Boxing and MMA Betting
Despite the pandemic, after a short pause in mid-spring, the UFC fighting league continued its functioning, and now, having witnessed success, other promotions, for example, ACA and Bellator, are starting to catch up. Despite the positive, all this is also a reason to carefully revise their methods of analyzing fights, which, due to restrictions, take place in unusual conditions. Empty stands and custom-sized octagons – both of these nuances bring about a change in mixed martial arts that bettors should be aware of.
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Content
- Empty stands
- Influence on fighting style
- Impact on motivation
- Influence on the audibility of the angle
- Positive side
- Negative side
- Octagon dimensions
- Impact on outcomes
- Influence on the stylistic aspect
- Conclusion
Empty stands
The absence of spectators is the most visible and major change. It affects the psycho-emotional state and motivation of both athletes who are just starting their journey at a high level, and experienced fighters. Moreover, in the case of the latter, this influence is not always unambiguous. In addition, the absence of spectators allows athletes to clearly hear their angle, which can also play a positive and negative role.
Influence on fighting style
The support of the spectators is a factor that significantly influences the perception of the fight by the athletes. The general tendency is that in conditions of empty stands, athletes prefer to work in a more relaxed and ergonomic mode. This is especially true for fighters who are holding a duel for the first time in such an unusual environment. All this inevitably affects the outcomes of fights, which periodically begin to resemble sparring and, therefore, end with the identification of the winner by the judges.
However, this rule is not recommended to be applied to fights involving fighters who nominally have serious knockout power or who always have an extremely aggressive style of fights. The lack of applause from the audience does not deprive them of either the power in their fists, or the clouding desire to finish the opponent.
Impact on motivation
The noise emitted by thousands of viewers, regardless of its message – be it booing or support, whatever one may say, spurs and motivates the fighters. But even empty stands can motivate an athlete. There is no unambiguous position here, and in order to be convinced of this, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the thoughts of two different fighters on this topic.
For example, MMA veteran Alistair Overeem, after the fight against Walt Harris at the UFC on ESPN 8 event, said that the absence of spectators only spurred him on.
“I was turned on by the performance in the empty stands. It reminded me of my early fights. I don't know how to explain it, but it motivated me “
In turn, the champion of the UFC in the women's minimum weight category, Weili Zhang, said that she was not sure if she would be able to tune in and fully reveal herself in a fight without fans.
“In my opinion, the presence of spectators is an important factor, and it's bad that they are not there. I don't know if I could tune in to a duel in front of empty stands. I like the interaction with the fans and it doesn't matter if they support me or boo me. “
It is almost useless to try to figure out what is in the head of this or that fighter. However, in general terms, the issue of motivation can be disclosed as follows.
It is easier for men to tune in to a duel without spectators than women. At the same time, old-school athletes and just experienced fighters experience less problems finding motivation in an empty arena.
As for the prospectuses, which, for example, have just signed in the UFC, then in their case we should talk about the unpredictability inherent in them in normal conditions. Here, empty stands are equally likely to be both a factor that creates unnecessary tension and a factor that gives the necessary motivation.
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Influence on the audibility of the angle
The absence of spectators affects not only the psycho-emotional state of the athletes, but also their interaction with their team. In conditions when there are no thousands of fans in the arena, the fighters hear well all the prompts from their corner. However, everything here is not as straightforward as it might seem. This moment has both positive and negative sides.
Positive side
Like the battle plan, team cues are an important part of winning. There are those athletes who follow them unquestioningly, but there are also fighters who often prefer to include improvisation and work the way they think is right. However, no matter how good such impromptu actions are, they are, above all, nothing more than a risk that usually turns out to be unjustified. The advantage in such conditions is given to athletes who clearly follow all commands coming from their corner.
The list of athletes who fit this description can include, for example, John Jones, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Alexander Volkanovski and Dustin Poirier.
Negative side
Anthony Smith is included in the same list, but his case serves as an example of how good audibility of the corner and following all his commands can be a negative moment. What allows us to believe so happened in his fight against Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night 171.
