How Real-Time Data, Insights, Emotion Can Enhance UFC Storytelling

Bristol, CT – June 25, 2014 – ESPN Plaza: UFC championship belt.(Photo by Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)

UFC’s partnership with HEED was on display at AWS re:Invent in November, with HEED co-founder Mati Kochavi hosting a live demonstration to explain how the company uses AI IoT (Internet of Things) to revolutionize the way fans watch fights.

A demo was conducted with two UFC athletes, Marc “Bonecrusher” Diakiese and Edson Barboza, participating in a staged sparring match that could generate 70 different insights. The data accumulated from sensors in the gloves and the mat can create a more engaging experience for fans. Artificial intelligence can measure the emotions of the fighters, cornermen and even fans including family members sitting near the octagon.

“We want to tell a story,” Kochavi said after the scripted demo. “We are not about statistics of the fight, we are about the story of the fight.”

The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently approved a test run for select fighters at UFC 219 on Saturday to be equipped with the glove sensors, according to MMA Junkie, which reported that UFC pitched it as a way to potentially improve fighter safety, including concussion protocols.

The fighters are to wear sensors inside of their gloves. This way when a punch is thrown, users can be informed of its significance. Data can tell if a punch is within the top-10 percent for a certain weight class, triggering a unique story.

All the data collected, whether the analytics of a punch, heart rate of a fighter, etc., will be sent into HEED’s “world graph.” This is the centerpiece of the project and it’s designed to automatically provide a viewer everything they could want during a fight, even if they’re not there in person.

“We believe that the way to tell a story right now is the combination of science, technology and art to be able to tell a great story to all of us, the story of this UFC fight,” Kochavi said.

Both Diakiese and Barboza happened to lose in their respective fights at UFC 219.