Fighter Stance Analysis for MMA |
| This page analyses statistics for fighter stances in MMA (primarily in the UFC). We have not yet logged stances for all fighters in the UFC, so this page will grow with time (I add stances manually when watching fights). Win % statistics are based on fights logged in our system, starting November 2014. |
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Basic Stance Statistics - Number of fighters using each stance type |
Orthodox: 1209 (71%)
Southpaw: 281 (17%)
Fighters who switch stances: 207 (12%)
Switches (Mostly Orthodox): 109 (6%)
Switches (Mostly Southpaw): 35 (2%)
Switches (Equal Both): 63 (4%)
Note - fighters who switch stances but are predominantly one stance or the other are NOT included in the pure orthodox or southpaw tallies.
Total fighters whose stance we've not yet logged:
3935 |
Win Percentage in MMA for Orthodox, Southpaw and Switch Stances |
| Stance |
Fighters |
Fights |
Won |
Lost |
Win % |
| Orthodox |
1209 |
7456 |
3722 |
3734 |
50% |
| Southpaw |
281 |
2030 |
1053 |
977 |
52% |
| Switches Stances (All) |
207 |
1668 |
935 |
733 |
56% |
| Switches (Mostly Orthodox) |
109 |
916 |
526 |
390 |
57% |
| Switches (Mostly Southpaw) |
35 |
336 |
167 |
169 |
50% |
| Switches (Equal both) |
63 |
416 |
242 |
174 |
58% |
*Note. It might look weird that we have an overall win % way over 50%. That's because people in this list have beaten fighters we've not yet logged a stance for. Obviously I've watched more successful fighters than rubbish ones, so I've logged their stances more at this stage! :) |
Detailed breakdown of stance vs stance win % |
When we have both fighters' stances logged for a particular fight in our system, the results are as follows.
| |
Fights |
TKOs |
Subs |
Decisions |
| Orthodox vs Orthodox |
2179 |
687 (32%) |
366 (17%) |
1107 (51%) |
| Southpaw vs Southpaw |
169 |
51 (30%) |
26 (15%) |
90 (53%) |
| Switch vs Switch |
131 |
43 (33%) |
27 (21%) |
59 (45%) |
| Orthodox vs Southpaw |
1159 |
349 (30%) |
242 (21%) |
554 (48%) |
| Orthodox vs Switch |
951 |
335 (35%) |
146 (15%) |
467 (49%) |
| Southpaw vs Switch |
289 |
75 (26%) |
64 (22%) |
150 (52%) |
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4878 |
1540 (32%) |
871 (18%) |
2427 (50%) |
| Orthodox vs Southpaw |
Fights |
TKOs |
Subs |
Decisions |
| Orthodox beat Southpaw |
537 (46%) |
162 (14%) |
120 (10%) |
253 (22%) |
| Southpaw beat Orthodox |
604 (52%) |
187 (16%) |
122 (11%) |
293 (25%) |
| Orthodox vs Switch |
Fights |
TKOs |
Subs |
Decisions |
| Orthodox beat Switch |
405 (43%) |
118 (12%) |
63 (7%) |
222 (23%) |
| Switch beat Orthodox |
539 (57%) |
217 (23%) |
83 (9%) |
239 (25%) |
| Switch vs Southpaw |
Fights |
TKOs |
Subs |
Decisions |
| Switch beat Southpaw |
161 (56%) |
48 (17%) |
33 (11%) |
80 (28%) |
| Southpaw beat Switch |
125 (43%) |
27 (9%) |
31 (11%) |
67 (23%) |
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Analysis of UFC / MMA fight stance statistics |
| As you might expect, most fighters in the UFC use an orthodox stance. That's no surprise. The main question you were probably wondering when you found this page: Does being a southpaw give you an advantage in MMA? Well, given that around 10% of the population is stated as being left handed (southpaw), the fact that the UFC has 17% southpaws would suggest it certainly helps! The stats also suggest that southpaws have a higher success rate, with southpaws winning 52% of their fights, as opposed to 50% for orthodox fighters. More interestingly, fighters who switch stances have an even higher success rate than both orthodox and southpaw fighters, with a combined win percentage of 56%
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