From the first seconds of the fight, Anthony went forward, having the only goal in front of him – to make the finish. In the first and second rounds, he threw out 82 and 92 hits, respectively, as a result of which he fizzled out and lost. In any of the rounds of any of his previous fight, Smith threw 2-3 times fewer punches, while this fight was 5-round and assumed energy savings for the later rounds.
The reason for what happened was that from the beginning of the fight, Smith's corner drove him forward without stopping and he, in fact, pressed his opponent non-stop. In this matter, you need to be careful with fighters who do not differ in cold calculation, since their corners, as a rule, are no different from them.
In addition to the same Anthony Smith, the list of fighters on whom good audibility of the angle can be negatively reflected, for example, include Tony Ferguson, Nico Price and Tim Elliott.
Octagon dimensions
First of all, this moment concerns the UFC league, the tournaments of which, with rare exceptions, were held in a 30-foot cage, while currently part of the organization's events takes place at the UFC Apex arena in Las Vegas, which houses an unusual 25-foot octagon used in the project President of the Dana White's Contender Series. This nuance makes adjustments both to the outcomes of fights held in such an arena, and gives an advantage to fighters who adhere to a certain style.
Impact on outcomes
On the night of June 13-14, the UFC Vegas 2 tournament was held at the UFC Apex arena, which gave fans of mixed martial arts 5 victories in the first rounds, despite the fact that more than half of them were won in the first minute. At a press conference after this event, Dana White, responding to the assumption of one of the journalists that the size of the cage affects the spectacle of fights, said that this theory does not correspond to reality.
“Were the fights in Jacksonville bad? No, they were great. This is an illusion, stupidity, not true “
However, going against the facts is very difficult, and they say that in a 25-foot cage, fighters are more likely to end fights with finishes. On average, the frequency of early victories in the first 5 UFC events of 2020 held at the UFC Apex is 53%, while in the case of the regular 30-foot cage, this figure is 48%.
And this is absolutely normal. The smaller the cage, the less room the fighters have to maneuver, which forces them to strike more often – according to research by statistician Reed Coon, fighters throw 20% more punches in a 25-foot octagon. In addition, the reduced cage gives the athletes an advantage with a particular style, which also leads to an increase in the number of finishes.
Influence on the stylistic aspect
And these very fighters, whose style is perfect for performing in such an octagon, are wrestlers. The same opinion is shared, for example, by Kenny Florian, a three-time contender for the UFC championship belt. In the Anik & Florian Podcast, the former fighter explored the issue in the context of Daniel Cormier's third fight against Stipe Miocic.
“In my opinion, the 25-foot cage provides an advantage for the grappler. It has always been that way. This is a strong advantage for someone like Daniel Cormier. The stipe simply won't have room to move around there. And I would not be surprised if Cormier, being a very smart and savvy guy, specifically insisted that their fight take place in such an octagon. This is a very significant advantage. “
The greatest advantage in such conditions is gained by the wrestlers who prefer to transfer vis-a-vis near the net. Of course, in a smaller cage, it is easier to get back on your feet after transfer, since the grid is closer, but in general this nuance does not outweigh the advantage that basic grapplers can count on.
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Conclusion
As you can see, during a pandemic, fights according to the MMA rules are held in unusual conditions that affect their outcomes and the psycho-emotional state of athletes, and also endow the fighters of a certain style with an advantage. Summarizing the above, we can draw the following conclusions:
- With empty stands, fighters work in a calmer manner than usual, may experience excess or lack of motivation and hear their angle well, which can be both positive and negative;
- In a 25-foot cage, fighters are more likely to hit and complete more finishes than in a standard 30-foot cage, while wrestlers have an advantage in an octagon of this size, especially those who prefer to take takedowns near the net;
- If a tournament is held simultaneously without fans and in a 25-foot cage, then first you need to proceed from the second nuance, and only then deal with the possible consequences of an empty arena.
In the current conditions, mixed martial arts are full of pitfalls and involve a detailed analysis, which, if it does not allow to foresee all the moments, will help to protect oneself from many risks present in this difficult time.
