding the best, most effective way to train for MMA. 8 9 CHAPTER ONE: WINNING IN TODAY’S UFC CHAPTER ONE WINNING WITHOUT KNOWING YOUR DESTINATION, YOU HAVE NO DIRECTION IN TODAY’S UFC o win in any competition, having a clear understanding of Competition in the UFC has a complexity unlike any other sport. the goal or target defines your probability of success. Only With technical, tactical, physical and psychological components all T by identifying the level that must be achieved in order to affecting a framework that has different fighting styles, weight prevail can an individual acknowledge the standards that must be classes, gender differences, and the lack of a clearly defined ath- transcended for victory. Nowhere else is this more apparent than lete profile, UFC is among the world’s most complex sports. So during the chaos of the prize fight, where the margin between how do we best understand the destination that is a UFC World winning and losing is small. However, simply understanding a Championship, and what is the best way to get there? goal, target or destination is only part of any performance puzzle. Indeed, “understanding the height of a mountain is one thing, but To begin to define ‘What it Takes to Win’ in the UFC, we must understanding the shape of the mountain is crucial when deciding first seek to understand the characteristics of competition and the the best way to get to the top!” respective components that formulate the fight. Since 2002, over 3,900 individual UFC bouts have taken place, and this is where Consideration of the respective components that underpin winning we start our journey. We start at the ‘destination,’ and once we is critical if we are to accurately evaluate how challenging it will know where we are going, we can create the best pathway to get be to reach a required standard. So-called ‘determinants of perfor- there. Only then are we able to begin to define ‘What it Takes to mance’ are the variables that go into making a task, challenge or Win’ in today’s UFC. performance what it is; each variable has a direct influence on the level at which the target is set. These determinants of performance represent the individual building blocks of the performance itself, and collectively manipulate the level of the goal or performance standard. 10 11 CHAPTER ONE: WINNING IN TODAY’S UFC CHAPTER ONE: WINNING IN TODAY’S UFC FIGHT DURATION n 2002, the average duration of a UFC AVERAGE UFC FIGHT TIME (2002 - 2017) bout was 8:06. (see figure 1.1) Through 12:00 2008 there was little change, with fight 10:43 I 10:48 duration only increasing by 3.9%. After 9:36 2008 fight times steadily increased, with ) 8:06 8:24 fights in 2017 lasting on average 10:43. 7:12 MINUTES Throughout the 16-year period starting ( 10:54 6:00 LONGEST AVERAGE in 2002, UFC fights have gotten longer 4:48 TIME WAS IN 2016 by 2:37, a 32.2% change. With no major DURATION 3:36 7:55 changes in rules or regulations before 2017, 2:24 SHORTEST AVERAGE TIME WAS IN 2004 we can speculate why fights may last longer 1:12 (e.g. referees standing fighters up more, 0:00 the growing influence of defensive tech- 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 niques, athletes being better physically pre- Figure 1.1 pared, or greater parody in match making). Regardless, fighters and coaches must consider the implications that a longer fight may have on tactics, strategy and/or their approach to physical preparation. Importantly, when considering the average fight time by weight class, trends become apparent. (see figure 1.2) A near-linear incremental relationship in fight duration exists from heavyweights through to the light- est 115lb women strawweights (n.b. there is insufficient data for women’s 125lb and 145lb weight classes to be considered for analysis). The difference between heavy- weight and strawweight bout duration is 4:33; almost equivalent to a full round of competition in UFC. Within the men’s division, there is a 3:50 difference between heavyweight and flyweight bouts. With the exception of a slight anomaly for the 135lb men’s bantamweight, the linear increment in average bout duration is 30.3 sec per weight AVERAGE FIGHT TIME BY WEIGHT CLASS class from heavyweight to strawweight. WSW 12.35 WBW 12 FLW 11.52 BW 10.28 FTW 10.47 LW 10.26 WW 10.04 MW 9.23 LHW 8.47 HW 8.02 0:00 2:24 4:48 7:12 9:36 12:00 14:24 DURATION (MINUTES) Figure 1.2 12 13 CHAPTER ONE: WINNING IN TODAY’S UFC CHAPTER ONE: WINNING IN TODAY’S UFC WIN METHODS WIN METHODS BY WEIGHT CLASS WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT HAS THE HIGHEST hile insights on fight duration can potentially influence HEAVYWEIGHT DECISION PERCENTAGE When examining fight finishes, obvious HAS THE HIGHEST WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT preparation in terms of strategy, psychology and physical KO/TKO PERCENTAGE HAS THE HIGHEST trends again become apparent—the heavi- W conditioning, taken alone it provides limited value in terms SUBMISSION PERCENTAGE 65.9% er the weight class, the more likely a fight of defining ‘What it Takes to Win.’ In a sport like MMA, where a 70.0% 60.1% will be finished before going to the judges’ variety of methods can be used to win the fight, it is important to 27.1% decision (see figure 1.5).