A 5-year analysis of age, stature and armspan in mixed martial arts

Athlete stature and armspan is anecdotally assumed to provide an advantage in mixed martial arts (MMA), despite an absence of supporting data. In contrast, winners of MMA bouts have been shown to be younger than bouts losers. Whilst absolute measurements of stature, armspan and armspan:stature scale (A:S) have been shown to not distinguish between winners and losers of MMA bouts, relative differences between competitors have not been analysed. This study aimed to analyse 5 years of athlete age and morphological data to replicate and expand previous studies to determine whether absolute and/or relative age and morphological variables effect winning and losing in MMA. Bayes factor (BF>3) inferential analyses conducted on the cohort overall (n=2,229 professional bouts), each year sampled and each individual body mass division found that only absolute (winners = 29.8±4 years; losers = 30.7±4.2 years) and relative age (winners=0.82±5.3 years younger than losers) differentiates between winners and losers across the whole cohort, in 4 of the 5 years, and in 4 of the 13 divisions sampled. Armspan appears to provide an advantage in heavyweight only (winners = 198.4±6.6cm; losers = 196.1±7.7cm), with greater A:S being a disadvantage (winners = 1.003±0.022cm∙cm-1; losers = 1.010±0.023 cm∙cm-1) in women’s strawweight only. No variables had any effect on how bouts were won. These results confirm previous reports that the effect of athlete morphology is greatly overstated in MMA, appearing to be irrelevant in most divisions. Bout winners tend to be younger than losers, particularly in divisions displaying more diverse skill requirements.