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Official UFC Records

Since FightMetric is the official stats provider for the UFC, they have been able to officially provide conclusive information who owns which records within the UFC. While you can go to their website & simply look at the lists, they are also publishing a series in which they highlight each individual record & explain it a bit more fully. I thought I'd save y'all the trouble of all that clicking & just post the info here. :wink:

UFC Leaders - Shortest Avg. Fight Time

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The first in our series going through the categories on our UFC Official Records page, this post deals with the record holders for the shortest average fight time.

What: This one is pretty self-explanatory. Take all the fighters competing since UFC 28 (the start of the modern era of the UFC), and look who has averaged the quickest fights among those with at least five UFC fights to their credit.

Why: This record is significant because these are the fighters that people love to see. They may not be the most technically proficient, they may not even win their fights, but win or lose, their fights are fast, action-packed, and punctuated by stoppages.

Who (~minimum 5 UFC fights):

Drew McFedries - 2:20
James Irvin - 2:53
Shane Carwin - 2:54
Frank Trigg - 3:55
Houston Alexander - 4:13
Yoshiyuki Yoshida - 4:15
Frank Mir - 4:29
Ken Shamrock - 4:34
Ryan Jensen - 4:38
Manvel Gamburyan - 4:45

Who's Next: There are a few guys who didn't make this list, either because they don't have five fights yet or because they're just outside the top 10. With another quick performance, look for Brendan Schaub, Alessio Sakara, and Brian Foster to make their way onto the leaderboard.

The Breakdown: Most of the names on this list are not surprising to UFC fans. Guys like McFedries and Irvin made careers out of slugging it out in quick, pitched battles. The one that might draw some confused looks is Ken Shamrock. Keep in mind, though, that this list only counts fights from UFC 28 and onward. While Shamrock was involved on some long UFC fights (including two that lasted more than 30 minutes), all of those fights happened in the early days of the UFC. To keep the records consistent, we've established UFC 28 as the cutoff. If we take Shamrock's UFC career in its entirety, his average fight time more than doubles from 4:34 to 9:46.

The Takeaway: The first thing to note is that only two of these fighters (Shane Carwin and Frank Mir) have a winning record in UFC competition. The combined UFC records of these 10 fighters is 35-42, a 45% winning percentage. If you take Carwin and Mir out, the record drops to just 19-36, a 35% winning percentage. The natural progression of fighters means that they usually start out fast and then see their average fight time tend to climb as they meet tougher competition. For them to stay on this list, it usually means that instead of finishing fast, the tougher opponents are the ones doing the finishing. And no matter how exciting your fights, the UFC can only hang onto a fighter with a losing record for so long.

UFC Leaders - Longest Avg. Fight Time

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The second in our series going through the categories on our UFC Official Records page, this post deals with the record holders for the longest average fight time.

What: Like the last post, this one is pretty self-explanatory. Take all the fighters competing since UFC 28 (the start of the modern era of the UFC), and look who has averaged the longest fights among those with at least five UFC fights to their credit.

Why: There are a lot of different reasons why a fighter might appear on this list. Maybe they lack finishing power. Maybe they're more "strategic" and less likely to risk going for the kill. Or maybe they're just super-tough fighters who are impossible to put away. No matter the reason, if you see you're going to face one of these guys, prepare to be in the fight for a while.

Who (~minimum 5 UFC fights):

Frank Edgar16:14
Sean Sherk15:35
Heath Herring15:00
Nik Lentz15:00
Jorge Gurgel14:58
Dan Henderson14:38
Dong Hyun Kim14:14
Jens Pulver14:03
Jon Fitch13:50
Sam Stout13:41

Who's Next: Unless his next fight is a quick one, expect to see Mike Pierce (avg. fight time 14:33) on this list. And given the number of five-round decisions in his past, another three rounder will probably see BJ Penn join the top 10.

The Breakdown: The top two fighters on the list (Frank Edgar and Sean Sherk) have the distinction of being the only two fighters in modern history to average longer than a regulation MMA fight. The reason, of course, is title fights. Both Edgar and Sherk have been in three 25-minute fights, which goes a long way to upping the average past 15 minutes. The two fighters tied for third place are the only ones in UFC history to have at least five fights, all of which went to decision.

The Takeaway: One interesting point is seeing the diversity of styles that makeup the list. While some on the list could easily be branded as "lay and pray" artists, others like Gurgel, Pulver, and Stout are of the stand and bang variety. There is no one model of fighter that leads to long fights.

Interestingly, the win numbers for this group is almost the mirror image of fighters on the list of shortest average fight time. Where only two of those 10 fighters had a winning UFC record, only two fighters on this list (Herring and Gurgel) have a losing UFC record. Overall, the combined record for these fighters is a very respectable 55-22-2, or a 70% winning percentage. Compare that to the 45% winning percentage of the list of quick fighters. This may seem obvious, but if you're going to be a UFC fighter who takes his sweet time, you'd better be winning your fights. Fighters who take this long to compete keep their jobs by winning, however slowly.

:w00t: Jens Pulver was on a list for longest fights :happydancing:

:cool:

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Originally Posted by Tyburn (Post 149583)

:w00t: Jens Pulver was on a list for longest fights :happydancing:

:cool:

Hahaha, I swear, as I was reading it I thought "Oh, there's Jens. Dave'll be happy for at least an hour over this." :laugh:

I figured GSP would be the top of the list. His last 5 fights have had an average of 24 minutes/fight. I guess this is determined by an overall UFC career? I didn't do the math, but still find it hard to believe that GSP's average fights aren't in the top 10. I may do the math, lol

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Originally Posted by rockdawg21 (Post 149621)

I just did the math and GSP's average fight length is 14.95 minutes or 14 min 57 seconds. I guess that means that they don't count championship rounds? That's the only way that he couldn't be on this list.

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Originally Posted by VCURamFan (Post 149598)

Hahaha, I swear, as I was reading it I thought "Oh, there's Jens. Dave'll be happy for at least an hour over this." :laugh:

:laugh: and you were absolutely correct :cool:

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Originally Posted by rockdawg21 (Post 149622)

it does count championship rounds ... that is why sherk and edgar are over 15 minutes ... i think they mean all fights and not just ufc fights ...

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Originally Posted by rearnakedchoke (Post 149633)

it does count championship rounds ... that is why sherk and edgar are over 15 minutes ... i think they mean all fights and not just ufc fights ...

Then that is not "UFC" records, that's "MMA records of people who have fought or are currently fighting in the UFC". Doesn't have the same ring to it. :laugh: