MMA statistics firm FightMetric has helped “legitimize mixed martial arts as a sport, giving it statistical leaders that separate it from the public misconception of an unfettered brawl,” according to Melissa Segura of SI.com. FightMetric CEO Rami Genauer in six years "has taken his business from his couch, to a tiny office” to a HQs in DC “three times bigger in the capital's Golden Triangle district." The moves are as “practical as they are poetic -- fitting metaphors for a business with a relative growth rate that might surpass that of the UFC, its chief client." The company, which is the official statistics provider for the UFC, now features a slate of services that “extends beyond its cornerstone data collection." FightMetric has “two new fantasy projects" started in late January. The most basic of the games “centers on" the UFC reality series "The Ultimate Fighter.” The second “fantasy offering is called UFC Pick ‘em.” Genauer said, “The greatest challenge with mixed martial arts fantasy is that you have superstars who fight twice a year.” FightMetric therefore “created a league in which every fight on every fight card is eligible for players to earn points.” Segura wrote for the company to “endure, much less expand its list of services, is no small feat, especially considering the startup’s humble beginnings" (SI.com, 2/11).
