Predictors of Victory and Injury in Mixed Martial Arts Combat: A Scientific Study of Professional Fight Records

This book provides a concise statistical study of MMA fighting using data from entry-level professional promotions. It does not use UFC or Bellator data. The author does an excellent job of both reporting interesting results and computing the statistical significance of each result so that the reader can properly interpret each finding. This book examines factors that affect fight outcomes beyond those considered in Fightnomics, which is a seminal work on MMA analytics using mainly UFC data. I recommend this book to any MMA fighter, trainer, promoter or fan. You will think differently about what's going on in the cage after reading this book. Your ability to predict the winner of a fight will improve.

The study didn't identify how variables in victories mattered, just that his research showed they did.

Disclosure: I personally know the author as a fellow academic. The author is a full professor at Fordham University and a household name among academicians in the areas of pricing and services marketing. He is a prolific researcher who became a tenured professor at the age of 32 and is currently the editor of the top journal in financial services marketing. I am mentioning this to highlight the authors' credibility in applying statistical analysis to the area of MMA.The book presents plenty of interesting facts and statistics regarding the impact of various factors on the fight outcome -- things like age, height, reach, etc. How much more likely is a fighter to win if he fights in his hometown? What are the most common types of injuries, and how do they change with age? Etc.One of the most interesting chapters to me was the one where he talks about a statistical model to predict the fight outcome. This model predicts the outcome correctly in 64% of cases. The model is not predictive enough to make money gambling (and if it did bookies would quickly later the odds anyhow), but it is fascinating reading.

Very good book that gets into research analysis and explores mixed martial arts through a different lens.

Makes you think about MMA in a different light after looking at his studies. Insightful and very interesting.