Is there a home country advantage in MMA?
This weekend, the UFC will have its first event ever in China followed by a return to Montreal, Canada in…
This weekend, the UFC will have its first event ever in China followed by a return to Montreal, Canada in the following week. With the UFC hosting more and more events internationally, fighters around the globe are increasingly given an opportunity to fight in their home country.
Is there really an advantage of fighting at home? Below are the records of the home town fighters against foreigners:
Brazil
UFC 153 – Rio
UFC 147 – Minas Gerais
UFC 142 – Rio
UFC 134 – Rio
UFC Ultimate Brazil – Sao Paulo
TOTAL HOME RECORD: 23W – 6L, 79.3% Winning Percentage
United Kingdom
UFC on Fuel TV – Nottingham
UFC 138 – Birmingham
UFC 120 – London
UFC 105 – Manchester
UFC 95 – London
UFC 89 – Birmingham
UFC 85 – London
UFC 80 – Newcastle
UFC 75 – London
UFC 70 – Manchester
UFC 38 – London
TOTAL HOME RECORD: 30W – 22L, 57.7% Winning Percentage
Japan
UFC 144 – Saitama
UFC 29 – Tokyo
UFC 25 – Tokyo
UFC 23 – Tokyo
UFC Ultimate Japan – Yokohama
TOTAL HOME RECORD: 6W – 14L, 4 NC, 30.0% Winning Percentage
Canada
UFC 152 – Toronto
UFC 149 – Calgary
UFC 140 – Toronto
UFC 131 – Vancouver
UFC 129 – Toronto
UFC 124 – Montreal
UFC 115 – Vancouver
UFC 113 – Montreal
UFC 97 – Montreal
UFC 83 – Montreal
TOTAL HOME RECORD: 27W – 26L – 1D, 2NC, 50.9% Winning Percentage
Where there is a statistical advantage, is it favorable matchups or do fighters just love fighting in front of the home crowd?
It really depends on the psychology of the fighter. Yes, they’ll definitely have the crowd’s energy and support behind them, but how they harness that aspect will determine if there is an advantage psychologically. At the end of the day, anything can happen in the cage and that is why MMA is so exciting.
