Cage Metrics

Advanced UFC statistics and MMA analytics beyond the official numbers.

Fighters

Browse fighters by dominance, strength, action, and popularity

Rankings

Sortable rankings across all custom metrics

Matchup

Compare two fighters head-to-head with stat-driven predictions

Popularity & Hype

Fighter popularity based on Wikipedia pageview data

Methodology

How each metric is calculated and what it measures

UFC Statistics and MMA Analytics — Built Different

Cage Metrics is a collection of custom statistical metrics derived from real UFC fight data. While official UFC stats track strikes landed and takedown percentages, we compute original metrics that answer harder questions: how dominant is a fighter really? How tough is their schedule? How entertaining are their bouts? Every score on this site is calculated from historical MMA fight statistics and updated after each event.

Data-Informed, Not Data-Determined

The goal of Cage Metrics is to help you make UFC predictions grounded in data rather than pure bias. Fighter narratives and hype cycles can cloud judgement — our metrics cut through that by quantifying what actually happened in the octagon across a fighter's career.

That said, MMA is one of the most chaotic and unpredictable sports in the world. A single punch, a freak injury, or a last-second submission can override any statistical edge. No model or metric can fully account for the variables inside a cage — weight cuts, motivation, stylistic kryptonites, or a fighter having an off night.

The statistics on this site are a tool, not an oracle. Use them to identify patterns, spot value, and challenge your assumptions — but always apply your own judgement. The best MMA predictions combine data with fight IQ, context, and an honest respect for the chaos of combat sports.

Custom Fighter Metrics

Dominance Score

Measures how convincingly a UFC fighter wins their bouts. Combines win rate, finish rate, striking differentials, grappling control, and recent form into a single score. A fighter who finishes opponents early scores higher than one who scrapes by on split decisions.

Strength Score

Evaluates the quality of a fighter's resume. Beating top-ranked opponents counts for more than padding a record against low-level competition. This metric separates UFC fighters with genuinely strong records from those with inflated stats.

Action Score

Quantifies how exciting a fighter's bouts are by analyzing striking volume, knockdowns, submission attempts, and pace. Useful for identifying the most entertaining UFC fighters and predicting Fight of the Night candidates.

Strength of Schedule

The average quality of opponents a fighter has faced, weighted by recency. A staple metric in sports analytics, adapted here for MMA to show whether a fighter has been tested against elite competition or has fought mostly lower-tier opponents.

Bout Quality Score

Rates individual UFC fight performances round by round, for both the winner and the loser. Goes beyond the W/L result to capture how well a fighter actually performed in a given bout — a close loss to a champion is scored very differently from a first-round knockout.

Action Split

Breaks down how much each fighter contributed to a bout's overall entertainment value. Identifies who was the aggressor, who pushed the pace, and who was responsible for the exciting moments in any given UFC fight.

Fighter Classifications

Fighter Tiers

Every UFC fighter is classified into Elite, Mid, or Low tier based on their performance metrics and strength of schedule. Read about how tiers work.

Fighting Styles

Fighters are automatically classified as Wrestler, Grappler, Kicker, Striker, or Balanced based on career statistics. These style tags help you quickly understand a fighter's approach and how style matchups might play out.

Badges

Special designations like Legend, Prospect, and Upcoming Champion highlight notable UFC fighters based on career milestones and trajectory.